Talk:Sterling submachine gun

Sterling used in combat during WW2
Sterling submachine gun should be removed from Secondary weapons of World War II because it was developed after world war II — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.60.218.48 (talk • contribs) 21:47, 28 January 2005
 * No it wasn't. As the Patchett it saw service at Arnhem. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.135.250.162 (talk • contribs) 10:53, 2 April 2006

There is precious little evidence that it was used at Arnhem. Even this page quotes the doubt at 22 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.3.134.204 (talk) 17:55, 11 April 2023 (UTC)


 * No it wasn't. The Patchett SMG (which is simply the Sterling by another name) was developed in 1943 and was used by British Paratroopers at Arnhem in September 1944. Admittably, only a few dozen Patchetts were used at Arnhem, but it really was fired in combat there. Although the Patchett wasn't officially adopted by the British Army until after WW2, even during the war people recognised that it was an excellent design. Hence paratroopers taking them to Arnhem. One final nugget of information that you may not be aware of that made the Sterling viable at Arnhem: the Sterling will accept a Sten gun magazine and fire it. Obviously the Sterling magazine design is much superior, but you can get away with using Sten gun mags. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nabokov (talk • contribs) 18:29, 18 February 2007

If you want proof that the Sterling (Patchett Machine Carbine Mk 1) really was used in combat during WW2, look no further than the Imperial War Museum's collection. This particular example was used in action during the Battle of Walcheren in November 1944. Click here for details:-

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30029467

The SMG was used by the British Forces in the early to mid 1990's. Last used operationally by the British Army during Op Granby. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.15.237.255 (talk • contribs) 06:35, 13 April 2006


 * At the time Patchett had succeeded Lanchester as Chief Designer of the Sterling Armaments Company, hence the initial trials version of the gun was named the 'Patchett'. Lanchester had previously been responsible for the redesign of the MP 28 into the gun subsequently named after him. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.149.53.142 (talk) 09:23, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Copyvio issue
User:Noodle_snacks copyvio'ed the article in its entirety, due to an apparent inclusion of text from. I have reviewed this and put this on his talk page:

I just went back through this history of the article. The section identical to what's on the nazarian.no website was introduced here by User:Jll. The section was not dropped in in the form that it appears at nazarian.no; look at the diff series from April 7, 2005: That clearly shows Jll formatting the new text and adding and fixing text and typos.
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Evidence says that nazarian grabbed the text off wikipedia, not the other way around. So I am going to restore it. Let me know if you find better evidence... Georgewilliamherbert 07:17, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Falklands War
Was this gun used during the Falklands War? If so can anyone remember what troops used it? I think I remember a video of a British soldier with a beard and helmet, holding one and saying something like "We just wanna crack on and get to Stanley now" Ryan4314 09:47, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Answer The military Police used the Sterling SMG depending what role they were in at the time, mostly when signing roads when they were having to get in and out of vehicles to put unit movement route directions in.86.157.169.189 (talk) 19:12, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

It was issued mostly as a self-defence weapon to some infantry personnel whose main role involved heavy equipment, e.g No.1 on 84mm Carl Gustav. Lt. Col. Jones was armed with a Sterling when he was killed assaulting Argentine trenches at Goose Green. The Argentine Special Forces involved n the initial assault on Government House were armed with Mk 5 silenced Sterlings.(Onetap (talk) 20:56, 27 July 2011 (UTC))

FYI Ive just been reading a book about 2Para and their assault on Mt. Longdon, which was written by a former member, and it says they had a mix of Sterling and SLRs on that assault. 86.180.0.1 (talk) 06:26, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

Star Wars
Does it's inclusion in the original Star Wars Trilogy as the basis of the E-11 blaster rifle warrant a mention? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.170.214.229 (talk) 16:41, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

No.219.90.134.111 (talk) 10:01, 9 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Why not? Someone cite a rule, because Star Wars, though a lowly American made movie series, is still pretty effing notable. It's not like people in 2050 won't know what a lightsaber is. If it was in Gone With the Wind or Citizen Kane, would it still be a simple "no?" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.233.46.168 (talk) 08:09, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * If it were something like the Walther PPK, which is famous largely because of its association with James Bond, then it might be worthy of mention. This is extremely obscure trivia by comparison.  Nobody except serious Star Wars enthusiasts care what was used as the basis of a minor background prop.  The movie might be notable, but the prop isn't.  217.137.30.107 (talk) 00:51, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Popular culture
A quantity of these weapons were acquired by ILM in the 1970s to be modified into props, appearing as the "Imperial E-11 blaster rifle" and 'Rebel Alliance DH-17 Blaster pistol' in the original Star Wars film trilogy. --Technopat (talk) 10:43, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Comment: I've watched this article for a while now, this issue seems to have come up numerous times. Ryan 4314  (talk) 10:48, 22 August 2009 (UTC)


 * It's a highly notable fact about the Sterling, and ought to be mentioned. 24.214.230.66 (talk) 08:51, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

7.62mm Battle Rifle variant
The mentions of 7.62 x 51mm ammunition, lever-delayed blowback and Bren magazines should be deleted from this article. It gives a casual reader the impression that there was a 7.62mm Sterling SMG. The Sterling Battle Rifle never progressed beyond a prototype; a link to the article about it would be less confusing. (Onetap (talk) 21:15, 27 July 2011 (UTC))

Vietnam War use
The sterling was used by the New Zealand Army and ANZAZ SAS in Vietnam (as well as apparently by US Navy Seals) so I've added Vietnam to it's list of contacts and added a picture of Aussie troops with them in Vietnam 1967 and a first hand account by an ex-SAS soldier of their use — Preceding unsigned comment added by Goolcap (talk • contribs) 18:23, 28 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I have put the usable reference inline with the statement it is supporting per normal practice. The image isn't WP:RELIABLE so I have removed it as a reference. ( Hohum  @ ) 22:06, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

API Blowback?
Does it really not use ordinary, straight blowback? The citation for the API claim is now inaccessible. Oktayey (talk) 07:48, 26 June 2021 (UTC)


 * It IS using ordinary blowback. The primer cannot be activated before the round has stopped. It is true, that with straight blowback, the bolt mass is still moving as the primer gets initiated (after the cartridge has stopped). The effect is really minimal though (this travel is less than a mm). The Sterling operates just like any other open bolt SMG in this regard and its bolt weight is in the normal 500-600 g range.
 * True API is actually not possible with 9x19 Luger as there is no way for the extractor to follow the round into the chamber. API generally only works with rebated rim cartridges. Ideally, it uses electrically activated primers as well. 143.178.109.76 (talk) 18:58, 9 July 2023 (UTC)

User section
I feel like the user section should be updated with a former users list but the only country which im sure doesn't use sterlings is just the UK, could somebody with a better knowledge create this list? Yippt (talk) 20:30, 1 August 2023 (UTC)