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139-639: The STEN (or Sten gun ) is a British submachine gun chambered in 9×19mm which was used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and during the Korean War . The Sten paired a simple design with a low production cost, facilitating mass production to meet the demand for submachine guns. As well as equipping regular units, the Sten was distributed to resistance groups within occupied Europe. Its simple design made it an effective insurgency weapon for resistance groups. The Sten

278-695: A county structure, as they would probably be fragmented and isolated from one another. They were distributed around the coast rather than being countrywide, with priority being given to the counties most at risk from enemy invasion, the two most vulnerable being Kent and Sussex in South East England . The two best known officers from the period are Captain Peter Fleming of the Grenadier Guards and Captain Mike Calvert of

417-471: A possible invasion of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany . With the advantage of having witnessed the rapid fall of several Continental European nations, the United Kingdom was the only country during the war that was able to create a guerrilla force in anticipation of an invasion. Auxiliary Units relied on pre-prepared bunkers known as " operational bases ", into which they were to disappear in

556-789: A telescoping bolt that extends forward wrapping around the barrel, and a vertical handgrip housing the magazine and trigger mechanism. The vz. 23 series was widely exported and especially popular in Africa and the Middle East with variants made by several countries. The vz. 23 inspired the development of the Uzi submachine gun . In 1949, France introduced the MAT-49 to replace the hodgepodge of French, American, British, German, and Italian SMGs in French service after World War II. The 9 mm Parabellum MAT-49

695-661: A 1940 report stated that "Exaggerated reports about the unreliability [of the Sten] were usually related to the quality of manufacture. Don Handscombe and his comrades in the Thundersley Patrol of the Auxiliary Units rated them more reliable than the Thompson SMG." Sten guns of late 1942 and beyond were highly effective weapons, though complaints of accidental discharge continued throughout the war. The Sten

834-710: A bayonet mount, and a wooden pistol grip and stock. There was a No. 4 Lee–Enfield Front sight and the weapon was of better quality manufacture and finish than the Mk II and Mk III. Another variant of the Mk V had a swivel stock and rear sight mirror intended for firing around corners in urban warfare, similar to the Krummlauf developed by the Germans for the StG 44 . Mk II(S) and Mk VI models incorporated an integral suppressor and had

973-593: A blank cheque, but was there any money in the bank to meet it? Everything would have to be improvised. Time was of the essence ... at the shortest we had six weeks before a full-scale invasion could be launched; if we were lucky, we might have until October, after which climatic conditions would give us a respite ... Gubbins used several officers who had served with the Independent Companies in Norway and others whom he had known there. Units were localised on

1112-462: A column. While other staggered magazines, such as the Thompson, fed from the left and right side alternately (known as "double column, double feed"), the Sten magazine required the cartridges gradually to merge at the top of the magazine to form a column ("double column, single feed"). Dirt or foreign matter in this taper area could cause feed malfunctions . The walls of the magazine lip had to endure

1251-405: A complete break with previous Beretta designs. It is a small, compact, very well made SMG and among the first to use a telescoping bolt design. The M12 was designed for mass production and was made largely of stamped steel and welded together. It is identified by its tubular shape receiver, double pistol grips, a side folding stock and the magazine housed in front of the trigger guard. The M12 uses

1390-565: A continuing resistance force against long-term occupation. The secrecy surrounding the insurgent squads meant that members "had no military status, no uniforms and there are very few official records of their activities". Service in the Auxiliary Units was expected to be highly dangerous, with a projected life expectancy of just twelve days for its members, with orders to either shoot one another or use explosives to kill themselves if capture by an enemy force seemed likely. Urged on by

1529-696: A copy of the Israeli UZI SMG magazine, modified to fit the Colt and lock the bolt back after the last shot. The Colt was widely used by US law enforcement and the USMC . In 1999, H&K introduced the UMP "Universal Machine Pistol" . The UMP is a 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP, closed-bolt blowback-operated SMG, based on the H&;K G36 assault rifle. It features a predominantly polymer construction and

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1668-632: A failed attempt to storm the Tallinn barracks . Some of the defenders were armed with the MP18s ; and this was possibly the first engagement where submachine guns were used on both sides. Germany transferred its MP 18s to the German police forces after World War I. They also saw use in the hands of various paramilitary Freikorps during the aftermath of the German Revolution . In the 1920s

1807-751: A grenade, which mortally wounded Heydrich. There are other accounts of the Sten's unreliability, some of them true, some exaggerated and some apocryphal . France manufactured (well-made) Sten copies postwar into the early 1950s, evidently believing in the basic reliability and durability of the design. A well-maintained (and properly functioning) Sten gun was a devastating close-range weapon for sections previously armed only with bolt-action rifles. In addition to regular British and Commonwealth military service, Stens were air-dropped in quantity to resistance fighters and partisans throughout occupied Europe. Due to their slim profile and ease of disassembly/reassembly, they were good for concealment and guerrilla warfare . Wrapping

1946-515: A high degree of parts commonality with parent weapons, thereby easing logistical concerns. In 1982, Colt introduced the Colt 9mm SMG based on the M16 rifle . The Colt SMG is a closed bolt, blowback operated SMG and the overall aesthetics are identical to most M16 type rifles. The magazine well is modified using a special adapter to allow the use of the smaller 9mm magazines. The magazines themselves are

2085-447: A last-minute issue of newly manufactured Stens prior to going into action was not welcomed. The MK II and III Stens were regarded by many soldiers as very temperamental, and could accidentally discharge if dropped or even laid on the ground whilst the gun was cocked. Others would fire full-automatic when placed on 'single', or fire single shots when placed on 'automatic'. This was particularly true of early Stens using bronze bolts, where

2224-539: A liability as otherwise may be suggested. According to Leroy Thompson, "Troops usually made the conscious choice to keep the Sten with a magazine in place, based on the assumption that they might need it quickly. It might, then, be argued that more troops were saved by having their Sten ready when an enemy was suddenly encountered than were injured by accident. The Sten was more dangerous to its users than most infantry weapons, but all weapons are dangerous". Sten guns were produced in several basic marks, of which nearly half of

2363-692: A local woodland, with a camouflaged entrance and emergency escape tunnel. It is thought that 400 to 500 such OBs were constructed in England, Wales and Scotland. Some Patrols had an additional concealed Observation Post and/or underground ammunition store. Patrols were provided with a selection of the latest weapons, including a silenced pistol or Sten gun and Fairbairn–Sykes "commando" knives , quantities of plastic explosive , incendiary devices, and food to last for two weeks. Members anticipated being shot if they were captured, and were expected to shoot themselves first rather than be taken alive. The mission of

