Sterling Mk6 trigger

[Vincent]

Thought I had seen all the wrong ways to assemble a Sterling. Then along comes this new one.

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[Peter Laidler]

It looks like a flat wire spring from the magazine catch(?). What is it supposed to do? It looks as though it is simply inserted between two parts that don't move. The trigger guard frame and the sear cradle spring base. What a well thought out and manufactured self contained trigger mechanism. And as it later transpired versatile too.

[Vincent]

Yes, it’s the magazine catch spring. It doesn’t do anything that I can tell. Just put there by someone who didn’t know where it really belongs. I am sure you have seen “crunchies” do similar things.

The engineers at Sterling did a very good job of making the Mk4 almost impossible to assemble wrong. I guess you can never prevent this level of…. er, “creativity.”

[browningautorifle]

you have seen “crunchies” do similar things.

I can't even imagine it really Vincent...as a "Crunchie" myself, we knew what parts went where on things. Even a .30 cal in a bucket wasn't a problem... This would occur to me to be a later act by a civilian...someone with no actual knowledge. Not someone that owned and shot these regularly... I don't think it would even slip into place with that spring there.

[Peter Laidler]

One of the Sterling companies claims to fame was that you couldn't assemble it wrongly. I have a feeling that the only part that you could assemble wrongly was the cocking handle.

At the time, as apprentices, when we first looked at the Sterling trigger mech I couldn't ever imagine learning how it worked and even less think that I'd ever do any more than learn it parrot fashion or by rote. Never thought that within a few weeks we'd all be able to describe it to the class and even draw it on the black board...... Or chalk board as it's now called!!!!! I could still draw it now, down to the smallest springs and pins. They obviously learned from Turpin of Sten fame too because all the pins and materials are bog standard SWG/SAE/off-the-shelf sizes. Yep, the Rolls Royce of SMG's

As BAR alludes to, we'd occasionally be called around a huge pile of parts in the middle of an old sheet and Mr Ayley or Duffield or Stone etc etc would point to a part and ask one of us to tell him what it was - and how we reached that decision because some of them would be slightly bent or polished silver instead of black..... you get my drift. If you got it wrong or tried to bluff your way through he'd call a stop and hold a bit of a discussion using the 'spoon' method (you only spoke when you were holding the spoon.....). We all became pretty damn good!

[Vincent]

This would occur to me to be a later act by a civilian.

Yep, the Mk6 is a civilian semi-auto gun. Apparently, it was done by a “gunsmith.”

I don't think it would even slip into place with that spring there.

It surprised me when I found it jammed in there.

One of the Sterling companies claims to fame was that you couldn't assemble it wrongly. I have a feeling that the only part that you could assemble wrongly was the cocking handle.

That’s what I thought too, but I was wrong. I have seen the return springs put in wrong. The small spring inside the big spring and the cup against the endcap.

I thought this one was remarkable, so I posted the picture.

You two would enjoy the box guns. It’s a gun someone completely disassembled to clean, then couldn’t reassemble. All the individual parts are in a box. Hence the name. They have a way of showing up at cocktail parties when the owners know you are into guns.

[Peter Laidler]

One of my early Norton Commandos could have been described as a 'box bike'. TOTALLY stripped, into about 5 plastic boxes, degreased, bead blasted (where appropriate of course) and left for 5 years. When I got it cheap it was surprisingly complete......

[Flying10uk]

I think that part of the problem here is that some people don't like to ask for help/assistance when they are not sure. I have been involved in engineering and metalwork all my life but I am the first to admit that I don't know everything there is to know on the subject and also can't do everything. I do usually know when I don't know or am not sure on a engineering subject, or anything else for that matter, and that's when I ask for help from someone else who may know. Alternatively, nowadays for most things, an answer can often be found on the internet. As an example, when I purchased my U.K. deactivated DP28 M.G. I wanted to field strip it as much as the deactivation work would allow and had, incorrectly as it turned out, assumed that the butt group would split from the receiver in a similar manner to the Bren, i.e. slide apart. When I found that after the removal of the body locking pin that it would not, I stopped trying until I had found out some more information on the subject. I found, on youtube, a video which explained how to field strip the DP28 MG and as it turned out the butt group hinged down from the rear of the receiver after the removal of the body locking pin/screw.

[Vincent]

A box Norton! I bet that was a fun project.

I have a friend who collects old British bikes. After he rebuilds one he gets it up to 100mph. Then he drinks a beer or three and puts the bike in the living room with the rest of them.

I have a DP28 parts kit and a semi-auto receiver. Maybe it will get built someday.

Here’s the SBR converted Mk6 copy.

[Peter Laidler]

I was given a large handful of those front Mk6 type bolt-on nose pieces (shown at front of casing). Did the Mk6 have a bayonet standard on the side of the casing Vince?

What makes that one a SBR converted Mk6 copy or am I missing something?