Totally MY Mistake. It was David Howroyd that Passed away. James's right hand man!
Yes James stated in the Book that He going into making English Best Guns (Shotguns) But it transpires it is Air weapons now. I wish the Man
Every Success!
When you next look at that Rolls Royce of SMG's, the Sterlings remember David Howroyd who passed on last Saturday, 17th Feb 2017.
It was David as the engineering manager (later the Engineering director) who incorporated all that was best from the original prototypes, engineering samples and pre-production guns into what became the Mk4 or L2A3. And later put the Mk5 and later variants into production
just found this clip
Seems to be dated 7 November 1985
at approx. 19 seconds, near the end where you see the gold plated Mk4, there is the front end of a gold plated Mk5 at the top right of the screen.
Does anyone have any idea where that gun is today?
Last edited by Lee Enfield; 05-03-2018 at 12:37 PM.
There used to be a gold plated one on display in the Tower of London from the Royal Armouries collection. I don't know if it's still on show now though.
There used to be a gold plated one on display in the Tower of London from the Royal Armouries collection. I don't know if it's still on show now though.
They have Mk4 serial number S33545, With gold plated finish; with accessories, PR.9696, Gifted with the Pattern Room by the Ministry of Defence, August 2005
They have Mk4 serial number S35771, With gold plated finish; with accessories, PR.9695, Gifted with the Pattern Room by the Ministry of Defence, August 2005
They don't seem to have the gold plated Mk5 (I searched their collections inventory using "Gold Plated" as the search term).
One (s/n not noted by me) turned up about 5 years ago at the big Dulles gun show at Chantilly, VA. Its appearance was a bit shrouded, though it was apparently being offered for sale. The details of its registration, if any, were murky, which precluded any lengthy expression of interest. Best not to get too close, though I did briefly hold it in my hands. It appeared unused, and looked like a factory job.