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The Sterling submachine gun is a British
submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...
(SMG). It was tested by the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in 1944–1945, but did not start to replace the Sten until 1953. A successful and reliable design, it remained standard issue in the British Army until 1994, when it began to be replaced by the L85A1, a
bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the Chamber (firearms), breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, ...
assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...
.


History

In 1944, the British
General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...
issued a specification for a new submachine gun to replace the Sten. It stated that the new weapon should weigh no more than six pounds (2.7 kg), should fire
9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...
ammunition, have a rate of fire of no more than 500 rounds per minute, and be sufficiently accurate to allow five consecutive shots (fired in semi-automatic mode) to be placed inside a one-foot-square (30 cm × 30 cm) target at a distance of . To meet the new requirement, George William Patchett, the chief designer at the Sterling Armaments Company of
Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...
, submitted a sample weapon of new design in early 1944. The first Patchett prototype gun was similar to the Sten insofar as its cocking handle (and the slot it moved back and forth in) was placed in line with the ejection port though it was redesigned soon afterwards and moved up to a slightly offset position. The army quickly recognised the Patchett's significantly increased accuracy and reliability compared to the Sten and ordered 120 examples for trials. Towards the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, some of these trial samples are rumoured to have been used in combat by airborne troops during the
battle of Arnhem The Battle of Arnhem was fought during the Second World War, as part of the Allies of World War II, Allied Operation Market Garden. It took place around the Netherlands, Dutch city of Arnhem and vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Alli ...
and by
special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
at other locations in Northern Europe where it was officially known as the Patchett Machine Carbine Mk 1. For example, a Patchett submachine gun (serial numbered 078 and now held by the
Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...
), was carried in action by Colonel Robert W.P. Dawson while he was Commanding Officer of No. 4 Commando, during the attack on
Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...
as part of Operation Infatuate in November 1944. Because the Patchett/Sterling can use straight Sten
magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
as well as the curved Sterling design, there were no interoperability problems. After the war, with large numbers of Sten guns in the inventory, there was little interest in replacing them with a superior design. However, in 1947, a competitive trial between the Patchett, an Enfield design, a new BSA design and an experimental Australian design was held, with the Sten for comparison. The trial was inconclusive but was followed by further development and more trials. Eventually, the Patchett design won and the decision was made in 1951 for the British Army to adopt it. It started to replace the Sten in 1953 as the "Sub-Machine Gun L2A1". Its last non- suppressed variation was the L2A3 but the model changes were minimal throughout its development life. Sterling submachine guns with minor cosmetic alterations were used in the production of the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' films as props for the E-11 blaster rifle used by Imperial Stormtroopers. More drastically altered Sterlings were used as DH-17 blaster pistols in the hands of Rebel Alliance soldiers, though this weapon was mostly depicted via resin replicas that were cast from a "hero" prop and only a few live-firing Sterlings were modified compared to those used as E-11s. The E-11 itself would later come to be depicted by non-firing Sterling replicas, namely Model Gun Corporation replicas, which were used in ''
Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...
'' and S&T Sterling L2A1 airsoft guns which have been used from '' Rogue One'' onwards.


