This is a nice example of a desirable, WWII British Lanchester Mark I * (modified) SMG as manufactured by the Sterling Engineering Company in Essex that has been deactivated. This model was designed in early 1940 by George Lanchester and was used exclusively by the British Navy throughout the war. They were almost a direct copy of the German MP28 II except for a couple of minor changes to the basic design of the weapon. Basically the internals were the same as the MP28 with the earlier models having a repositioned selector switch that was later completely eliminated making them a fully automatic weapon only. All previously fielded SMGs were modified accordingly and remarked "Mark I * " as in this example. The two unique features of this weapon is that the magazine housing was completely made from brass and the barrel jacket has a permanently attached bayonet lug on the underside for the British 1907 pattern bayonet. The top of the magazine housing is marked "LANCHESTER/MK. I *./46649/M/94CF 59". It has a fixed front and a two-position (100 and 200 meter) adjustable rear sight. It also has a Enfield pattern walnut stock with finger grooves on the sides. This is a very robust and heavily designed SMG that was probably very easy to control. This weapon does not include a magazine; however, they can be easily acquired on the commercial market. As noted it has been deactivated by welding a plug in the chamber of the barrel and then welding it to the receiver.