From the Vault: The Evolution of the Sten Gun

We are back at Rock Island Auction Co. with Brownells Gun Techs™ Keith and Caleb for a special comparison of four guns showing the evolution of the British Sten Gun from World War II. We start with the Sten's predecessor, the Lanchester Mk I, a copy of the German MP28 submachine gun, with a traditional rifle stock (no pistol grip), a unique brass magazine housing, and provisions for mounting a bayonet! The Lanchester was labor-intensive to manufacture, and after Dunkirk, the British needed a whole lot of weapons STP (sooner than possible) - leading to the simple Sten Mk I, followed by the even simpler but very reliable and effective Sten Mk II. With the demand for weapons only increasing as the war dragged on, something even cheaper/faster to produce was needed, leading to the Sten Mk III with its simple steel tube receiver containing both the action and the entire barrel. The Mk III proved too simple and had serviceability problems, so the Sten Mk V entered service and held the line until the Sterling submachine gun arrived in the early 1950s. Keith explains some of the fine points of the Sten gun's operation, including its lack of a safety. And what about the Mk IV? Keith's got the grits on that, too.