I took my ATF Form1 to the Sheriff Office for signature and he signed right off, having done several of these in the county where I reside. When I went in to pick up the forms, I met him and he said, "Come with me, I have something to show you! He unlocked the County Arms Room, and in the rack were two Thompson SMGs with about 99% original finish. One was a nice war-time M1Aicon and the other an extremely rare M1921 model. I had never seen that one before so it was a treat to see it. I have to say it's nice living in a county where the 2nd Amendment Rights are well respected. My ATF Forms go out today for the 8-month wait. I can do all of the work up to purchasing a 7.75" barrel. I will save that part of the build until I get the approval.

I received my STEN Mk V parts kit from Apex guns. Overall I was pleased with the parts kit. The torch cut of the receiver tube was done with the re-builder in mind. There was no damage done to other components, and I am pleased that I will be able to detach the trigger housing from the cut tube and reuse it. It has a few nice ordnance markings on it, and it will save me a few bucks. I was curious about the finish as it was done with the semi-gloss black finish over a dark parkerization.

Upon review of Ian Skennertonicon's book on the STEN, I found out a few interesting notes:

1. The STEN MK V was finished with a dark grey rustproof phosphate and was over painted black. This finish proved to be very durable. I plan on following this method when I refinish the gun.

2. The Magazine housings were marked with STEN Mk V during the war, and after 1945 the roman V was replaced with a 5. My Mag housing above is clearly a post-war version. The SN on the one I received with my kitis marked RTL VS 43XXX STEN Mk V M/78. According to another website, that places the manufacture well before June 1944.

I was lucky enough to find 5 original ww2 marked, non-modified (pinned to reduce number of rounds loaded to 30) with markings such as L.B. (Line Brothers), M68 (Line Brothers again) and M69 (London Sand Blast). STEN parts were made all over the entire country.

I will be able to use most of the parts from the kit. The barrel shroud, trigger housing, wood furniture and fittings, magazine housing, front sight and some of the components.

I will need to purchase a few parts from Indianapolis Ordnance to get the gun running and legal. They sell a Mk III/V kit which is ATF approved and incorporates a smaller diameter bolt that fits in their tube and fires from a closed bolt. Their tube has a smaller inner diameter to accept the bolt, but you cannot put an original FA bolt in their tube. I am not sure which of the trigger components will be able to be used. With my parts kit and their new 4130 steel components i will have a STEN Mk V that looks about 99% the same as the original and is legal. I plan on matching the finish with a bit of wear so as to display the gun with the 17th Airborne Division Recon patrol display. I'll post progress as I move along. When finished, not only will the gun display nice, I can take it out and pound a few metal plates and paper Nazis with it.

Next I will have to research and determine how to mill the tube blank and remove the old cut tube from the kit so as to do no damage to the trigger housing.

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