Design details

The Sterling submachine gun is constructed entirely of steel and plastic and has a shoulder stock that folds underneath the weapon. There is an adjustable rear sight, which can be flipped between 100 and 200 yard settings. Although of conventional blowback design firing from an
open bolt A firearm is said to fire from an open bolt or open breech if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear of the receiver, with no round in the chamber. When the trigger is actuated, the bolt travels forward, feeds a car ...
, there are some unusual features: for example, the bolt has helical grooves cut into the surface to remove dirt and fouling from the inside of the receiver to increase reliability. There are two concentric recoil springs which cycle the bolt, as opposed to the single spring arrangement used by many other SMG designs. This double-spring arrangement is intended to give improved reliability when firing 9mm ammunition types other than the British '2Z' standard, which typically have different propellant charges and bullet weights. The Sterling's double-stack, double-feed box
magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
was designed in 1946 by George Patchett. While the original Patchett gun was intended to take Sten or Lanchester magazines, these magazines' poor reliability led Patchett to initially redesign the Sten magazine with a roller platform to reduce
friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...
, and then to construct a new double-feed magazine that implemented the earlier roller platform, a stamped metal construction, and a curved magazine body, allowing the 9×19mm round to feed more reliably. The bolt feeds ammunition alternately from the top and bottom of the magazine lips, and its fixed firing pin is designed so that it does not line up with the primer in the cartridge until the cartridge has entered the chamber. In its final iteration, the magazine uses a four-piece construction with scalloped, spot-welded edges and positioning notches. While originally intended to hold forty rounds, concerns over the magazine's ability to fit into the ammunition pouch of the then-new 1944 Pattern Web Equipment led the magazine to be shortened to its final capacity of thirty-four rounds; when introducing the Mk 7 Pistol variant in 1983, Sterling produced magazines with capacities of ten and fifteen rounds for that weapon, as well as introducing "twin-stacked" versions of these and the original thirty-four round magazine. The Sterling magazine is said to be one of the best ever designed. While Sterling provided magazines for British Armed Forces weapons, with these being designated as "Magazine, 9mm, L1A1", cost issues led the Ministry of Defence to pursue the design and production of a non-Sterling L1A2 version which used a stamped and electrically seam-welded two-piece construction with a singular positioning lug and was 9.8" long down the rear spine compared to the 9.6" of Sterling-produced magazines. Production Sterlings retain the earlier Patchett gun's compatibility with Sten and Lanchester magazines; while the Lanchester gun is theoretically capable of using Sterling magazines, the same cannot be said for the Sten gun since a Sterling magazine intrudes inch further into the bolt way than a Sten magazine and so attempting to fire a Sten gun with a Sterling magazine fitted would cause the breech block to foul the rear of the magazine, while attempting to counteract this by withdrawing the magazine by inch would merely result in the magazine's top round being out of alignment with the breech block by inches. This issue is not present on Sterling guns fitted with Sten magazines; while the magazine will be inch further away from the breech block's centre line, the top round remains in line with the breech and so can be reached by the Sterling's more robust feed horns. The Sterling gun and its magazine were purportedly designed this way in order to prevent a situation where, instead of buying the actual Sterling gun, prospective users might only buy its magazines and then use these with their pre-existing Sten guns. The Sterling employs a degree of what is known as Advanced Primer Ignition, in that the cartridge is fired while the bolt is still moving forward, a fraction of a second before the round is fully chambered. The firing of the round thus not only sends the bullet flying down the barrel but simultaneously resists the forwards movement of the bolt. By this means it is possible to employ a lighter bolt than if the cartridge was fired after the bolt had already stopped, as in simple blowback, since the energy of the expanding gases would then only have to overcome the bolt's static inertia (plus spring resistance) to push it backwards again and cycle the weapon; whereas in this arrangement some of this energy is used up in counteracting the bolt's forwards momentum as well; and thus the bolt does not have to be so massive. The lighter bolt makes not only for a lighter gun, but a more controllable one since there is less mass moving to and fro within it as it fires. The suppressed version of the Sterling (L34A1/Mk.5) was developed for covert operations. This version uses a ported barrel surrounded by a cylinder with expansion chambers. The Australian and New Zealand SAS regiments used the suppressed version of the Sterling during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. It was used by both Argentinian and British Special Forces during the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
. A Sterling was used by Libyan agents to kill WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in London, which sparked the 1984 siege of the building. The Sterling has a reputation for excellent reliability under adverse conditions and, even though it fires from an open bolt, good accuracy. With some practice, it is very accurate when fired in short bursts. While it has been reported that the weapon poses no problems for left-handed users to operate, it is not recommended without the wearing of ballistic eye protection. The path of the ejected cartridge cases is slightly down and backward, so mild burns can occasionally be incurred by left-handed shooters. A
bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...
of a similar design as that for the
L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle The L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), also known by the initial Canadian designation C1, or in the U.S. as the "inch pattern" FAL, is a British version of the Belgian FN FAL battle rifle. The L1A1 was produced under licence and adopted by the arme ...
was produced and issued in British Army service, but was rarely employed except for ceremonial duties. Both bayonets were derived from the version issued with the Rifle No. 5 Mk I "jungle carbine", the main difference being a smaller ring on the SLR bayonet to fit the rifle's muzzle. When mounted, the Sterling bayonet was offset to the left of the weapon's vertical line, which gave a more natural balance when used for bayonet-fighting. For a right-handed shooter, the correct position for the left hand while firing is on the ventilated barrel-casing, but not on the magazine, as the pressure from holding the magazine can increase the risk of stoppages, and a loose magazine can lead to dropping the weapon. The barrel-casing hold provides greater control of the weapon, so the right hand can intermittently be used for other tasks. A semi-circular protrusion on the right-hand side of the weapon, approximately two inches from the muzzle, serves to prevent the supporting hand from moving too far forward and over the muzzle.