2502-644: A longer barrel . In 1915, the Kingdom of Italy adopted Revelli's design as the FIAT Mod. 1915 . It fired pistol-caliber 9mm Glisenti ammunition, but was not a true submachine gun, as it was originally designed as a mounted weapon. In late 1915, the first submachine gun with a buttstock was built: the Austro-Hungarian Standschütze Hellriegel M1915 although the weapon was never used in combat. In February 1916,

2641-505: A longer-term basis. The Special Duties Sections were recruited largely from the civilian population, with around 4,000 members. They had been trained to identify vehicles, high-ranking officers and military units and were to gather intelligence and leave reports in dead letter drops. The reports would be collected by runners and taken to one of over 200 secret radio transmitters operated by trained civilian signals staff. The civilian personnel operated as 'Intelligence Gatherers' and operated

2780-604: A lot more controllable. It could be configured to fire either .45 ACP or 9mm Luger ammunition. The M3A1 was among the longest-serving submachine gun designs, being produced into the 1960s and serving in US forces into the 1990s. France produced only about 2,000 of the MAS-38 submachine gun (chambered in 7.65×20mm Longue ) before the Fall of France in June 1940. Production was taken over by

2919-567: A lot of bullets and most of the killing in Korea was done at very close ranges and it was done quickly—a matter of who responded faster. In situations like that it outclassed and outgunned what we had. A close-in patrol fight was over very quickly and usually we lost because of it." U.S. servicemen, however, felt that their M2 carbines were superior to the PPSh-41 at the typical engagement range of 100–150 meters. Other older designs also saw use in

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3058-408: A lower muzzle velocity than the others due to a ported barrel intended to reduce velocity to below the speed of sound – 305 m/s (1,001 ft/s) – without needing special ammunition . The suppressor heated up rapidly when the weapon was fired, and a canvas cover was laced around the suppressor for protection for the firer's supporting hand. The suppressed models were produced at the request of

3197-508: A new, more reliable box magazine was developed for the MP 18 to replace the older snail-drum magazines. In 1928 a new version of the MP 18, the MP 28, saw the light of day, it featured the new box magazine as standard, a bayonet lug and a single shot mode. The MP 28 was manufactured in Belgium and Spain and was widely exported from there, including to China and South America. Another variant based on

3336-411: A prominent Chinese combat tactic in the conflict. The gun's ability to deliver large quantities of short-range automatic assault fire proved very useful in both defense and assault during the early part of the war when it was constantly mobile and shifting back and forth. Many Chinese Thompsons were captured and placed into service with American soldiers and marines for the remaining period of the war. In

3475-518: A quick-release barrel and butt-stock, double pistol grips, top-mounted magazine, and unusual offset right-side-mounted sights. The Owen was the only entirely Australian-designed and constructed service submachine gun of World War II and was used by the Australian Army from 1943 until the mid-1960s, when it was replaced by the F1 submachine gun . Only about 45,000 Owens were produced during the war for

3614-646: A side folding stock. The m/45 was widely exported and especially popular with CIA operatives and U.S. special forces during the Vietnam War. In U.S. service it was known as the "Swedish-K". In 1966, the Swedish government blocked the sale of firearms to the United States because it opposed the Vietnam War . As a result, in the following year Smith & Wesson began to manufacture an m/45 clone called

3753-536: A small tube, similar to the Mark II Canadian. The barrel shroud had vent holes. The magazine insert was fixed to the receiver with screws (unlike the later found on Mark II+ variants that could be rotated 90 degrees for stowage). A design choice that was only present on the Mark I was that the vertical forward grip could be rotated forward to make it easier to stow. 100,000 Mark I Stens were made before production

3892-528: A surplus of the weapons in 1944. The Sten saw use even after the economic crunch of World War II, replacing the Royal Navy's Lanchester submachine guns into the 1960s, and was used in the Korean War , including specialist versions for British Commandos . It was slowly withdrawn from British Army service in the 1960s and replaced by the Sterling SMG ; Canada also phased out the Sten, replacing it with

4031-663: A total of 653 units, though U.S. customs authorities in New York seized 495 of the units in June 1921. The Thompson, nicknamed "Tommy Gun" or "Chicago Typewriter" became notorious in the U.S. due to its employment by the Mafia : the image of pinstripe-suited James Cagney types wielding drum-magazine Thompsons caused some military planners to shun the weapon. However, the FBI and other U.S. police forces themselves showed no reluctance to use and prominently display these weapons. Eventually,

4170-510: A traditional wooden stock , a 25-round top-fed box magazine , and had a cyclic rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute. By 1918, Bergmann Waffenfabrik had developed the 9x19mm Parabellum MP 18 , the first practical submachine gun. This weapon used the same 32-round snail-drum magazine as the Luger P-08. The MP 18 was used in significant numbers by German stormtroopers employing infiltration tactics , achieving some notable successes in

4309-731: A unit cost of about A$ 30. While most other countries during World War II developed submachine guns, the Empire of Japan had only produced one, the Type 100 submachine gun , based heavily on the German MP28. Like most other small arms created in Imperial Japan, the Type 100 could be fitted with the Type 30 bayonet . It used the 8×22mm Nambu cartridge, which was about half as powerful as a standard Western 9mm Parabellum round. Production of

Sten - Misplaced Pages Continue

4448-616: Is a select fire , blowback-operated weapon with a side-mounted magazine. Sten is an acronym, derived from the names of the weapon's chief designers: Major Reginald V. Shepherd and Harold J. Turpin, and "En" for the Enfield factory. Around four million Stens in various versions were made in the 1940s, making it the second most produced submachine gun of the Second World War, after the Soviet PPSh-41 . The Sten served as

4587-418: Is an inexpensive stamped-steel SMG with a telescoping wire stock, a pronounced folding magazine housing, and a grip safety. This "wildebeast-like design" proved to be an extremely reliable and effective SMG and was used by the French well into the 1980s. It was also widely exported to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In 1954, Israel introduced a 9mm Parabellum open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine gun called

4726-782: Is based on the AK-74 rifle and offers a high degree of parts commonality with the AK-74. It is the standard submachine gun for all branches of Russian military and police forces. In 2009, KRISS USA introduced the KRISS Vector family of submachine guns. Futuristic in appearance, the KRISS uses an unconventional delayed blowback system combined with in-line design to reduce perceived recoil and muzzle climb . The KRISS comes in 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, 9×21mm, 10mm Auto, and .357 SIG. It also uses standard Glock pistol magazines. By

