The Sterling Armament Company is a British firearms manufacturer based in London.
History[]
Sterling Armaments was established in 1940 as the Sterling Engineering Company. During World War II it produced the Lanchester submachine gun and prototypes of the Patchett gun, which would be adopted by the British Army post-war as the Sterling L2. This gun because the company's flagship product and was widely exported and licensed around the world.
Although the L2 submachine gun proved popular, the company had trouble launching other products. During the 1960s and 70s it unsuccessfully attempted to market the LAR and the AR-18, neither of which saw many sales. In the 1980s, Sterling licensed production of the SAR-80 to Singapore, which was used briefly by their armed forces. Sterling marketed their last product in 1987, the SAR-87, which was an improved version of the SAR-80. Ultimately it failed to turn a profit and the company folded in 1988.
The Sterling brand was revived by in April 2016 under the management of James Edmiston, a former director of the original company. Initially this new company unveiled a line of prototype airguns for civilian sporting use, however in 2019, Sterling began marketing rebranded products from Sabre Defence Industries intended for military and law enforcement customers.
Notable personnel[]
- James Edminston - Director
- Frank Waters - Chief designer
- George William Patchett - Designer
- John P. Foote - Consultant
- Alexander J.R. Cormack - Consultant
Products[]
Pistols/Revolvers[]
Submachine guns[]
Rifles[]
- Sterling .308
- Sterling LAR
- Sterling-CIS SAR-80
- Sterling-CIS SAR-87
- Sterling XR-15
- Sterling XR-16