sterling mag

[philb]

just acquired this magazine , is this a genuine 10rd mag or cut down ?

also cant find any reference to seam welded mags

any info welcome

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I think it's a cut down. The word magazine is cut off and there should be more... Also the nomenclature is missing. Here's a comparison... Sterling 10 Round Magazine

[Lee Enfield]

As BAR points out, homebuilt from a Brit Military contract magazine.

[AmEngRifles]

I see now that Sterling apparently DID make new dies for their 10 and 15 round mags. I had thought otherwise previously. If you look at the body in the link provided by browningautorifle you can see that the ribs stop short of the base of the mag body. If they had simply cut down full mag bodies, the ribs would go right into the floor plate. But the rear spine plate has stamped text that is abbreviated due to the shorter magazine body. Maybe on those parts, they simply cut down the full sized back plate to the shorter requirement?

My understanding was the MOD started producing their own Sterling magazine to avoid paying the royalties of the commercial designed magazines. These were simplified "clam shell" style. That is the style magazine yours represents. I have several of these ROF manufactured full 34 rounders. They work well. Have never tried a sand and grit test against a sterling style mag, but for my civilian collector status, they function just fine.

I think the question should be "did the UK government ever request, manufacture or stock 10 round mags for training purposes? I am thinking not...?

by the way, simply remove the base plate and look at the bottom of the mag body. Does it show raw metal as it cut at a time after the finish was applied? Is it rough and without any sort of cleanup or buffing? If it is neat and finished like the body of the mag, I guess it was done at the manufacturing facility. Not a 100% guarantee, but gets you closer to 95% I think.

[browningautorifle]

I think the question should be "did the UK government ever request, manufacture or stock 10 round mags for training purposes? I am thinking not...?

So, were we the only ones to have a purpose built 10 rd box mag? They were square and blocky...

[Brit plumber]

I’ve a feeling the 10 round mags were for the Police Carbine. I’ll have to check my resources.

[Brian Dick]

You're correct BP. They were purpose built by Sterling Dagenham and not cut down military mags like the OP's. They had quite a variety of magazines available when the guns were in production. I've collected examples of all over the years. The Canadian ones are square as Jim says and the British ones curved.

[browningautorifle]

A link to an original I guess? Sterling 10 Round Magazine

[philb]

hi all
has anyone got a sterling rear end cap plz ?.......lent mine to someone to make 3d print copies and hes lost it GGGGRRRR, so need one for my deact...help

[peregrinvs]

Try asking D&B Militaria as they’ve had a large quantity of deact Sterlings and may have some extra parts.

Also, Marstar in Canada sell them:

Marstar Canada - Complete Receiver Endcap (STR-019)