4865-564: Is held by the historical weapons collection of the British Army 's Infantry and Small Arms School Corps in Warminster, Wiltshire. The Mark I had a conical flash hider and fine finish. The bolt on the Mark I rotated downwards to hold open for safety, similar to that of a bolt action rifle (The bolt on Mark II+ variants rotate upwards). The handguard, vertical forward grip and some of the stock were made of wood. The stock consisted of

5004-516: Is that this weapon was originally designed as an aircraft gun. In reality ground use was taken into consideration from the very beginning, particularly for the Bersaglieri 's cyclist battalions . Stocked pistols were common at the beginning of the 20th century, the Germans initially used heavier versions of the P08 pistol equipped with a detachable stock, larger-capacity snail- drum magazine and

5143-572: The .45ACP Mac-10 and .380 ACP Mac-11 , were developed to be used with silencers or suppressors . While these SMGs received enormous publicity, and were prominently displayed in films and television, they were not widely adopted by military or law enforcement agencies. By the 1980s, the demand for new submachine guns was very low and could be easily met by existing makers with existing designs. However, following H&K's lead, other manufacturers began designing submachine guns based on their existing assault rifle patterns. These new SMGs offered

5282-563: The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War . In 1975, President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members were assassinated using Sten guns. A number of suppressed Stens were in limited use by the US Special Forces during the Vietnam War , including c. 1971, by the United States Army Rangers . In 1984, Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her bodyguards, one of whom fired

5421-689: The Brügger & Thomet APC and SIG MPX . During the Apartheid era of South Africa and the Rhodesian Bush War / South African Border War , a semi-automatic only pistol calibre carbine based on submachine guns existed for civilian personal protection as Land Defence Pistol s (LDP). Known examples were the Bell & White 84, BHS Rhogun, Cobra Mk1 , GM-16, Kommando LDP, Northwood R-76, Paramax, Sanna 77 and TS III. First developed during

5560-656: The C1 SMG . The Sten was one of the few weapons that the State of Israel could produce domestically during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . Even before the declaration of the State of Israel, the Yishuv had been producing Stens for the Haganah ; after the declaration, Israel continued making Stens for IDF use. The opposing side also used (mostly British-made) Stens, particularly the irregular and semi-regular Arab Liberation Army . In

5699-648: The Dunkirk evacuation , the Royal Navy adopted the 9mm Parabellum Lanchester submachine gun . With no time for the usual research and development for a new weapon, it was decided to make a direct copy of the German MP 28 . Like other early submachine guns it was difficult and expensive to manufacture. Shortly thereafter, the simpler Sten submachine gun was developed for general use by the British armed forces, it

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5838-538: The FN P90 features an unusual appearance, having a 50-round magazine housed horizontally above the barrel, an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls. A simple blowback automatic weapon, it was designed to fire the proprietary FN 5.7×28mm cartridge which can penetrate soft body armor. The FN P90 was designed to have a length no greater than an average-sized man's shoulder width, to allow it to be easily carried and maneuvered in tight spaces, such as

5977-457: The Lee–Enfield rifle. Stoppages could occur for poor maintenance, while others were particular to the Sten. Carbon build up on the face of the breech or debris in the bolt raceway could cause a failure to fire, while a dirty chamber could cause a failure to feed. Firing the Sten by grasping the magazine with the supporting hand, contrary to instruction, tended to wear the magazine catch, altering

6116-710: The M76 . The m/45 was used in combat by Swedish troops as part of the United Nations Operation in the Congo , during the Congo Crisis during the early 1960s. Battlefield reports of the lack of penetrative power of the 9mm Parabellum during this operation led to Sweden developing a more powerful 9 mm round designated "9mm m/39B". In 1946, Denmark introduced the Madsen M-46 and, in 1950, an improved model,

6255-583: The MPi 69 , which is similar in appearance to the Uzi SMG. The MPi 69's receiver is a squared stamped steel tube that partly nestles inside a large plastic molding (resembling a lower receiver) which contains the forward hand-grip, vertical pistol-grip and the fire control group , making the MPi 69 one of the first firearms to use plastic construction in this way. In the 1970s, extremely compact submachine guns, such as

6394-479: The Madsen M-50 . These 9 mm Parabellum stamped steel SMGs featured a unique clamshell type design, a side-folding stock, and a grip safety on the magazine housing. The Madsen was widely exported and especially popular in Latin America, with variants made by several countries. In 1948, Czechoslovakia introduced the Sa vz. 23 series. This 9 mm Parabellum SMG introduced several innovations: a progressive trigger for selecting between semi-automatic and full auto fire,

6533-611: The Royal Engineers . Operational Patrols consisted of between four and eight men, often farmers or landowners. They were usually recruited from the most able members of the Home Guard , possessed excellent local knowledge and were able to live off the land. Gamekeepers and even poachers were particularly valued. They were always intended to fight in Home Guard uniform and from 1942 the men were badged to Home Guard battalions 201 (Scotland), 202 ( northern England ), or 203 ( southern England ). Around 3,500 men were trained on weekend courses at Coleshill House , near Highworth , Wiltshire, in

6672-405: The Services Reconnaissance Department and SOE's Force 136 on operations against the Imperial Japanese Army . The Sten Mk II(S) was used by the Operation Jaywick party during their raid into Japanese-occupied Singapore Harbour. The Sten Mk II(S) also saw service with the Special Air Service Regiment during the Vietnam War . The Sten MKII can be converted to take 7.62×25mm ammo by changing

6811-485: The Special Air Service . Many men saw action in the campaign in France in late 1944, notably in Operation Houndsworth and Operation Bulbasket . From 1942, the Operational Patrols of the Auxiliary Units tried to reinvent themselves as an anti-raiding force. That was primarily a device to avoid them from being disbanded, as the War Office had made a promise that the volunteers would not be returned to normal Home Guard duties. They therefore had to be kept in existence until

6950-415: The Special Operations Executive (SOE) for use in clandestine operations in occupied Europe, starting with the Mk II(S) in 1943. Owing to their tendency to overheat, they were fired in short bursts or single shots. Some guns were even changed to semi-automatic only. In addition to its use in the European theatre , the Mk II(S) saw service with clandestine units in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) such as

7089-407: The Thompson submachine guns they could from the United States, but these did not meet demand, and Thompsons were expensive, the M1928 costing $ 200 in 1939 (and still $ 70 in 1942), whereas a Sten would turn out to cost only $ 11. American entry into the war at the end of 1941 placed an even bigger demand on the facilities making Thompsons. In order to rapidly equip a sufficient fighting force to counter

