tripping lever - sten

[Peter Laidler]

We can only see one side of one edge and those ribs aren't (?) milling machine marks in my opinion. There's only one part of that tripping lever that really need to be accurate, measured from the very loose fit and oversize (to allow for left/right articulation) axis pin hole. And I use the word 'accurate' as to indicate within +/- .030" or so. That's the sear tripping bent that you see just to the rear of the upturned part of the lever. That has got to be hardened of course. As has the actual tripping part contacted by the breech block. The top one looks like a more angled (or is it well worn.....?) later variant usually fitted to Mk5's in production.

Might it simply be that those totally irrelevant ribs are simply a visual reminder of the rolling process. The actual thickness of any tripping lever would be dictated by the width of the tripping lever slot in the change lever. I say that those ribs are just a feature of the strip rolling process. Then punched out as per usual, sear pawl bent ground and hardened.

Incidentally, if my memory serves me right - it's been a long time - this part is quite hard and tough throughout. You find this out when you try to bend it left or right a bit to get the A and/or R mode to operate correctly. Otherwise it's change the change lever