Post by Mark Well, after years of searching, I finally located and bought one after wanting to buy one of these since 1985! When I first observed them in an advertisement in a gun magazine (Guns & Ammo) however, they where too expensive at the time.
And by the time that I could afford them, they had disappeared!
When I finally started to collect these modelguns after many years, I of course, wanted to buy a Sterling for my collection and I started to search for one to add to my collection.
But, I quickly noticed that the MGC sterling's had disappeared completely! They had of course, been collected by modelgun collectors like myself and the "star wars collectors" This particular MGC was obviously a new out of the box sterling that had been converted and just displayed as the bluing is in excellent condition with the exception of the missing bolt handle, screw holes in the barrel jacket, stock assembly and the (worst of all) cut magazine!
The trouble with the "star wars" connection is that there are many fans that want "blasters" like Han Solo carried in the movie and these where of course, converted British Sterling SMG's not MGC modelguns...MGC might very well have produced these for Lucas Films Corp but, I seriously doubt it...However, the fact is that these MGC's are being modified and in my opinion, being ruined to make blasters!!
I have found shops on the net that sell conversion kits for the MGC sterling to convert them into "blasters" these conversion kits require the receiver to be drilled and tapped for the various added on accessories and scope brackets and, worst of all, the special 30 rd (extremely rare!) MGC sterling magazine had to be cut and shortened to look "right"! AAAggg!
And worse, despite the fact that these these shops sell perfectly good replicas of the blaster that is made from actual sterling L2A3 parts on a replica receiver tube...These people still prefer to use the MGC! Even though, the blaster can't fire and you don't see the storm troopers pulling back the bolt handle!
I was rather lucky to find this example after having to pass up on one last year due to lack of money..It is in decent condition considering that it could have been played with excessively and had all of the bluing removed to simulate wear...
This MGC unfortunately, has been modified before importation to pass federal importation standards as determined by the ATF/U.S. customs these modifications included cutting the bolt face at an angle, drilling holes in the chamber,removal of the detonator and further plugging of the barrel.
The barrel has an extra block of hardened steel or carbide by the breech end of the barrel. So, unfortunately the barrel can't vent the gasses/smoke out the front due to this extra block...
As you can see, the bolt's face has been machined away and so it cannot feed any cartridges until the bolt is repaired or replaced.
As these MGC sterling's are rare both here and the rest of the world, parts are hard to find and the chances that a new or used magazine,bolt and bolt handle can be found are slim...However, I really want to "fire" this MGC and so, I will have to find or build the missing parts..But even with machining my own parts, it is still going to be some time before I can fire it...
And here is the breech end of the barrel and the plug that MGC provided instead of the detonator..The breech end of the barrel screws onto the chamber piece that is bolted in place by 4 allen headed cap screws and is apparently removeable which is really nice as I can seal up the drilled holes and allow the gasses to escape down the soon to be un-blocked barrel.
So, for the most part, I am extremely happy that I bought this MGC sterling, as I have wanted one for a long time...
But, the fact that so many parts are missing,cut and blocked is frustrating, as I love to "shoot" these modelguns, as that is what attracted me to them in the first place!
Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:25 pm
I remember reading back in the 70's about the shooting clubs and competitions that used to be held in Britain, they where awesome and you could even own BAR's (with the selector permently welded on semi-auto position) and other guns like the FN/FAL's etc. I'm afraid that those days are all gone especially in Britain..