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7228-402: The Uzi (after its designer Uziel Gal ). The Uzi was one of the first weapons to use a telescoping bolt design with the magazine housed in the pistol grip for a shorter weapon. The Uzi has become the most popular submachine gun in the world, with over 10 million units sold, more than any other submachine gun. In 1959, Beretta introduced the Model 12 . This 9mm Parabellum submachine gun was

7367-425: The War Office , Prime Minister Winston Churchill initiated the Auxiliary Units in the early summer of 1940. This was to counter the civilian Home Defence Scheme already established by SIS (MI6), but outside War Office control. The Auxiliary Units answered to GHQ Home Forces but were legally an integral part of the Home Guard. In modern times, the Auxiliary Units have sometimes misleadingly been referred to as

7506-430: The Wehrmacht , with whole infantry battalions being armed with little else. Even in the hands of conscripts with minimal training, the volume of fire produced by massed submachine guns could be overwhelming. Britain entered the war with no domestic submachine gun design but instead imported the expensive US M1928 Thompson. After evaluating their battlefield experience in the Battle of France and losing many weapons in

7645-477: The "British Resistance Organisation". That title was never used by the organization officially but reflects a subsequent misunderstanding of what their role might have been. Colloquially, members of the Auxiliary Units were referred to as " scallywags " and their activities as "scallywagging". Section D, a sabotage and resistance unit which was part of MI6 , began recruiting personnel and accumulating arms and equipment in mid-June, 1940. This roused suspicion among

7784-444: The 1950s, "L numbering" came into use in the British Army for weapons—Stens were then known as L50 (Mk II), L51 (Mk III) and L52 (Mk V). One of the last times the Sten was used in combat during British service was with the RUC during the IRA border campaign of 1956–1962. In foreign service, the Sten was used in combat at least as recently as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 . Sten guns were widely used by guerrilla fighters during

7923-474: The 1960s, Heckler & Koch developed the 9mm Parabellum MP5 submachine gun. The MP5 is based on the G3 rifle and uses the same closed-bolt roller-delayed blowback operation system. This makes the MP5 more accurate than open-bolt SMGs, such as the Uzi. The MP5 is one of the most widely used submachine guns in the world, having been adopted by over 40 nations and numerous military, law enforcement, and security organizations. In 1969, Steyr introduced

8062-504: The 1980s and 1990s, and by the early 21st century, submachine guns have largely been replaced by assault rifles , which have a longer effective range , have increased stopping power , and can better penetrate the helmets and body armor used by modern soldiers. However, they are still used by security forces , police tactical units , paramilitary and bodyguards for close-quarters combat because they are "a pistol-caliber weapon that's easy to control, and less likely to overpenetrate

8201-548: The 1980s, personal defense weapons (PDWs) were created in response to a NATO request for a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns. PDWs are compact automatic weapons that are sufficiently light to be issued to non-combat arms or support troops, particularly those in vehicles, while being capable of greater range and terminal ballistics than a handgun. As a result of these characteristics, most PDWs can be used as close quarters battle weapons for special forces and counter-terrorist groups. Introduced in 1991,

8340-483: The 1985 BBC TV series, Blott on the Landscape . British partisans feature in two UK films that imagine what would have happened if Germany had successfully invaded Britain: the 1966 film It Happened Here (which simply refers to 'partisans') and the 2011 film Resistance based on Owen Sheers ' first novel, Resistance . The partisans in the latter are loosely based upon Auxiliary Units, albeit with considerable artistic licence. The Auxiliary Units feature in

8479-407: The 7.62×25mm Tokarev, albeit slightly less powerful). During the Winter War , the badly outnumbered Finnish used the Suomi KP/-31 in large numbers against the Russians with devastating effect. Finnish ski troops became known for appearing out of the woods on one side of a road, raking Soviet columns with SMG fire and disappearing back into the woods on the other side. During the Continuation War ,

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8618-405: The Austro-Hungarian first fielded the M.12/P16 machine pistol. This was the first machine pistol to be adopted by any military, being issued to Tyrolean units fighting in the alps In 1916, Heinrich Senn of Bern designed a modification of the Swiss Luger pistol to fire in single shots or in full-automatic. Around the same time Georg Luger demonstrated a similar Luger machine pistol which inspired

8757-402: The Auxiliary Units would fight in Home Guard uniform, they would otherwise clearly be irregular combatants under the Geneva Conventions . They and their weapons would be concealed, they would not be under the control of the local Home Guard commander, and they would not be constrained by the 'rules of war' in combat. General Home Guard units were instructed to fight on and not to surrender, but it

8896-408: The Axis threat, the Royal Small Arms Factory , Enfield, was commissioned to produce an alternative. The credited designers were Major R. V. Shepherd, OBE, Inspector of Armaments in the Ministry of Supply Design Department at The Royal Arsenal , Woolwich, (later Assistant Chief Superintendent at the Armaments Design Department) and Harold John Turpin, Senior Draughtsman of the Design Department of

9035-409: The Finnish Sissi patrols often equipped every soldier with KP/-31s. The Suomi fired 9mm Parabellum ammunition from a 71-round drum magazine (although often loaded with 74 rounds). "This SMG showed the world the importance of the submachine gun in modern warfare", prompting the development, adoption and mass production of submachine guns by most of the world's armies. The Suomi was used in combat until

9174-442: The German Sturmgewehr ). In the years following the war, this new format began to replace the submachine gun in military use to a large extent. Based on the StG44, the Soviet Union created the AK-47 , which is to date the world's most produced firearm , with over 100 million made. After World War II, "new submachine gun designs appeared almost every week to replace the admittedly rough and ready designs which had appeared during

9313-422: The German Army to develop submachine guns. Colonel Bethel-Abiel Revelli had already conceived the principles of the submachine gun in September 1915, when he wrote that his gun could be converted to a single-barreled version that "may be mounted in the manner of a rifle so that it may be fired from the shoulder" . The FIAT Mod. 1915 would be later modified into the OVP 1918 automatic carbine. The OVP 1918 had

9452-417: The German MP28 was never completely satisfactory, and hasty manufacturing processes often exacerbated the misfeed problems inherent in the design. A common statement heard from British forces at the time was that the Sten was made "by Marks and Spencer out of Woolworth." British and Commonwealth forces in the early years of the war often extensively test-fired their weapons in training to weed out bad examples;

