Interesting video about the Sten gun

While serving in the infantry at CFB Petawawa I had the great luck to fire a suppressed Mk II Sten gun courtesy of visiting US Special Forces troops.
The resulting report was much like a 22 LR, it seemed to my ears. The suppressor also made the muzzle rise even more mangaeable & small groupings of shots were possible with short bursts.
BTW I also remember our platoon cleaning and greasing untold numbers of our Canadian SMGs when the C7 came into service.
I think someone else on this forum said it was rumoured they ended up in an African nations arsenal.

no melted down in ahmerst nova scotia,along with c1's and c2's.
 
The Carbine, Machine, STEN Mark 1 was produced, but not for very long.

Their first and just about only combat use was at Dieppe, where it was proved that the IDEA was good although the EXECUTION thereof was faulty, with numbers of the guns actually beating themselves to pieces. My father was told by a friend who was there that when the landing-craft came back, the bottoms were "covered" with Sten Gun parts.

The PROBLEM was ascertained quickly and the STEN MARK 2 went into production, using nearly all the parts of the Mark 1, so no major retooling was required. It seems to be solid enough that its only enemies are steel mills and clinically-paranoid politicians.

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Who is he?

A retired armourer from the British Army whose service covered the latter years of the Enfields and other WWII era small arms. A living encyclopedia of technical and historical information on these guns and their ancillaries.
 
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I have seen STEN guns for sale on Canada Firearms, but it was some kind of "turn your DEWAT into a functioning semi-auto restricted carbine (-16.5") or non-restricted rifle (+16.5").

I'd be interested in a Sterling Mk 6, restricted or not.

:)
 
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Nice video!:)

What television series is it from?:confused:

I've read somewhere that the Sten Gun mags had a tendency to jam if they were fully loaded (32 rounds) so they were usually downloaded to less than 30 rounds for reliable feeding.

I've also read the same about the MP 40 too.

A former British soldier I used to work with compared the differences between the Sten and Sterling as night and day.

He confirmed the Sten had a tendency to jam, but that the Sterling ran very smoothly. He said he regretted having to turn it in.

Here is a neat video comparing the Sten and MP 40:

[youtube]V591FhD_y3o&feature=related[/youtube]
 
sten and mp40 mags suffered from the same problem..double stack, single feed.
I think I read somewhere that the mags were interchangeable, but im not 100% on that
 
My grandfather from the Winnipeg rifles said this was an awful gun. he was given 3 different ones and when he dropped the but of the gun on the ground it would unload the entire clip unable to stop it.. he said as soon as he landed he picked up a mp40 (ammo was few and far between). he said their best and most reliable weapon was the bren gun.
 
My grandfather from the Winnipeg rifles said this was an awful gun. he was given 3 different ones and when he dropped the but of the gun on the ground it would unload the entire clip unable to stop it.. he said as soon as he landed he picked up a mp40 (ammo was few and far between). he said their best and most reliable weapon was the bren gun.

sten guns don't use clips....it has a 32 round box magzine

the sten and mp40 used the same ammunition...so why would ammo be few and far between?
 
I have seen STEN guns for sale on Canada Firearms, but it was some kind of "turn your DEWAT into a functioning semi-auto restricted carbine (-16.5") or non-restricted rifle (+16.5").

I'd be interested in a Sterling Mk 6, restricted or not.

:)

How could that be legal? I thought the whole point of a dewat was that it so no longer a gun. I could be way off base here but I don't think that's legal.
 
It would be an interesting intellectual exercise to see how simple and cheap someone could design a semi-auto simple blowback rifle. It would be even easier nowadays because you could just mold a plastic shell for the stock and such.

How many parts do you think one could get it down to?
 
