Lanchester

[Flying10uk]

I've had a look at a few pictures on-line of the MP28 which the Lanchester SMG is supposed/said to be a direct copy of, if I have understood it correctly. The story that I read was that there was a MP28 captured early on in the war which gave the idea to the British to copy it. Looking at the pictures they do look very similar externally but I was wondering how similar they are internally? Perhaps they were just broadly made along the same lines??? Are there any Forum members who may happen to own a MP28 and would like to share some pictures of the internal working parts with us, please? Thanks for any info.

[Vincent]

Looking at the pictures they do look very similar externally but I was wondering how similar they are internally? Perhaps they were just broadly made along the same lines???

The Lanchester copies most of the MP28, with a few changes. Some of the internal parts are interchangeable, like the barrel. Some are very close, probably metric, and will work in the Lanchester after a little fitting. And some parts are completely different. The MP28 trigger and selector is mounted to the wood stock. The Lanchester FCG is attached to the body. The MP28 tripping lever works with the Lanchester FCG for repetition but the selectors are/were completely different.

What’s interesting to me is the increased rate of fire the Lanchester gets when I use a MP28 firing pin.

[Flying10uk]

My Lanchester has F.L. above a possible ll marking on the butt close to the butt plate. I was wondering if any-one knew the significance of these markings, please? Could F.L. stand for Fleet??? Thanks

[Peter Laidler]

Ooooops, wrong answer! FL is Frederick Liebentruth as I recall who also made a lot of the wood fittings in the Titanic. I trust that the Titanic woodwork was better than some of their Lanchester offerings.........