Sterling Mk 8 - "the holy grail of Sterling machine guns"

[SAH]

If I believe my friend, I have found what he often refers to as the "holy grail of Sterling machine guns" - the Sterling Mk 8. (Not the US version - the original).

Brand new, never fired, this was an amazing find, to which I am eternally grateful to my friend for finding. But now the research starts...

I have nothing on this firearm - other than a reference to it in an old official Sterling catalogue, I don't know anything about this gun.

Can anyone direct me to some sources of information?

Thanks

 

[Traveler]

There’s a member on here who has a Mk8. Do a search and you should find some pictures.

The best reference for Sterlings is “The Guns of Dagenham” book by Peter Laidler and David Howroyd. There’s a couple of pages on the Mk8 in it.

It is not a machine gun. The Mk8 is a closed-bolt semi-auto hybrid. It has the body and barrel of Mk4 SMG. The other internal parts are from the semi-auto Mk6, semi-auto only bolt, firing pin, springs and trigger pack, blocking bar and pad.

Very few of the 70 or so produced were imported to the US because it is a short-barreled rifle, SBR, under US law. That added an additional $200 to the cost of ownership which made it unattractive to US buyer at the time.

It’s a very nice and hard to find gun. Congratulations. Hope you enjoy it.

 

[Captain murrica]

There’s a member on here who has a Mk8. Do a search and you should find some pictures.

The best reference for Sterlings is “The Guns of Dagenham” book by Peter Laidler and David Howroyd. There’s a couple of pages on the Mk8 in it.

It is not a machine gun. The Mk8 is a closed-bolt semi-auto hybrid. It has the body and barrel of Mk4 SMG. The other internal parts are from the semi-auto Mk6, semi-auto only bolt, firing pin, springs and trigger pack, blocking bar and pad.

Very few of the 70 or so produced were imported to the US because it is a short-barreled rifle, SBR, under US law. That added an additional $200 to the cost of ownership which made it unattractive to US buyer at the time.

It’s a very nice and hard to find gun. Congratulations. Hope you enjoy it.

I can't be the only person impressed by you library of knowledge. I don't even own a sterling, but I enjoy soaking up all you have to share about them.

 

[Junkcollector]

As Advertised

 

[Traveler]

Thanks, Captain Murrica. That’s very kind of you, but I am just repeating what I have read in books and learned from talking with others. Next month I will have been shooting Sterlings for 52 years and I am still learning new and interesting things about them, often from folks on this forum.

 

[SAH]

Thanks for the information - Heard of this book many times, but the closest i have even come to owning one was when someone offered to sell me a second-hand copy for US$999.00 ! Is it really that good of a book? Any idea where i can buy a copy for a reasonable price? I have a couple of other Sterlings that i would like to research (Mk 4, 5 and 7-A8). On the subject of the Mk 6 - is this a something that can be found in the market, or one of those "jems" that rarely makes an appearance? S.

 

[X-Ray Zulu]

Traveler was right on the money... I have the GoD right in front of me...
Only 70 were made. They stopped because the OAL was too short for the American market. It used a single shot ONLY trigger mechanism. They are ONLY interchangeable with certain exceptions not with the MK6. It can mount a No. 5 bayonet. Its reads that Sterling was attempting to
make a MK4 look-a-like for the American market but when they released it and it was too short to be imported to realize a continued profit because it needed a stamp. They scrapped the program. Then they abandoned it completely. Hence the reason for only making 70 units.
IMHO if it is an MK8 it should have an excedeling high value. I would have to have a stamp to live in America. The GoD book has less than 3 pages on the whole gun. It was known offically as the "9mm Gun Mark 8" The boys called it a CBS "closed bolt single shot".

 

[SAH]

Thank you for the info. Sounds like the GoD book is worth getting..... anyone know of one for sale at a reasonable price?

 

[Traveler]

Try forum member Vegas SMG. I think he was talking about selling his copy a while back.

