Posted on 10/14/2014 7:11:06 AM PDT by C19fan
Few weapons in the modern era ever had a poem penned its honor. But few weapons were ever like the Sten gun.
Hastily contrived in the early, desperate days of World War II, it looked like a last-ditch effort to arm British troops—and it was.
Terrified Britons knew they did not have enough weapons to repel a German invasion force. The British lost thousands of small arms that were destroyed or simply abandoned after the devastating rout at Dunkirk.
(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...
Feeding that little monster would be the hard part. If guns become hard to come by ammo will be worse.
“Spray & Pray”
Makes me wonder what became of those tens of thousands of Sten parts kits that were sold in the U.S.
Oh, I'm sure a few were rebuilt as semi-auto carbines, but the majority? Hmm.
AND they are heavy at 7.1 pounds. Some AR’s weigh less than that.
Looks like something that could be made at just about any machine shop.
Yep. My first thought too....the old Grease Gun.
Contrast that to the statement attributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the beginning of WWII..."You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."
The problem would be getting enough ammo to ‘Spray and Pray’.
A full auto has its uses, but for most work a semi-auto is a lot more accurate and certainly a lot more economical re ammo.
Every time I see it, I wonder why they couldn’t rotate the mag well to the bottom of the tube, rather than sticking it out sideways. The sideways mag seems more likely to get caught/snagged on something — just more tempting than it needs to be to Mr. Murphy and his law.
Most artillery units came equipped with the grease gun...at least in the USMC!!
Its replacement, the Sterling, was still cheap, but constructed to much higher standards.
When the film Star Wars was made, the British Pinewood Studio used prop Sterlings, with the folding stock folded up, no extended magazine on the left side, and a low powered scope mounted backwards so that the big end faced the shooter, as blaster rifles for the Imperial Storm Troopers.
It was one reason why the suits from 20th Century Fox were appalled when they saw the rough cut, with no visual special effects or sound effects. The thrilling battle scenes, shorn of special effects, were just a bunch of guys in sci-fi costumes running around pantomiming shooting at each with Sterling submachine guns with the scope on backwards.
It was made that way to allow a lower profile on the
ground. The Sterling was much better but still quite
heavy, although that probably helped control some.
No mention of the infamous Sten dance.
Which could occur when dropped and the bolt came out
of detent and proceeded to spray rounds randomly.
M-3 was a much better version.
A number of British weapons used side or top feed magazines. It allows the gun to be fired closer to the ground. Helped keep the soldiers head from becoming a tempting target.
Never cock this SMG until you’re ready to use it ,LOL a friend of mine sat down put the SMG on his legs and the thing went off and fired the whole mag ,good thing they were blanks
Anyways, all NFA rules apply. C&R eligible, and I'll give a cut to Jim Rob. $9,000.00 firm. You'll pay shipping and NFA tax. Check (2 week wait) or cash/gold before Form 4s shipped to you. Good shooter, extra parts kit, bronze bolt, and 30 or so mags, loaders, etc.
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