Hello:
Can anyone point me to a good website that would identify the various manufacturers marks for Sten magazines. I searched this site and the internet in general but could not locate one.
Thanks.
Mike
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Hello:
Can anyone point me to a good website that would identify the various manufacturers marks for Sten magazines. I searched this site and the internet in general but could not locate one.
Thanks.
Mike
There's a good little booklet titled The Sten Machine Carbine by Collector Grade in Canada that lists the manufacturers of the magazines and other bits. Available cheap on Amazon I expect
Well Peter the highest price I could find for THAT book on ABE was $1277/USD cheapest was @$500ish/USD but Ians Skennertons ones on the 9mm STEN Machine Carbine Marks 1,1*,2 and 3 (Small arms identification series) pipped you at $1,500/USD
I may suffer bibliaphobia but wont be rushing out to buy either of those books or series.......
What markings are you looking to identify?Quote:
Originally Posted by 82Trooper
Well, that's a good question...specifically these.....
I bought a couple of these inexpensively, and am just curious what I have.
I believe they are 32 round, and were packed with cosmoline.
Attachment 92366
Attachment 92367
Attachment 92368
Attachment 92369
Thanks!
IIRC, both are markings used by the Metal Box Company.
Yes they are designed for 32 rds...Quote:
Originally Posted by 82Trooper
The Metal Box Company.....are they an "aftermarket" manufacturer? or were they a contractor for the military?Quote:
Originally Posted by Vincent
Any idea what country? What year would this have been produced...any idea?
WW2 production. Britain. There should be /l\ marks as well.
They were a contractor for the British military.
The magazines were probably produced in WW2. IIRC, they used MB1 before the standardized code of letters and numbers was introduced. I don’t know if they made any after the war.
As Peter said, the information is probably in his excellent book. I lost my copy in the flood from hurricane Harvey.
Thanks for the info....are these (from metal Box) rare at all? I paid $9.95 (US) for it...did I get a deal?
Are there any manufacturers that are more sought after than others?
No. They are not rare.Quote:
Originally Posted by 82Trooper
Yes. That’s a good deal for one in very good condition. You can find them on line for $8.95. But there’s shipping on top of that and they are probably not as nice as the one you posted the picture of. The going rate for a nice blued one like that is around $20.Quote:
I paid $9.95 (US) for it...did I get a deal?
If there are, I don’t know of any.Quote:
Are there any manufacturers that are more sought after than others?
I like the remanufactured Finnish Army mags. They have the boxed [SA] marking on them. The “S” is for “Suomi”, their word for Finland. They are usually blued and in very nice condition.
For reliability, it’s hard to beat the 19/20 round Indian modified mags. They work when they are filthy. Some people pull the brass rods out of them so they will take 32 rounds again. You want to stay away from them. Part of the Indian mod was to shorten the spring. So, when the rods are removed they are even more unreliable than an original STEN mag.
The Israeli marked mags used to be common but seem to be harder to find now.
Metal Box were largely associated with the food packaging and canning industry. They merged in the 1980s and the name gradually disappeared. The company made a number of Sten components.
In the towns and cities where Metal Box was a big employer, like Carlisle, then regardless of the new names (it became Metal Box Carnaud - or MBC) it's still just '.....MB'! They usually had large plants close to where the biscuit and sweet makers were based. Huntley and Palmer, Reading. Carrs, Carlisle etc etc
They had an impressive historical archive of wartime packaging on display at their HQ foyer at Grove including a zillion variations of the little tobacco tin that eventually became the cleaning kit tin. Emergency rations for aircraft and lifeboats were also packed into their tins too. Shame their Sten mage weren't as reliable!!!!!