Highest known Sterling L34A1 - Mk5 ?

[Vincent]

I imagine a Mk5 Sterling could get quite hot if things went pear shaped and you had to use several magazines quickly.

The Sten suppressor gets really hot! I will burn you.

[Peter Laidler]

mmmmmmm...... we certainly didn't feel the need to adopt the wood grip. Maybe our special forces and sniper teams didn't envisage bouts of rapid or burst fire.

[Vincent]

I think the wood grip is used because a thermal sleeve would block the Mk5 front sight.

India uses a full length thermal sleeve.



Their sights are also higher.



I would rather have a full length thermal sleeve than the wood grip. A sleeve would lower the suppressor’s IR signature.

[Peter Laidler]

The only ones I ever saw had an old woolen sock pulled over the casing and held on with some string. But that was because he wanted to stop it clattering about while it was diagonally across his front.

[tankhunter]

The only thing you missed Tankie was the cachet of being able to say that you had one! There was nothing in there that we didn't have readily available to us in the basic tool kit and the usual stuff that we had in the Armourers shops. I always looked on the 'special' Mk5 kit as something like a foresight cramp......... Something for your mates to woweeee about on the range!

The tool kit boxes and the Mk5 special keep your dainty hand cool wood fore-stock thing were made by a little woodworking outfit in Dagenham. That hot hand thinggy....... I mean....... would a silenced gun ever get too hot to handle.........?

Pete, yes I agree. We got by with what we had. BUT...In those 'commercial' tool kits, there was one tool that I would say was a VERY important one. That is the alignment gauge rod. All Parker Hale .22" Supressors had one with them when new. As it is obviously EXTREMELY important, that the internal Baffels are correctly aligned upon reassembly. Otherwise, a Bullet would tear a chunk out of the side of them!

As you will recall, at the front end. There are three Allen headed long tie rods, that hold the front bearing cap on. Tightening these EQUALLY, is an area of concern. As you really DONT want any slight misalignment that would cause damage to those baffels!

I never saw such a gauge in service, & it was up to the skills of the Armourer. To tighten up & set alignment correctly as you know. I suppose some Unit Armourers may well have turned up such a gauge. But I never saw one in my Service time.

but I REALLY would have liked one of these commercial tool kits for my own collection!

I concur, as a covert item. The L34 should never be used enough to get hot at all! Thus we deemed the front insulator grip as unnessacary in British service.

[Peter Laidler]

Most Armourers of the L34 era were required to make one of the L34 alignment tools from the drawing in the EMER during their 1st class trade test bench fitting phase. Even if they were never to see an L34 again! It was deliberately set for the trainees to think and ponder about setting soch a thing up. Because without a bit of thought, being long, it would........ Anyway, they got there in the end, even if it was after a cou8ple of failed efforts!.

I borrowed mine off Steve XXX one of the RM instructors........ Still got it!

[tankhunter]

Do you know, I never ever read the E.M.E.R On the L34 Pete!

I just got on with it on the bench, as you do sometimes. I am surprised that the alignment gauge wasn't an issue item TBH.

I was pretty much always loaded with work most of the time at unit. & if I ever needed a particular tool or gauge making. I would mostly bung in a request to Workshops, & their machine shop would manufacture for Me.

After all, those Private jobs/ Homers, don't make themselves you know!.......

As well as being Tasked by the QM to fit Radio in His Wifes car. Or make a Mech to ensure a doll jumped out of a cake, Or................You know how it was Mate!

[Peter Laidler]

I seem to remember that the L34 EMER was classed above RESTRICTED and CONFIDENTIAL and therefore numbered to an individual. so they weren't common

The strangest thing that I was ever asked to do was........ and you ain't going to believe this......... was paint a bloody dolls house for one of the EME's kids. He was actually a nice bloke and did a lot of the in depth paperwork that allowed the REME to sponsor me at Uni. We also put a load of his sons well worn, battered and bruised Dinky Toys over to the paint shop and sprayed them khaki. The Sgt running the A&G section saw that they were all Bedford QL's and RL's, Champs and 1 tonners and said that he was going to put them all on official paperwork so that the FORWARD counters (an almost medieval method of time and lack-of-motion study) back at Stats Group (the statistics brain deads) would think that our output was increasing beyond recognition.

This 'FORWARD' method of time accounting and study taught me early on that you should NEVER confuse motion with action. FORWARD stood for something but like most blokes on the front line, someone invented another set of words that could be used. I only remember that the F and the O stood for Fxxxxxx Obstructive......... Anyway...., I digress

[tankhunter]

Pete, I could 'Digress' with you for hours Buddy! Yes in deed, FORWARD has now been replaced by a computer system. Equally Time consuming & time wasting, called JAMES!....

[Brit plumber]

Agh James, it's now tri-service. It's supposed to track all our GSE (ground servicing equipment) yet they have to send guys out around the unit every day to find the stuff. As they say, Sh1t in-Sh1t out.