9591-464: The Germans introduced the 9mm Parabellum MP38 which was first used during the invasion of Poland of September that year. The MP38 production was still just starting and only a few thousand were in service at the time. It proved to be far more practical and effective in close-quarters combat than the standard-issue German Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle . From this experience, the simplified and modernized MP40 (commonly and erroneously referred to as

9730-568: The Italians were among the first to develop submachine guns during World War I, they were slow to produce them under Mussolini ; the 9mm Parabellum Beretta Model 38 (MAB 38) was not available in large numbers until 1943. The MAB 38 was made in a series of improved and simplified models all sharing the same basic layout. The MAB 38 has two triggers, the front for semi-auto and rear for full-auto. Most models use standard wooden stocks , although some models were fitted with an MP40-style under-folding stock and are commonly mistaken for it. The MAB 38 series

9869-456: The Korean War. The Thompson had seen much use by the U.S. and South Korean militaries, even though the Thompson had been replaced as standard-issue by the M3/M3A1. With huge numbers of guns available in army ordnance arsenals, the Thompson remained classed as "limited standard" or "substitute standard" long after the standardization of the M3/M3A1. Many Thompsons were distributed to the US-backed Nationalist Chinese armed forces as military aid before

10008-502: The Lanchester was entirely different, being made of high-quality materials with pre-war fit and finish, in stark contrast to the Sten's austere execution. The Lanchester and Sten magazines were even interchangeable (though the Lanchester's magazine was longer with a 50-round capacity, compared to the Sten's 32.) The Sten used simple stamped metal components and minor welding, which required minimal machining and manufacturing. Much of

10147-588: The MP 18 was the MP 34 that was manufactured by the Germans through the Swiss front company Solothurn. The MP 34 was manufactured from the very best materials available and finished to the highest possible standard. Consequently, its production costs were extremely high. It was adopted by the Austrian police and army in the 1930s, and they were taken over by the Germans after German annexation of Austria in 1938. The MP35

10286-735: The OUT Station radios. ATS subalterns or Royal Signals personnel operated the Special Duties IN-Stations and Zero Stations. In November 1940, Gubbins moved to the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which had incorporated Section D and MI R, as its Director of Operations. The Auxiliary Units were kept in being long after any immediate German threat had passed and were stood down only in November 1944. Several Auxiliary Unit members later joined

10425-712: The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), Enfield. Shepherd had been recalled to service after having retired and spending some time at the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). The Sten shared design features, such as its side-mounted magazine configuration, with the Lanchester submachine gun being produced at the same time for the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force , which was a copy of the German MP28 . In terms of manufacture,

10564-825: The Russian Civil War in 1919 and in the Irish War of Independence of 1919–1921. From early 1939, he had served with MI R, another guerrilla organisation controlled by the War Office . Most recently, he had returned from the Norwegian campaign , where he headed the Independent Companies , the predecessors of the British Commandos , before succeeding to the acting command of a Guards brigade. He later wrote: I had, in fact, been given

10703-693: The Schmeisser) was developed and made in large numbers; about a million were made during World War II . The MP40 was lighter than the MP38. It also used more stamped parts, making it faster and cheaper to produce. The MP38 and MP40 were the first SMGs to use plastic furniture and a practical folding stock, which became standard for all future SMG designs. The Germans used a large number of captured Soviet PPSh-41 submachine guns, some were converted to fire 9mm Parabellum while others were used unmodified (the German 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridge had identical dimensions to

10842-599: The Winter War against Finland. The PPSh's 71-round drum magazine is a copy of the Suomi's. Later in the war they developed the even more readily mass-produced PPS submachine gun - all firing the same small-caliber but high-powered Tokarev cartridges. The USSR went on to make over 6 million PPSh-41s and 2 million PPS-43s by the end of World War II. Thus, the Soviet Union could field huge numbers of submachine guns against

10981-535: The accuracy of the U.S. M1 Garand and M1 carbine , it provided more firepower at short distances and was well-suited to the close-range firefights that typically occurred in that conflict, especially at night. United Nations Command forces in defensive outposts or on patrol often had trouble returning a sufficient volume of fire when attacked by companies of infantry armed with the PPSh. As infantry Captain (later General) Hal Moore stated: "on full automatic it sprayed

11120-522: The angle of feed and causing a failure to feed; the correct method of holding the weapon was as with a rifle, the left hand cradling the fore piece. The Sten's magazine, which, like the Lanchesters, derived from the MP28, originally to use its magazines, which incorporated the faults of the MP28 magazine. The magazine had two columns of 9mm cartridges in a staggered arrangement, merging at the top to form

11259-473: The arts of guerrilla warfare including assassination , unarmed combat , demolition and sabotage . Each Patrol was a self-contained cell, expected to be self-sufficient and operationally autonomous in the case of invasion, generally operating within a 15-mile radius. They were provided with elaborately-concealed underground Operational Bases (AUOB / OB), usually built by the Royal Engineers in

11398-538: The barrel in wet rags would delay undesirable overheating of the barrel. Guerrilla fighters in Europe became adept at repairing, modifying and eventually scratch-building clones of the Sten (over 2,000 Stens and about 500 of the similar Błyskawica SMGs were manufactured in occupied Poland). Canadian infantry battalions in northwest Europe retained spare Sten guns for special missions and the Canadian Army reported

11537-569: The barrel, magazine, magazine housing and bolt. Some of them were imported to the US before 1968. These MKIIs were made by Long Branch as part of a Nationalist Chinese contract. While all types of 7.62×25mm ammo can be used, those made in the former Czechoslovakia are made for small arms that can handle high velocity, so users are not advised to use them. The Sten, especially the Mark II, tended to attract affection and loathing in equal measure. Its peculiar appearance when compared to other firearms of

11676-525: The basis for the Sterling submachine gun , which replaced the Sten in British service from the 1950s. The Sten emerged while Britain was engaged in the Battle of Britain , facing invasion by Germany . The army was forced to replace weapons lost during the evacuation from Dunkirk while expanding their arsenal at the same time. After the start of the war and to 1941 (and even later), the British purchased all

11815-733: The communists during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The Finnish Army acquired moderate numbers of Stens in the late 1950s, mainly Mk. III versions. Refurbishment at the Kuopio Arsenal included bluing of the arms. Stens in Finnish service saw limited usage by conscripts (notably combat swimmers ) and were mostly stockpiled for use in a future mobilization. During the Zapatista movement in 1994, some Zapatista soldiers were armed with Sten guns. Submachine gun The submachine gun