Manufacture

Over 400,000 Sterlings were manufactured between 1953 and 1988. Sterling built them at their factory in
Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...
for the British armed forces and for overseas sales, while Liverpool's Royal Ordnance Factory Fazakerley constructed them exclusively for the British military. Production ceased in 1988 with the closing of Sterling Armaments by
British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...
/ Royal Ordnance. Fazakerley no longer makes full weapons, but still manufactures spare parts for certified end users. Sterling produced its own magazines, with those intended for British military use being marked "L1A1". L1A2 magazines were variously manufactured by Fazakerley, Royal Laboratories Woolwich,
Rolls Razor Rolls Razor Limited was a British company known first for its manufacture of a sophisticated safety razor and later, under new ownership, an "affordable" twin-tub washing machine. Origins: razor The eponymous product was a sophisticated safety ...
, and Mettoy; out of the 1,723,623 magazines contracted for, Mettoy was to produce 227,262, Rolls Razor was to produce 309,800, and the remaining 1.2 million were produced by Fazakerley and Woolwich. A Chilean variant was made by FAMAE as the PAF submachine gun but was different externally as it had a shorter receiver lacking the barrel shroud. Canada also manufactured a variant under licence, called the Submachine Gun 9 mm C1 made by Canadian Arsenals Limited. It is made from stamped metal instead of cast metal and is capable of handling a C1 bayonet, which is only used during public exhibition events and not for combat operations. A similar weapon, the Sub-Machine Gun Carbine 9 mm 1A1, was manufactured under licence by the Indian Ordnance Factory at
Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...
beginning in 1963, along with a Sub-Machine Gun Carbine 9 mm 2A1, manufactured beginning in 1977. As of 2012, it has been reported that at least 5,000 of these SMGs were made in India. The PAWS ZX was manufactured in the United States by Police Arms Weapons Services. It was available in 9x19mm Parabellum (ZX-5) and .45 ACP (ZX-7). The weapon was available in closed-bolt semi automatic with various barrel lengths and the ability to use magazines from Stens (ZX-6), M3 Grease guns (ZX-8) and even UZI magazines (ZX-6A1). One prototype was chambered in .40 S&W and prototypes were to be made in .30 Carbine using M1 Carbine magazines. Advantages of the ZX trigger group was the amount of only 3 components compared to the 36 of the Sterling. The pistol grip was rubber instead of plastic which improved comfort and handling. The molly coat crackle paint was less labor intensive for mass production than that used by Sterling and allowed the user/armourer to repair scratches by field stripping the weapon completely and re-baking the receiver in an oven.


Variants

* British Armed Forces ** Unassigned: Patchett Machine Carbine Mark 1 (trials commenced in 1944) ** Unassigned: Patchett Machine Carbine Mark 1 & Folding Bayonet (same as above but with folding bayonet, never accepted) ** L2A1: (Patchett Machine Carbine Mark 2) Adopted in 1953. ** L2A2: (Sterling Mark 3) Adopted in 1955. ** L2A3: (Sterling Mark 4) Adopted in 1956. Last regular version in service with the British Army, Royal Marines and
RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...
. ** L34A1: Suppressed version (Sterling-Patchett Mark 5). ** Unassigned: Various unofficial drill purpose conversions of unserviceable weapons prior to 1973. ** L49A1: Official drill purpose version introduced in 1973 and converted from unserviceable L2A3s. * Sterling Mark 6 "Police": a semi-automatic-only closed-bolt version for
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
forces and private sales. A US export version had a longer barrel () to comply with
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...
(ATF) regulations. Beginning in 2009, Century Arms began marketing a similar semi-auto only carbine manufactured by Wiselite Arms. These too have a 16-inch barrel. They are assembled using a mix of newly made US parts, and parts from demilitarized Sterling Mark 4 parts kits. This is often marketed as the ''Sterling Sporter''. * Sterling Mark 7 "Para-pistol": Special machine pistol variant issued to commando and plainclothes intelligence units. It had a barrel shortened to , fixed vertical foregrip designed by Black & Decker, and weighed . If used with a short 10- or 15-round magazine, it could be stowed in a special holster. It also could be used as a Close Quarters Battle weapon with the addition of an optional solid stock. * Canadian Army ** C1 Submachine Gun: Adopted in 1958, replacing the STEN gun in general service. It was different from the British L2 in that it made extensive use of stamped metal parts rather the more expensive castings used by British production SMGs. It also had a removable
trigger guard A trigger guard is a protective loop surrounding the trigger (firearms), trigger of a firearm designed to prevent unwanted contact with the trigger, which may cause an accidental discharge. Other devices that use a trigger-like actuator mechanism, ...
for use with gloves in arctic operations as a standard option, and used a different 30-round magazine with a stamped metal follower. A 10-round magazine was also available for crews of armoured vehicles. * Indian Army ** SAF Carbine 1A: Indian made Sterling L2A1. ** SAF Carbine 2A1: Sterling Mark V silenced carbine.


