Post by Tiny on Oct 3, 2004 11:32:45 GMT -5
Sten Sub-Machine Gun:
In 1940 Britain was in grave danger of invasion and every type of weapon was scare. The only sub-machine guns available were the US made Thompsons (details above) and a copy of the German MP28, made by Lanchester, which was too expensive for mass production. In 1941 the design department of the Royal Small Arms Factory produced a prototype of a new gun based on the Lanchester design and some capture German MP40. This new sub-machine gun made use of stampings and easily sub-contracted components. The gun was attractively light, compact and with a limited endurance trial of 5000 rounds, proved the soundness of the design. It was named the STEN, taking its name from the surnames of the two designers (Major R V Shepherd and Mr H J Turpin) who did most of the detailed work and the location of the Enfield factory. The overriding requirement was for a simple design and use of readily available materials and the resulting gun may have horrified some traditional gun makers since it was crude in the extreme. But it worked! The Mark I had a number of elaborations, such as a folding forehand grip, a conical flash-hider and some wooden furniture. However, the basic mechanism set the pattern of over 3 million to be made.
The blowback system used a heavy bolt and a fairly strong return spring, but this combination gave a rate of fire of about 550 rounds per minute, and more importantly ensure that the work parts were tolerant of dirt, dust, snow, mud and general neglect! The barrel was short and was held in a tubular metal sleeve and the body was another similar metal tube. The only machined parts were the bolt and barrel, with everything else being pressed or stamped, with all joins being welded or pinned. This meant most of the manufacture could be placed with small machine shop around the country, with the parts only be gathered at the larger factories, with the barrels/bolts, for final assembly and test.
The Mark I was soon replaced by the Mark II, which was the most famous of the series. The Mark II had all the frills removed and utilised a single tube stock with a flat plate on the end for the shoulder. The woodwork and grip from the Mark I were dispensed with and the barrel was held in by screwed jacket, which meant it could easily be removed. The magazine housing could be rotated to lie in line with the trigger mechanism, while a spring stud held on the stock.
Prior to D-Day the Mark III was available, with yet more simplifications, including a gun which had a fixed barrel and the body and jacket all in one. However, this version was not produced in great numbers, as moves were afoot to produce versions with following stocks for use by the airborne forces.
Despite it’s many advantages the Sten was not well liked by the men who used it, as the magazine gave some trouble, which could cause a jam. The magazine was never improved but in 1944 the Mark V was brought out to convince the troops a better version was available. The Mark V has a wooden butt and pistol grip and if the design of the magazine had been changed it could have been one of the best sub-machine guns of the war.
In 1940 Britain was in grave danger of invasion and every type of weapon was scare. The only sub-machine guns available were the US made Thompsons (details above) and a copy of the German MP28, made by Lanchester, which was too expensive for mass production. In 1941 the design department of the Royal Small Arms Factory produced a prototype of a new gun based on the Lanchester design and some capture German MP40. This new sub-machine gun made use of stampings and easily sub-contracted components. The gun was attractively light, compact and with a limited endurance trial of 5000 rounds, proved the soundness of the design. It was named the STEN, taking its name from the surnames of the two designers (Major R V Shepherd and Mr H J Turpin) who did most of the detailed work and the location of the Enfield factory. The overriding requirement was for a simple design and use of readily available materials and the resulting gun may have horrified some traditional gun makers since it was crude in the extreme. But it worked! The Mark I had a number of elaborations, such as a folding forehand grip, a conical flash-hider and some wooden furniture. However, the basic mechanism set the pattern of over 3 million to be made.
The blowback system used a heavy bolt and a fairly strong return spring, but this combination gave a rate of fire of about 550 rounds per minute, and more importantly ensure that the work parts were tolerant of dirt, dust, snow, mud and general neglect! The barrel was short and was held in a tubular metal sleeve and the body was another similar metal tube. The only machined parts were the bolt and barrel, with everything else being pressed or stamped, with all joins being welded or pinned. This meant most of the manufacture could be placed with small machine shop around the country, with the parts only be gathered at the larger factories, with the barrels/bolts, for final assembly and test.
The Mark I was soon replaced by the Mark II, which was the most famous of the series. The Mark II had all the frills removed and utilised a single tube stock with a flat plate on the end for the shoulder. The woodwork and grip from the Mark I were dispensed with and the barrel was held in by screwed jacket, which meant it could easily be removed. The magazine housing could be rotated to lie in line with the trigger mechanism, while a spring stud held on the stock.
Prior to D-Day the Mark III was available, with yet more simplifications, including a gun which had a fixed barrel and the body and jacket all in one. However, this version was not produced in great numbers, as moves were afoot to produce versions with following stocks for use by the airborne forces.
Despite it’s many advantages the Sten was not well liked by the men who used it, as the magazine gave some trouble, which could cause a jam. The magazine was never improved but in 1944 the Mark V was brought out to convince the troops a better version was available. The Mark V has a wooden butt and pistol grip and if the design of the magazine had been changed it could have been one of the best sub-machine guns of the war.
Don't like the sten, it's ugly ugly ugly infact it's uglier than i am. If i had a chance fer a Brit machine gun, i'd plump fer the sterling ha ha ha ha .
and used to fall of after the first so many rounds
