Description
Physical description
Carbine, Machine, Sten, 9mm Mk 2; skeleton butt, top and bottom drilled each with 1 round and 1 elongated hole (for attachment of crosspiece ?) Mk 5 cocking handle, Mk 3 barrel
Label
The Sten gun was designed at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in 1940. Its name combines the initials of the surnames of the men most closely involved with its development (Major R V Shepherd and Mr H J Turpin), with the 'En' of Enfield.
The British armed forces at this period urgently needed what were then termed "machine-carbines", having seen such weapons used with success by the Germans during the opening year of the Second World War. Thompson submachine-guns had been ordered from the USA (see FIR 6191) and the Lanchester, a British copy of the obsolescent German MP28 was already in production. Shepherd and Turpin were convinced, however, that they could design a much simpler machine-carbine, more suited to cheap volume production.
The two designers made ease of manufacture their paramount consideration, rejecting traditional gun-making techniques wherever necessary. The number of parts was minimised, while maximum use was made of pressing and stamping, as opposed to machining.
The Mk 2 Sten was produced on a larger scale than any other model. At least 2,600,000 were manufactured, by six different contractors. Even before the Mk 1 Sten gun (see FIR 6257) had entered production, work was begun on simplifying the design for future manufacture. The initial impetus for the Mk 2 version was provided by a requirement for a paratrooper version of the Sten, which could be broken-down for packing into canisters. The Mk 2 Sten consequently featured a removable barrel and a magazine housing which could be rotated from its normal configuration - projecting to the left - into a vertical position for packing. This, along with the removable butt, also made the weapon highly suitable for clandestine operations, when guns might need to be concealed.
This weapon was captured from insurgents during the Aden Emergency (1963-67).
History note
Used by fighters of Federation for the Liberation of South Yemen (FLOSY) one of the insurgent groups in Aden during the Aden Emergency, 1963-1967.
Stamped on top of magazine housing
STEN MKII
Stamped on underside of magazine housing
R 31277 over S&S
Stamped on underside of magazine housing
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