Lanchester finish

[StrangeRanger]

Pix #2 and #3 show it has a select fire button.  Looks like an MP28,II

[Rekraps]

2 hours ago, StrangeRanger said:

Pix #2 and #3 show it has a select fire button.  Looks like an MP28,II

I just like those guns!

[StrangeRanger]

I was looking for good buy on an MP28,II or an MP41 (dream on) when the MP34 appeared at a very good price.  Easy decision.

[Rekraps]

20 hours ago, StrangeRanger said:

I was looking for good buy on an MP28,II or an MP41 (dream on) when the MP34 appeared at a very good price.  Easy decision.

We like much of the same stuff. My M.P.18,I is one of my favorites. And now that I figured out you can use a Lanchester bolt/recoil assembly in it, the issue of that awful small diameter spring/FP/bolt combo is solved. I keep the OEM bolt assembly for when i sell it. 

[quartermaster-1939-69]

The Lanchester Machine Carbine: A Collector’s Guide – Vickers MG Collection & Research Association

This book answers a lot of the questions that have cropped up here so might be helpful to some people. 

[StrangeRanger]

On 6/9/2024 at 7:49 PM, Rekraps said:

Perfect example! Sterling manufactured, hand fitted parts, MK1*... but no export marks. I wonder if the guns on the RN ships had the export star and stamp? Maybe no?

Well, one thing is for sure, no matter how far and deep I look, I cannot find an explanation for the CF 67 (mine has a similar stamp). Any idea?

The Lanchester Machine Carbine: A Collector’s Guide says that "CF" denotes Component Fittings Ltd. the manufacturer of the magazine housing.  No indication as to the meaning of the number following it.  Possibly it is unrelated, also possibly the mold number in which the casting was poured, an inspector's stamp or other manufacturing information.

Edited August 2, 2025 by StrangeRanger
Spellling

[Rekraps]

On 8/1/2025 at 11:46 AM, StrangeRanger said:

The Lanchester Machine Carbine: A Collector’s Guide says that "CF" denotes Component Fittings Ltd. the manufacturer of the magazine housing.  No indication as to the meaning of the number following it.  Possibly it is unrelated, also possibly the mold number in which the casting was poured, an inspector's stamp or other manufacturing information.

Thanks, another mystery solved.

[Rekraps]

BTW, any chance you have a spare MP35 bolt?

[StrangeRanger]

8 hours ago, Rekraps said:

BTW, any chance you have a spare MP35 bolt?

????????

[quartermaster-1939-69]

The two digit numbers following the CF stamp runs (from memory, but I will double check) form the 20's until the 70's going up through production with the 1945 guns having the highest number. However they're not sequential but are duplicated in batches or similar aged guns. More examples are needed to pull together a definitive list but they weren't stamped on the early 1942 guns, just the CF makers stamp for Component Fittings.   

[StrangeRanger]

My Lanchester (see Post #4 in this thread) is a 1943 gun marked CF67

Edited August 8, 2025 by StrangeRanger