The Sten Gun

The 2 DY snippets indicate that the Sten was reliable as long as the return spring was fitted the correct way round, and the magazines and ammo were kept clean. The fitting of the return spring was obviously a training issue, but the cleanliness aspect seems to be less clear cut - it could have been a training issue, but it's also debatable whether it was reasonable to expect the Sten to be maintained in clean conditon in battle areas, due to its large apertures, fitting tolerances etc.

 

I came across this

IMHO its explains, besides the fact that 70-rounds drum magazine was much better than the box-magazine used with Sten at least from shooting POV, why I have based on my limited experience in firing Suomi smg had difficulties to understand why British seems to have had so negative oppinion on Sten.

 

One reason why British commando forces did not favour the drum on the Thompson was that it rattled when moved and was a curse if trying to achieve a rapid but silent approach.

 

Yes, but the Finnish 70-rounds drum didn't rattle, if the Thompson's drum rattled, its simply badly designed. Finnsh war time long range patrols, both recon and those attacking targets deep behind enemy lines were mostly or totally armed with smgs.

 

Was there really enough stalking around in the dark during WWII for rattling magazines to be a concern? I sure there was some, but seems to me it would be rare, no?

 

Doesn't have to be in the dark any attempt at a surprise attack could e compromised by noisy kit.

 

I just shook an M1 carbine and a No 4. Enfield with empty magazines and they both rattled but I don't think they could be heard more than 20 feet away. I also tried an Arisaka and it didn't make a sound, and that was with bayonet and scabbard, but no dust cover.

Sadly I have no Tommy Gun, Sten or BAR.

 

Here most of the front line was in forests, often in real wilderness, and and in many places consisted of individual strongpoints that were were connected with infantry patrols. Of course the point man usually had a smg because if he unexpectly stumbled across enemy he had to have more firepower than a bolt-action rifle gave. And rattling magazine was something one didn't want on that kind of enviroment. It was somewhat like jungle warfare, short range and brutal. Same during advances and retreats.

 

These stick grenades rattle

 

That's a nice set of maracas!

 

The Sten type issued to SOE networks was the Sten Mk 11 and is referenced in the SOE stores Catalogue No M 211

An option was the detachable silencer,with information given with the following guidance notes.

The Sten Silencer is a cylinder fitted with a bursting chamber and a series of metal baffles.It is detachable from the gun for packing and can be issued with a standard production model Sten.

The Silencer can be fitted to any standard Sten Gun,reducing the velocity to about 980 ft/sec and removing the muzzle flash.This gives an automatic weapon which can be used without attracting much attention.the noise is unrecognisable as a small arms shot at 200 yards distance from the firer,where only the faintest click is heard.

It may be used at ranges from 0 to 50 yards in the dark,or up to 75 yards in daylight,enabling single shots to be fired whilst the firer and direction of shots remain undetected.

(A precaution is added under METHOD OF USE in capitals)

METHOD OF USE.The Silencer SHOULD ONLY BE USED ON THE GUN WITH WHICH IT IS ISSUED and no alteration is to be made to the gun,as the Silencer is tested and matched to its gun before issue.

The Sten can be fitted with luminous night sights for special operations.

It would appear then that the upmost care should be exercised to ensure that silencers were not fitted to the wrong gun.If this occurred,I wonder if such maloperation might have contributed to stens jamming.