American Rifleman Television - British Sten Machine Carbine

[@DeFactoLeader]

Interestingly enough, the British did in fact have a submachine that predated the Sten that was a much more well made copy of the MP28 known as the "Lanchester", but these were just too expensive to create and ship all around the commonwealth, so they were restricted to usage in the Royal Navy and RAF for base defence. Incidentally I know the Sten is considered unattractive, but there's something about it I find very appealing, aesthetically. Particularly the Mark V when the wooden accessories are added.

[@louispetherbridge9754]

As a SNCO in the RAF many years ago my personal weapon was the Sterling , lovey weapon , no recoil , when fired it just went plop plop plop and clouds of smoke

[@535tony]

I bought my Sten MKII back in 1990 for $600. It is worth around $6000 now as a transferable machine gun. Last week I took my 12 year old Son to a range to shoot it for the first time. It will be his eventually.

[@Chris_GY1]

The Sten was made so they could use German 9mm bullets. It could broken down and concealed, thousands were dropped to resistance groups throughout France and Holland, they are finding arms caches in France hidden by the resistance.

[@shadowwolf7622]

It is like the Hi Point of submachine guns. Crude, cheap and effective.

[@badrobot2765]

Always remeber my Grandad telling me about his Sten gun experiences in WW2, they used to shoot rabbits with them if they got the chance and he said you could sometimes see the rounds curving away to one side.

[@haroldellis9721]

Correction, the sten uses API blowback, not simple blowback, and we might add, the Thompson was also very expensive.

[@heyfitzpablum]

A basic weapon of war, designed for mass production. It worked reasonably well, and was cheap to make-but the initial models were crude almost to a fault. By the time of the Mark V STEN, some refinement had been added including wooden furniture-but I don't think they ever got rid of the large operating spring rubbing against the inside of the tube. That had operational issues which resulted in jams occasionally. Compare it to the telescoping spring in the MP-38/40 and the dual coaxial springs in the M3A1 'Grease Gun' and you'll see the difference. In the case of the German and US SMG, the springs never touched the pressed metal surface of the frame.

[@l2a3sterling]

Aussie sten? (camo pattern only on owens back then). Or personel camo job.

[@chiphailstone589]

The STEN, my latest study in last ditch guns. Its incredibly simple and could be even more reduced, if ever need be.

[@andyc3088]

if they had done their history on the subject, they would have known the Germans made a copy of the Sten gun in 1944-45

[@mrjockt]

Andy C, it was called the Gerat Potsdam and they even copied the British markings onto the weapon, the Germans also made a copy called the MP-3008 which was basically a STEN with a vertical magazine.

[@jmcfintona999]

but then wasn't the sten gun a copy of a german gun the MP28?

[@silverbladeTE]

Apparently, Australians, fighting in the jungle used to file grooves around the bolt to make it more reliable, hence after the war Sterling did the same as part of its design and so, very reliable

[@MrTangolizard]

Is that true ? If so thankyou for that information I didn’t know that

[@briantayler1230]

Gidday from OZ, the Sten was copied by the Germans and put into production by Mauser. I cannot think of any other Allied gun copied by them. They did copy other items like the bazooka. The best-designed submachine gun of the war was the Australian Owen Gun.

[@TheJarric]

ill think kp and soviet smg were better

[@tilmanpott]

Can you make up your mind about what a "Carbine" is? The Sten gun it's certainly not

[@christopherfranklin972]

Its official nomenclature was 'Machine Carbine'.

[@gilfaver362]

Terrific.

[@WillyEckaslike]

BS the Thompson cost 20 times as much as the Sten thats why the British stopped buying them

[@terrycarnathan192]

The Turkish navy was still using them in the 1970s.

[@JB-mo8rs]

I never understood the magazine on the side

[@mjohnson43136]

Shooting prone or from behind cover.

[@jeffwiltshire]

Interchanging 'British' and 'English' as always.