11954-566: The early 2010s, compact assault rifles and personal defense weapons had replaced submachine guns in most roles. Factors such as the increasing use of body armor and logistical concerns have combined to limit the appeal of submachine guns. However, SMGs are still used by police (especially SWAT teams) for dealing with heavily armed suspects and by military special forces units for close-quarters combat, due to their reduced size, recoil and muzzle blast, and capability for sound suppression. Submachine gun designs adopted during this period include

12093-697: The end of the Lapland war , was widely exported and remained in service to the late 1970s. Inspired by captured examples of the Soviet PPS submachine gun , a gun that was cheaper and quicker to manufacture than the Suomi, the Finns introduced the KP m/44 submachine gun in 1944. In 1940, the Soviets introduced the 7.62×25mm PPD-40 and later the more easily manufactured PPSh-41 in response to their experience during

12232-551: The entire magazine (30 rounds) of his Sten at point-blank range, of which 27 hit her. In the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War , both nationalists and communist Chinese forces used the Sten. Some Stens were converted by the communists to 7.62×25mm by using the magazine housing from a PPS to accept curved PPS magazines. British, Canadian, and Chinese Stens were seen in the hands of

12371-552: The era, combined with sometimes questionable reliability made it unpopular with some front-line troops. It gained nicknames such as "Plumber's Nightmare", "Plumber's Abortion", or "Stench Gun". The Sten's advantage was its ease of mass-production manufacture in a time of shortage during a major conflict. Made by a variety of manufacturers, often with subcontracted parts, some early Sten guns were made poorly and/or not to specification, and could malfunction in operation, sometimes in combat. The double-column, single-feed magazine copied from

12510-406: The event of invasion. They would not maintain contact with local Home Guard commanders, who were to be wholly unaware of their existence. Auxiliaries would not participate in the conventional phase of their town's defence, but would be activated once the local Home Guard defence had been ended to inflict maximum mayhem and disruption over a further brief but violent period. They were not envisaged as

12649-672: The fall of Chiang Kai-shek's government to Mao Zedong's communist forces at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. (Thompsons had already been widely used throughout China since the 1920s, at a time when several Chinese warlords and their military factions running various parts of the fragmented country made purchases of the weapon and then subsequently produced many local copies.) US troops were surprised to encounter communist Chinese troops armed with Thompsons (among other captured US-made Nationalist Chinese and American firearms), especially during unexpected night assaults, which became

12788-617: The final year of the war. However, these were not enough to prevent Germany's collapse in November 1918. After World War I, the MP 18 evolved into the MP28/II SMG, which incorporated a simple 32-round box magazine , selective fire , and other minor improvements. Though the MP18 had a rather short service life, it was influential in the design of later submachine guns, such as the Lanchester , Sten and PPD-40 . The .45 ACP Thompson submachine gun had been in development at approximately

12927-414: The full stresses of the rounds being pushed in by the spring. This, along with rough handling could result in deformation of the magazine lips (which required a precise 8° feed angle to operate), resulting in misfeeding and a failure to fire. If a Sten failed to feed due to jammed cartridges in the magazine, standard practice to clear it was to remove magazine from the gun, tap the base of the magazine against

13066-590: The general stand-down of the Home Guard. Nonetheless, some units were deployed to the Isle of Wight prior to the D day landings in 1944 to help protect the Pluto fuel pipeline from being attacked by German commandos. It was then suggested that the Auxiliary Units should be fully administered by the Home Guard, but that was not enacted before the final stand-down in November 1944. An Auxiliary Unit arms cache features in

13205-416: The gun was even more inadequate: by the war's end, Japan had only manufactured about 7,500 of the Type 100, whereas Germany, America, and other countries in the war had produced well over a million of their own SMG designs. The German military concluded that most firefights took place at ranges of no more than ~300 yd (270 m). They therefore sought to develop a new class of weapon that would combine

13344-512: The high volume of fire of the submachine gun with an intermediate cartridge that enabled the shooter to place accurate shots at medium ranges (beyond that of the 100–200 yd (91–183 m) range of the typical submachine gun). After a false start with the FG 42 , this led to the development of the Sturmgewehr 44 select-fire assault rifle (assault rifle or storm rifle is a translation of

13483-418: The inside of an infantry fighting vehicle . The FN P90 is currently in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations. Auxiliary Units The Auxiliary Units , Home Guard Shock Squads or GHQ Auxiliary Units were specially trained, highly secret quasi military units created by the British government during the Second World War with the aim of using irregular warfare in response to

13622-407: The knee, re-insert the magazine, then re-cock the weapon and fire again as normal. To facilitate easier loading when attempting to push the cartridges down to insert the next one, a magazine filler tool was developed and formed part of the weapon's kit. The slot on the side of the body where the cocking knob ran was also a target of criticism, as the long opening could allow foreign objects to enter. On

13761-483: The local civilian population. It acted as "eyes and ears" and would report back to military intelligence any information that it heard from 'careless talk' or from watching troop movements and supply routes. It was supported by a signals network of hidden, short-range, wireless sets around the coast. The structure allowed no means to pass on such information to the Operational Patrols. It is unlikely that

13900-566: The military authorities, and General Ironside , the C-in-C of GHQ Home Forces, insisted that all guerrilla and sabotage organisations be subject to military control. Colonel Colin Gubbins was the obvious choice to command the new organisation. Gubbins was a regular British Army soldier who had acquired considerable experience and expertise in guerrilla warfare during the Allied intervention in

14039-471: The occupying Germans, who used them for themselves and also put them into the hands of the Vichy French . The Owen Gun is a 9mm Parabellum Australian submachine gun designed by Evelyn Owen in 1939. The Owen is a simple, highly reliable, open bolt, blowback SMG. It was designed to be fired either from the shoulder or the hip. It is easily recognisable, owing to its unconventional appearance, including

14178-404: The operator's perspective), together covering the ejection opening and allowing the weapon and magazine both to lie flat on its side. The barrel sleeve was shorter and rather than having small holes on the top, it had three sets of three holes equally spaced on the shroud. To allow a soldier to hold a Sten by the hot barrel sleeve with the supporting hand, an insulating lace-on leather sleeve guard

14317-480: The other hand, a beneficial side-effect of the Sten's minimalist design was that it would fire without any lubrication. This proved useful in desert environments such as the Western Desert campaign , where lubricating oil retained dust and sand. The selector was a push button type that actuated a sear disconnector to enable firing in semi-automatic. When firing in this mode, the bolt moves rearward tripping on

