We are kicking off our ‘Bargain Basement’ series with a WWII British sub-machine that was in use with the Royal Navy, which sadly sent their entire inventory off to be destroyed in 1979. The few which survive today, such as the one we are offering, are those that had been donated to other countries. Welcome the Lanchester and read on for another LSB journey in firearms history…

When Britain entered the war, it had no sub-machine gun of its own. It had to rely on the supply of Thompsons from the US, which cost a staggering £50. The Sten was born out of the necessity to produce a simple and yet effective gun in Britain. Produced at a cost of £2 per unit, the Stens were immediately issued to the British Army.

The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force desperately needed an smg. In order not to deprive the Army of some of its supply of Stens, in 1940 they turned to an alternative design by George Lanchester at the Sterling arms factory. In effect, the gun, which was named after its designer was a copy of an earlier German 'machine pistol', the MP28,II, itself being an improved model of WWI's first effective sub-machine gun designed by Theodor Bergmann and Hugo Schmeisser, the MP18,I.

The first 2,000 units were designated 'Lanchester, Mk.I' were finely made with tangent sights just like the MP28,II. They were selective fire and could be mounted with the 1907 bayonet. However, they cost five times as much as a Sten and required more man hours to build. Consequently, the design was simplified to reduce costs and the result was the Lanchester Mk.1*, which was auto only.

Almost 80,000 units were built between June 1941 and October 1943, mainly by Sterling but with some sub-contracting to W.W. Greener and Boss. They had been intended to fulfil navy and air force requirements on a 50/50 basis but the RAF had not waited for the Lanchester and purchased a sub-machine gun from Smith & Wesson, which was a failure and stocks had to be returned. In the end, the RAF got very few Lanchesters so the bulk went to the RN and they saw service in various theatres.

After the end of WWII, the RN sold some of their Lanchesters to other countries, sometimes as part of the inventory of warships which were handed over to other countries, including Argentina. However, the bulk remained in service with the RN until withdrawn from service in 1979, after which they were collected and destroyed.

Thankfully for today's collectors, during WWII Britain had equipped an Egyptian unit with Lanchesters then, in the post-war years, sold more of ex-RN guns to Egypt in two deliveries. There would hardly be any Lanchesters left today were it not for these deliveries.

The gun which we are offering today is a Lanchester Mk I* which was manufactured in 1943 by Sterling. It was in use by the RN then sold to Egypt after WWII and finally issued to the Egyptian Police. This rare gun is in surprisingly good condition and retains all of its original finish. It comes with a 32-round Sten Gun magazine.

This Lanchester is being offered on a first come, first served basis, as part of our Bargain Basement deals. You can snap it up at a considerable discount based on how fast you react to our post to confirm your order with a deposit:

• Within 1 hour:     20% discount

• Within 3 hours:   15% discount

• Within 24 hours: 10% discount

This could be the opportunity that you have been waiting for – act fast to avoid disappointment! A sale will be considered as closed only if you contact us (SMS, WhatsApp or Messenger) and follow up with a 50% deposit by BOV Mobile Pay or Bank Transfer to our account. Details will be provided in our reply to your message.

Thanks to LSB’s knowledge and experience in historical firearms, all the pieces that we offer are covered by a lifetime warranty that you get is what we describe in detail, to ensure that you will never be disappointed with your purchase.

You will require a 2020 Collector Licence A Special to purchase this firearm.

We take great pleasure in bringing you these daily snippets of firearms history and we hope that you enjoy reading them. 

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