 

[mhpdblue]

Or Ebay or Amazon. I my copy a few years ago for about 60 or 65 bucks off Ebay.-

 

[clossinpdx]

Perhaps some on here on the forum should get a list of those who would buy the book. IF there is enough interest, perhaps Clive Law of Collector Grade Publications would do another run. If that doesn't happen, then it is very likely the values will only climb ( one of my other hobbies is limited ed. #-ed rare books on narrow gauge railroads of Colo & Me.). Cheapest one I've seen was at $540 on eBay a while back. Bookfinder.com has them even higher. It seems insane to me, as I doubt anyone into Sterlings will pay that for a book when they could use that same money toward accessories (L34A1's front sights for a recent example), ammo and such.

 

[clossinpdx]

Here's a pic of our Mk8 gun with the Mk5 in our Plano Field Locker



The Mk8 is fitted with a BSA airgun scope that has a "krinkle" finish similar to that of the Sterling commercial guns.
Other items are : A Sterling marked #5 bayonet in scabbard, a grey SAS sling, (below Mk5) a 10rd, 34rd & 45rd Chilean PAF mag and below the MK8 gun is a 15rd. The Mk5 is seen with its Ironwood forend.
I think the Mk8 count was 83...but, I could be wrong. This thread got me curious so I went down to our safe and our is 007X...suffice to say, in this case X does not =0 FWIW. Although, I'd have to dig out my copy of TGoD to see if David & Peter mention any lost, skipped, destroyed...etc.

 

[Junkcollector]

Perhaps some on here on the forum should get a list of those who would buy the book. IF there is enough interest, perhaps Clive Law of Collector Grade Publications would do another run. If that doesn't happen, then it is very likely the values will only climb ( one of my other hobbies is limited ed. #-ed rare books on narrow gauge railroads of Colo & Me.). Cheapest one I've seen was at $540 on eBay a while back. Bookfinder.com has them even higher. It seems insane to me, as I doubt anyone into Sterlings will pay that for a book when they could use that same money toward accessories (L34A1's front sights for a recent example), ammo and such.

I wrote to the company awhile ago and asked if they would consider doing a re-run. They E-Mailed me back stating it was a slow mover that took a long time to sell all they printed. My estimate is they were a few years too soon. as Sterlings had not gained much popularity at that time.

 

[X-Ray Zulu]

Last month, Jan 2017 I heard a rumor of 50 GoD books with water damage and I tracked down Blake Stevens, the man who produced and edited Guns of Dagenham and spoke to him at length about the GoD book in general and it's reprinting.
( really he took Peter and David's notes manuscripts and photos and put the book together ) .
He told me "He was pretty sure that a reprinting was not going to happen" and that he spoke to Peter years ago about it and it wasn't a "Keen" topic. Mr. Stevens has a large inventory of Many Books and other current editions (dozens) he currently is active and selling on his website. He told me he's aproaching the time to "wrap thing up" so he and his wife can relax. Also he told me as far as he knows the story of the damaged books that were a myth and his inventory has been gone a very, very long time. I bit the bullet last year when I found one for $195. I keep tabs on the market and prices in the hopes of finding a cache of some or even a single... Sadly the $400-ish mark is the lowest Ive seen and 99% are from $1020 to over $4K, LMAO...
TODAY the Amazon Low and High were at $475 to $1872. At any rate this was my experience on the GoD book... Regards, X-RZ

 

[Lima]

If the company has no commercial interest in publishing more GoD with paper, shame they could not come up with an electronic version which would not cost much to produce but get the info out there. I guess problem is getting the authors and owners their fair share of IP revenue once it is released on the internet.

 

[Junkcollector]

Need to find someone who owns the book and is willing to disassemble the book to do a proper scan of the book, not a sloppy half-assed scan as a lot of people do.
Maybe talk to the original publisher and talk a deal with him.

 

[Krinkovliu]

I have a couple of possible suggestions regarding this. (1) I read somewhere that Amazon or a company similar to it has a business that will print copies of some books on demand. So if ten people want a particular book ten, and only ten, will be printed at that time for sale. (2) There is a company that publishes hard copy reprints of high school annuals for about $80 a copy. I have seen one of their reprints and it looks good. Again, this looks like a print on demand service. Maybe this company could do GoD or recommend another printer. Of course the copyright holder will have agree to this. But a commission for a limited number of books custom printed is better than no commission on no books printed.