14456-512: The production could be performed by small workshops, with the firearms assembled at the Enfield site. Over the period of manufacture, the Sten design was further simplified: the most basic model, the Mark III, could be produced from five man-hours of work. Some of the cheapest versions were made from only 47 different parts (out of 47 components, only the barrel and bolt were machined). The Mark I

14595-405: The receiver were created to lock the bolt in the closed position to reduce the likelihood of unintentional discharges inherent in the design. Most changes to the production process were more subtle, designed to give greater ease of manufacture and increased reliability, and the potentially great differences in build quality contributed to the Sten's reputation as being an unreliable weapon. However,

14734-703: The same magazines as the Model 38 series. Submachine guns again proved to be an important weapon system in the Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953). The Korean People's Army (KPA) and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) fighting in Korea received massive numbers of the PPSh-41, in addition to the North Korean Type 49 and the Chinese Type 50, which were both licensed copies of the PPSh-41 with small mechanical revisions. While lacking

14873-485: The same operating mechanisms and design philosophy of the Sten, namely their low cost and ease of manufacture. Though the MP40 was also built largely for this purpose, Otto Skorzeny went on record saying that he preferred the Sten because it required less raw material to produce and performed better under adverse combat conditions. The effect of putting lightweight automatic weaponry into the hands of soldiers greatly increased

15012-596: The same time as the Bergmann and the Beretta. However, the war ended before prototypes could be shipped to Europe. Although it had missed its chance to be the first purpose-designed submachine gun to enter service, it became the basis for later weapons, and was much more successful than the submachine guns produced during World War I. The Thompson entered production as the M1921. It was available to civilians, but, because of

15151-399: The sear disconnector downwards requiring the user to release the trigger to fire the weapon again. When firing in full automatic, the selector slightly pivots and moves the sear disconnector sideways enabling the trigger to hold the sear in the firing position without interference of the bolt movement. The open bolt design combined with cheap manufacture and rudimentary safety devices also meant

15290-445: The sear projection underneath the bolt could wear down more easily than ones made of case-hardened steel. Stens could jam at inopportune moments. One of the more notable instances of this was the assassination of SS – Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich on 27 May 1942, when Czechoslovak Warrant Officer Jozef Gabčík wanted to fire his Sten point blank at Heydrich, only to have it misfire. His comrade Jan Kubiš then hastily tossed

15429-424: The short-range firepower of the infantry, especially when the main infantry weapon was a bolt-action rifle capable of only around 15 rounds per minute and not suited for short-range combat. The open-bolt firing mechanism, short barrel and use of pistol ammunition severely restricted accuracy and stopping power , with an effective range of only around 60 m (200 ft), compared to 500 m (1,600 ft) for

15568-573: The simplified M1 . The Thompson was still expensive and slow to produce. Therefore, the U.S. developed the M3 submachine gun or "Grease Gun" in 1942, followed by the improved M3A1 in 1944. While the M3 was no more effective than the Tommy Gun, it was made primarily of stamped parts and welded together and could be produced much faster and at a fraction of the cost of a Thompson; its much lower rate of fire made it

15707-432: The spring pressure could be enough to chamber and fire the round. The Mk. IV's cocking handle was designed to prevent this by enabling the bolt to be locked in its forward position, immobilising it. Wear and manufacturing tolerances could render these safety devices ineffective. Though the Sten was somewhat prone to malfunction, in the hands of a well-trained soldier, who knew how to avoid the Sten's failings, they were less of

15846-659: The submachine gun was gradually accepted by many military organizations, especially as World War II loomed, with many countries developing their own designs. The U.S. Marine Corps adopted the Thompson during this period, they used them during the Banana Wars in Central America and it was also used by the China Marines . During the 1924 uprising the Soviets supplied four Thompsons to Estonian Communist militants; those were used against Estonian soldiers in

15985-534: The target". There are some inconsistencies in the classification of submachine guns. British Commonwealth sources often refer to SMGs as "machine carbines". Other sources refer to SMGs as "machine pistols" because they fire pistol-caliber ammunition, for example, the MP-40 and MP5 , where "MP" stands for Maschinenpistole ("submachine gun" in German, but cognate with the English term "machine pistol"). However,

16124-511: The term " machine pistol " is also used to describe a handgun -style firearm capable of fully automatic or burst fire , such as the Stechkin , Beretta 93R , Glock 18 , and the H&K VP70 . Furthermore, personal defense weapons such as the FN P90 and H&K MP7 are often called submachine guns. In 1895, Hiram Maxim produced the 'miniature Maxim' which was a pistol-calibre Maxim machinegun weighing 27 lb (12.2 kg) that

16263-462: The total produced consisted of the Mark II variant. Approximately 4.5 million Stens were produced during the Second World War. The first ever Mk I Sten gun (number 'T-40/1' indicating its originator Harold Turpin, the year 1940 and the serial number "1") was handmade by Turpin at the Philco Radio works at Perivale , Middlesex during December 1940/January 1941 in 36 days. This particular weapon

16402-475: The units was to attack invading forces from behind their own lines while conventional forces fell back to prepared defences. Aircraft, fuel dumps, railway lines, and depots were high on the list of targets, as would be the assassination of senior German officers and any local collaborators. Patrols secretly reconnoitred local country houses, which might be used by German officers, and prepared lists of suspected fifth columnists as early targets for killing. Although

16541-435: The war. Some (the better ones) survived, most rarely got past the glossy brochure stage." Most of these survivors were cheaper, easier, and faster to make than their predecessors. As such, they were widely distributed. In 1945, Sweden introduced the 9 mm Parabellum Carl Gustaf m/45 with a design borrowing from and improving on many design elements of earlier submachine-gun designs. It has a tubular stamped steel receiver with

16680-441: The weapon is cocked and on pulling the trigger the bolt moves forward from spring pressure, stripping the round from the magazine, chambering it and firing the weapon all in the same movement. There is no breech locking mechanism; the rearward movement of the bolt caused by the recoil impulse is arrested only by the mainspring and the bolt's inertia. The German MP40 , Russian PPSh-41 , and US M3 submachine gun , among others, used

16819-401: The weapon was prone to accidental discharges, which proved hazardous. A simple safety could be engaged while the bolt was in the rearwards (cocked) position. However, if a loaded Sten with the bolt in the closed position was dropped, or the butt was knocked against the ground, the bolt could move far enough rearward to pick up a round (but not far enough to be engaged by the trigger mechanism) and

