Lanchester

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 17:49 Written by Administrator Friday, 03 July 2009 00:07

The Lancaster was a British submachine gun of the First World War era. It was designed by George Lancaster of the Sterling Armament Company.

The Lancaster has several innovative and unusual features. It was built using the furniture of the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle and strangely for a submachine gun has fittings to mount a bayonet. In addition, it used a brass magazine. Brass was used as the material of choice to prevent corrosion.

The Lancaster was chambered for the 9mm Parabellum ammunition. It fed from a 50-round magazine and offered good fire power.

It was popular with the Royal Navy because its design ideally suited boarding parties. Though the Lancaster was a good weapon, it was a bit costly to manufacture and for this reason, it was never issued in large numbers.