The magazine system is critical to the functionning of any autoloading firearm. The Sten was derived from the Lanchester, which in turn was copied from the MP28, and the basic design of the MP28 magazine was retained. Sten magazines were made by a variety of contractors; the pattern of metal forming varies as well. I'm aware of at least four different methods of forming the magazine tube, and there may be others. The presentation of the cartridge must be correct, or a misfeed will result. Magazine QC left a bit to be desired, and this was probably the primary source of jamming. The best magazines I've seen are the Cdn. ones. These are often marked KC. Kelvinator Canada? I don't know. In the UK, Sten components were widely subcontracted, in a rather sophisticated scheme to make use of available facilities. The parts in the Stens in the photo may have been made primarily at BSA, or could have come from numerous subcontrators, with only final assembly there. Parts were dispatched to final assembly plants like BSA and Fazakerley according to what parts were needed where.
Sten Truck picture.. guess how many!
- Thread starter gtiguy
- Start date
stencollector
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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- shilo MB, the armpit of Canada
I,too, have wondered whether KC stood for Kalvinator. All KC mags I have seen have the C/l\ on them. A small portion of the KC mags also have M3. That type of code system was used in the UK for security reasons, but I have never seen it used in Canada on other items.
There are also Canadian marked mags with the intertwined LB logo on them. These are, in my opinion, the best available.
I have one of the indian modified mags in my colection with the brass rods down the insides. Shame I will never get to try them out to their normal capacity.
There are also Canadian marked mags with the intertwined LB logo on them. These are, in my opinion, the best available.
I have one of the indian modified mags in my colection with the brass rods down the insides. Shame I will never get to try them out to their normal capacity.
Don't you want to believe that this is actually the arrival of the contents of another shipping container at Marstar, and that they're actually UNLOADING it?
Sigh....
KC was Kelvinator in Kitchener Ontario. They also made a large number of 100 round drums for the Bren and they also are marked the same way. Indian Ordnance converted Sten mags to 20 round by the addition of brass wires inside the mag body in two rows on each side )inside) of the mag. This is covered in the Indian Arms Vocabulary and Indian list of changes. This improved the reliability of the mags however the Canadian mags were not subject to the same war time expedient manufacture the British and Indian ones were and normally functioned rather well. The problem encountered with some Canadian mags were the ones that were heavily parkerized. This sometimes caused an excessive rough finish, resulting in a drag on the rounds being pushed upwards by the magazine follower.
stencollector
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- shilo MB, the armpit of Canada
Thanks for the confirmation Wheaty. I will now sleep better at night.
What about the M3 marking on many of the Kalvinator mags. Did Canada consider going to a semi-secure system of IDing its manufacturers? I thought the M3 might have been british made, but M3 does not show on any lists in Skennertons or Laidlers books.
stencollector
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- shilo MB, the armpit of Canada
ooops...double tap. Wish I had something witty to put here, but I don't so I'll just go now......
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