7.62 NATO variant

A prototype rifle in the
7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...
calibre was manufactured, using some components from the SMG. The rifle used lever-delayed blowback to handle the more powerful rounds and was fed from 30-round Bren magazines. To prevent ammunition cookoff, the weapon fired from an open bolt. Only one model of the rifle was produced, possibly to test the concepts of a proposed new product. It was not put into production.


Users

* : Mk 4 variant and L34A1 suppressed variant. * : Mk 4 (trials) and L34A1 suppressed variant. * : L34A1 suppressed variant, used by Jagdkommando special forces only. * : Mk 3 variant, trials only and Mk 4 variants. * : Mk 4 variant. * * : Mk 4 variant. * * : Mk 3 variant, trials only * : Mk 4 variant. * : Produced as the C1. * : Mk 3 variant, trials only * * : Mk 3 variant * * : Mk 3 variant, trials only * * * * * : L2A variant. Used by the Royal Hong Kong Regiment. * : 32,536 Mk 4 weapons were delivered. The Indian Ordnance Factories manufactured the 1A1/2A1 version under licence until 2010. Currently all remaining weapons are being replaced by the Joint Venture Protective Carbine. * : Replaced by MP5 Submachine Gun. * : Mk 4 variant. Around 13,241 Mk 4s made and sold to Iraq. * : Used by the Jamaica Defence Force as a personal defence weapon for auxiliary units. * *
Kingdom of Laos The Kingdom of Laos was the form of government in Laos from 1947 to 1975. Located in Southeast Asia at the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, it was bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, North Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the sou ...
: Mk 3 variant, trials only * : L2A3 variant * : Mk 3 variant and L34A1 suppressed variant used by the
Lebanese Commando Regiment The Commando Regiment () is a special forces unit in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). History In 1960, General Emile Boustany, then the commander in northern Lebanon, and Mahmud Tay Abou Dargham discussed the creation of a commando unit. After ...
. * * : Mk 2 and L34 variants and Indian-made 1A1 * * : at least 18,500 Mk 4 bought * * * * * * * * * * : L34A1s used by Naval Special Warfare Group. * * * * * : Mk 3 variant ordered for trials. Mk 4 variant used by
Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; hum ...
's paramilitary units— Gurkha Contingent, Police Coast Guard and Police Special Operations Command; replaced by the Heckler & Koch MP5 since 1999. * * * : Mk 3 variant, trials only * : UOE special group of the
Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...
. * * * : Mk 3 variant, trials only * * * * * : L2A1 variant was accepted by the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in 1953. L34A1 variant entered service in 1966. Mk 3 variant used by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...
from 1971 to 1992 when replaced by the Heckler & Koch MP5. * : Mk 3 and Mk 4 variants, trials only * * *


Non-state users

*
National Liberation Front of Angola The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence, under the leadership of Holden Roberto. F ...
(FNLA) *
Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ') is a Lebanon, Lebanese Christianity in Lebanon, Christian-based political party and Lebanese Forces (militia), former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's Parliamen ...
* Various Loyalist groups ( Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Protestant Volunteers,
Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...
) used Sterling copies made from captured submachine guns and spare parts.


See also

* CETME C2 submachine gun * F1 submachine gun * Lanchester submachine gun * E-11 blaster rifle, a prop from the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' film universe based on the Sterling frame


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Éric Micheletti and Yves Debay, ''Liban – dix jours aux cœur des combats'', RAIDS Magazine No. 41, October 1989, Histoire & Collections, Paris. (in French)


Further reading

* * *


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling Submachine Gun 9mm Parabellum submachine guns API blowback firearms Silenced firearms Submachine guns of the United Kingdom World War II submachine guns Infantry weapons of the Cold War Cold War weapons of the United Kingdom Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1953