Legal. The dewat isn't reactivated. It is cut into pieces and the usable salvaged parts are incorporated into a new gun. Depending on how the gun was deactivated, these parts might be usable: barrel nut; mag. catch, its spring, retainer and screw, ratchet, plunger, spring and cotter pin; ejector; extractor, pin and spring; recoil spring, guide and retainer, cocking handle; butt; trigger box with head collar; trigger mechanism and cover; front sight.
These parts would be needed: barrel; barrel seating; bolt; magazine housing; casing.
Using a dewat as a parts source is one way of getting a partial parts kit. All major parts must be sourced elsewhere.
 
It would be an interesting intellectual exercise to see how simple and cheap someone could design a semi-auto simple blowback rifle. It would be even easier nowadays because you could just mold a plastic shell for the stock and such.

How many parts do you think one could get it down to?

Have a look at a Gevarm .22. These are nicely machined and finished, but have very few parts.
 
"Click HERE for video of a ######## STEN MkII being converted into a prohibited fully automatic firearm by the RCMP."



Walked back by a 9mm LOL
 
At 500 RPM the same as the Sten, I would put my money on the MP40 that had little history of jamming or accidentally firing when dropped.

OriginalDSC04651.jpg


Together with the feature of the folding stock.

240kbsLighterDSC04645-1.jpg


CroppedrezisedMP40MagazineMarkings011.jpg


David
 
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The MP38 had the same bump firing problem as the earlier Stens, if carried with the bolt foreward with a loaded magazine in place. This was a situation that was supposed to be forbidden, but troops did it anyway. For the MP38, the expedient solution was a leather strap hooked over the cocking handle.
The MP40 introduced a locking cocking handle, which locked the bolt in place when in the closed position; MP38s were retrofitted with this assembly as the MP38/40.
The Mk. V cocking handle installed in Stens did the same thing. Locked the bolt closed so that a bump would not move the bolt. This cocking handle did not become production standard until later in the War, and most existing guns were retrofitted. But until then, a Sten with a closed bolt and a loaded magazine was an accident waiting to happen. A cocked, loaded gun, with the handle not hooked into the safety notch was actually safer.
Just about all the earlier smgs had this problem. If the jar was sufficient to cause the bolt to move far enough to pick up a round, but not far enough to #### the gun, a round would be fired.
The only safe way to carry a loaded MP38 or unmodified Sten was to #### the bolt, hook the cocking handle into the safety notch, and insert a magazine.
There are the stories of dropped Stens jumping around on the ground, firing the contents of the magazine. The only way this could happen is if there was a broken or defective part in the trigger mechanism that prevented the sear from catching the bolt. Easy enough to duplicate this situation - disconnect the trigger spring from the pawl, so that the sear will not rise to engage the bolt, pull back the bolt and let go. The gun will fire until empty.
Most jamming problems in auto firearms are ammunition or magazine related. The first Stens were extensively used with Winchester contract pistol ammunition. This was the first 9mm ammunition available in quantity. This occasionally gave blown cases, causing stoppages and sometimes bullets stuck in the bore. The next shot would bulge or split the barrel.
It may be that MP38u40 magazines were made to a higher standard than some Sten magazines, or that the magazine to gun interface was better controlled.
 
The Carbine, Machine, STEN Mark 1 was produced, but not for very long.

Their first and just about only combat use was at Dieppe, where it was proved that the IDEA was good although the EXECUTION thereof was faulty, with numbers of the guns actually beating themselves to pieces. My father was told by a friend who was there that when the landing-craft came back, the bottoms were "covered" with Sten Gun parts.

The PROBLEM was ascertained quickly and the STEN MARK 2 went into production, using nearly all the parts of the Mark 1, so no major retooling was required. It seems to be solid enough that its only enemies are steel mills and clinically-paranoid politicians.

.

Canadian troops used Mk. I Stens at Dieppe? I knew Stens were used, but was not aware that they were Mk. Is.
By the time of the Dieppe raid, Mk. II production was well under way.
About the only parts common on the I and II are the trigger box with head collar, the trigger mechanism, the magazine catch assembly, the bolt (with a slight modification), and the recoil spring parts. Stock, barrel, barrel nut, barrel seating, magazine housing, receiver casing are all different.
 
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