16958-510: The weapon's high price, initially saw poor sales. The Thompson (with one Type XX 20 round "stick" magazine) had been priced at $ 200 in 1921 (roughly equivalent to $ 3,416 in 2023). The Thompson was used in combat that same year: West Virginia state police bought 37 guns and used them during the Battle of Blair Mountain . Some of the first batches of Thompsons were bought by agents of the Irish Republican Army . They purchased

17097-420: The wireless network would survive long after invasion and that it would not have been possible to link the isolated Operational Patrols into a national network that could act in concert on behalf of a British government in exile and its representatives still in the United Kingdom. Instead, SIS ( MI6 ) created a separate resistance organisation ( Section VII ) with powerful wireless sets that was intended to act on

17236-400: Was a more finely finished weapon with a wooden foregrip and handle; later versions were generally more spartan, although the final version, the Mark V, which was produced after the threat of invasion had died down, was produced to a higher standard. The Sten underwent various design improvements over the course of the war. For example, the Mark 4 cocking handle and corresponding hole drilled in

17375-541: Was another interwar German submachine gun, designed by the Bergmann brothers. It was exported to Sweden and Ethiopia and also saw extensive use in the Spanish Civil War . About 40,000 of the type were manufactured until 1944, with many going into the hands of the Waffen SS . The Erma EMP was yet another submachine gun from this period, based on a design by Heinrich Vollmer , about 10,000 were manufactured. It

17514-500: Was damaged the weapon had to be scrapped. Combined with the fact the Mark III was more prone to failure than the Mark II, production of the weapon ceased in September 1943. Unlike the Mark II, the receiver, ejection port, and barrel shroud were unified, leading to them being extended further up the barrel. Captured Sten Mk III's in German possession were designated MP 750(e). A total of 876,886 Mark III's were produced. The Mark V added

17653-525: Was designed to be a more cost effective, lighter weight, and less complex design alternative to the MP5. The UMP has a side-folding stock and is available with four different trigger group configurations. It was also designed to use a wide range of Picatinny rail mounted accessories In 2004, Izhmash introduced the Vityaz-SN a 9mm Parabellum, closed bolt straight blowback operated submachine gun. It

17792-580: Was developed during World War I (1914–1918) as a close quarter offensive weapon, mainly for trench raiding . At its peak during World War II (1939–1945), millions of submachine guns were made for assault troops and auxiliaries whose doctrines emphasized close-quarter suppressive fire . New submachine gun designs appeared frequently during the Cold War , especially among special forces , covert operation commandos and mechanized infantrymen . Submachine gun usage for frontline combat decreased in

17931-533: Was expected that nevertheless, once their ammunition was exhausted, they would have to give themselves up to capture. That was seen as creating an opportunity for a hidden Auxiliary Unit in the locality to kill as many Germans as possible just when they might be considering themselves as victors. Separate from the Auxiliary Units' Operational Patrols was the Special Duty Branch, which was originally recruited by SIS and carefully vetted and selected from

18070-653: Was exported to Spain, Mexico, China and Yugoslavia, but also used domestically by the SS, as well as being produced under license in Francoist Spain . Changes in design accelerated during the war, with one major trend being the abandonment of complex and finely made pre-war designs like the Thompson submachine gun to weapons designed for cheap mass production and easy replacement like the M3 Grease Gun . While

18209-592: Was extremely robust and proved very popular with both Axis and Allied troops (who used captured MAB 38s). It is considered the most successful and effective Italian small arm of World War II. During the later years of the war, the TZ-45 submachine gun was manufactured in small numbers in the Italian Social Republic . A cheaper alternative to the MAB 38, it also sported an unusual grip safety . In 1939,

18348-402: Was moved to the Mark II. Mark I Stens in German possession were designated MP 748(e), the 'e' standing for englisch . The Mark I* (pronounced "Mark-One-Star") variant was to simplify production of the Mark I, the handguard, vertical foreward grip, vent holes, wooden furniture and conical flash hider were removed with this variant. It was the first variant to come with a tube stock. The Mark II

18487-430: Was much cheaper and faster to make. Over 4 million Sten guns were made during World War II. The Sten was so cheap and easy to produce that towards the end of the war as their economic base approached crisis, Germany started manufacturing their own copy, the MP 3008 . After the war, the British replaced the Sten with the Sterling submachine gun . The United States and its allies used the Thompson submachine gun, especially

18626-406: Was replaced by the Sterling submachine gun from 1953 and was gradually withdrawn from British service in the 1960s. Other Commonwealth nations followed suit, either by creating their own replacements or adopting foreign designs. The Sten was a blowback-operated submachine gun firing from an open bolt with a fixed firing pin on the face of the bolt. This means the bolt remains to the rear when

18765-399: Was sold in small quantities to various countries and tested by the US military but not adopted. In 1896, a select-fire pistol was patented by the British inventor Hugh Gabbett-Fairfax. In April 1914, Abiel Bethel Revelli, an Italian military officer patented a twin-barreled, magazine-fed automatic gun in a pistol caliber, lighter than a machine gun and shorter than a rifle. A common myth

18904-683: Was sometimes issued. Sten Mk II's in German possession were designated MP 749(e). Some Mk IIs had wooden stocks. The Spz-kr assault rifle , a rudimentary German design made in the closing stages of the war, used the receiver and components from the Sten Mk II, and the MP 3008 was made as a cheap copy. During World War II, a variation of the Sten gun was produced at the Long Branch Arsenal plant in Long Branch, Ontario (now Lakeview, an area of Mississauga , Peel Region ). This

19043-423: Was the most common mainstream variant, with two million units produced. The flash eliminator and the folding handle (the grip) of the Mk I were omitted. A removable barrel was now provided which projected 3 inches (76 mm) beyond the barrel sleeve. It used a tube stock. Also, a special catch allowed the magazine to be slid partly out of the magazine housing and the housing rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise (from

19182-492: Was the most produced variant of the Sten, manufactured in Canada alongside the United Kingdom, with Lines Bros Ltd being the largest producer. The Mark III was made of 48 parts, compared to the Mark II's 69, but the Mark II remained more commonplace for logistical reasons – parts between the two were not interchangeable. Though slightly lighter, the magazine well was fixed in place, and the barrel could not be removed, meaning if it

19321-571: Was very similar to the regular Mark II, with a different stock ('skeleton' type instead of strut type). It was first used in combat in the Dieppe Raid in 1942. The Mark II that were made in China with a copy known as the M38. The Chinese M38s were made in an automatic-only configuration, unlike the standard Mark II. The M38 was made in 9×19mm and 7.62×25mm Tokarev variants. After the Mark II, this

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