The British Sten submachine gun

[inspcalahan]

Here's a really ugly dude shooting a Stirling. At the insistance of his friend he had to shoot it one handed. The recoil is minimal. From the size of his nose, you can tell it's Cyrano. That's a 1955, right hand drive, Land Rover in the background. The machine gun is a Bren in 308, not 303.

I want that vehicle. I'll give you guns. Not all but, many.

 

[inspcalahan]

John - outstanding writeup at usual! History is best shared. Keep them coming!

 

[KEN L]

Thanks for the info on the two versions of the loader. I incorporated that. The sling for the Sterling is similar (if not identical), with a clip that is designed to fit through any two of the holes in the barrel sleeve.

John

John

Great article on the Sten.
Interestingly, the Sten mag will fit & function in the Sterling, but not the other way around. It was designed that way.

 

[Absalom]

Here's a really ugly dude shooting a Stirling. At the insistance of his friend he had to shoot it one handed. The recoil is minimal. From the size of his nose, you can tell it's Cyrano. That's a 1955, right hand drive, Land Rover in the background.....

I want that vehicle. I'll give you guns. Not all but, many.

Unfortunately, Cyrano passed away the year after that post.

Great guy, a real loss to the forum. Extremely knowledgeable especially about weapons of this time period of the world wars.

 

[6518John]

I love seeing his old posts, but it makes me profoundly sad every time one recycles back to through the forum.

 

[Absalom]

....
I do know that the wartime Mark IV Webleys were marked "WAR FINISH" on the left side of the frame. Webley was proud of its commercial-finish guns, and wanted it understood that the finish on these wartime revolvers was an exception and not up to its usual standards. I think this had more to do with lack of final finishing polish than the method used for chemical color treatment. I'm not aware of any specific standard British WWII finishing techniques.

John

Thanks for your reply, John.

I'm familiar with the Webley war finish, which was indeed nothing but their standard bluing but without surface prep or polishing. The first two photos attached show a comparison between a war finish Mk IV shipped 11/1941 and a commercial-finish Mk IV shipped 1/1951.

I'm more interested in the Enfield finish, which quite clearly was some type of parkerizing-like finish. The third photo shows an original-finish No 2 Mk I** from 1/1943.

 

[inspcalahan]

Unfortunately, Cyrano passed away the year after that post.

Great guy, a real loss to the forum. Extremely knowledgeable especially about weapons of this time period of the world wars.

Thanks for the reminder. I now remember hearing that. I got caught up in the resurrected thread. Too bad there wasn't a way that it would highlight the thread if it was more than say 6 months old, so it would be immediately apparent. oh well.