[@wernerswanepoel5634]

What cal bullets dit it use

[@nor0845]

9mm

[@adrianlarkins7259]

Made of old drain pipes and bicycle frames!! Not quite, but it must go down in history as the ugliest and roughest gun to be mass made in Britain. BUT IT WORKED!! Tri Ang Toys were one of the biggest manufacturers during the war.

[@fongxiong1929]

Where the hell do I find a Sten gun in the United State?

[@TheJarric]

theres site that sells parts

[@MarkCratusMatzko]

Too bad we can’t get them anymore because of your support for the 1986 Gun Control Act, which banned civilian possession of and registration of any post-86 machine gun.

[@josephberrie9550]

can you please stop saying england its the united kindom which consists of Northern Ireland Scotland Wales and England whilst England has a much bigger population the celtic parts of the UK supplied a far higher proportion of the first line fighting forces in proportion to population..... thankyou

[@buckneighkidd419]

AKA the 'Woolworth' gun, MK1s were so poor they jammed, went off if you dropped it and there were reports of bits breaking off if you dropped it!

[@Nooziterp1]

I have heard people say that the replacement the Sterling was far from perfect. Especially the early ones.

[@frankanderson5012]

Dinsdale Piranha The Sterling was a vast improvement over the Sten, having learnt all the lessons and implemented them in the new design. It became a very successful and popular gun that was used for over 60 years. You might want to broaden the choice of people you listen too.

[@jamesguitar7384]

The Sten became a hell of a lot better than you describe .

[@reluctantheist5224]

In 1944 the Germans copied it and ordered a million! They never got that of course.

[@dartt51]

Germany invaded Poland on the 1st of september Britain and France did not declare war on Germany untill the 3rd of september and when you say the English you must mean British.

[@pushwindersingh4009]

I have firing more time with stengun

[@fatrick5004]

Fired one of these once and the barrel flew off. Luckily I was firing blank ammo at the time. Also.. at the 4min 49 sec mark you can see the front sight fall off as it is fired.

[@christopherfranklin972]

It's a spent case being ejected ....

[@slaughterhound8793]

Thank God we can own them to keep them protected from Europe's crappy laws. I wish it could be even easier to own one & there wasn't so much crap with the NFA rules. One of these old girls would make a pretty good home defense weapon if you ask me; especially if you were dealing with a gang of home invaders.

[@harryc1971]

STEN was born in desperate times, i know the NAZI's slagged it off but i read that their Special Forces thought it was good for what it was and it did the job; perhaps not as impressive as MP40 but it usually worked especially as they worked out the kinks.

[@peterforden5917]

After the fall of France, not after the battle of Britain........

[@charlieyerrell9146]

The Americans did the same whith the grease gun. Cheep and easy to make.

[@l2a3sterling]

This is the ugliest example of a Sten I have ever seen 3.19 - not a real Sten

[@l2a3sterling]

.18 fake sten

[@sethlance8009]

More like they had a shortage of atomatic firearms because gangsters used them lol. Gangster guns!! The british were way behind the curb

[@williamdiep8466]

False information. The British didn't design the Sten. It is simplified crude version of the German MP-18!!!

[@williamdiep8466]

Let's get something straight. Edumication if you will. The British and Israelis didn't design a damn thing. B-Sten copied the German MP-18 and the I-Uzi copied the Czech SA-25 (CZ)...We're straight...

[@snowflakemelter1172]

They obviously designed the STEN as a low cost simplified MP18 , so you're talking nonsense.

[@mrjockt]

The Lanchester was a copy of the MP-28.II, the STEN was the result of stripping everything considered dispensable from the Lanchester, it made economical sense as well, you could get almost 30 STEN guns for the price of one Thompson sub machine gun, and you didn’t have to risk losing them trying to get them across the Atlantic.

[@MrTangolizard]

You could use that argument for any blowback SMG ever made then lol