sten gun

[Flying10uk]

Is any-one aware of any problems with the Stens which had the bush welded, in accordance with the EMER, for example weld cracking which has become apparent after the gun had been used?

[Vincent]

The Germans welded the bushing on the Gerät Neumünster. They also pinned the barrel, like an AK.

I don’t understand why they were all so set on having a removable barrel. If they were really disposable guns, why not do away with the bushing altogether? Just make the barrel collar bigger and weld it into the casing.

[Peter Laidler]

The Mk2 was made that way so that it could be stripped down and put into a foolscap paper size cardboard box, complete with a basic cleaning kit, magazine loader and 3 (or 4?) magazines, Then 60 put into a container and air dropped

[Flying10uk]

I don't know if many others have tried to weld metal together that has previously been soft soldered together but I have found that unless you remove all traces of the solder first it is very difficult to achieve a good weld. I have only ever tried this with MIG welding and so don't know how other forms of welding would result if contaminated with solder. I became aware of this problem from welding car bodywork that had previously been lead-loaded.

[Vincent]

MIG is not the best choice if you can’t get the surfaces 100% clean. Oxyacetylene or TIG are better when there’s some contamination of soft solder or lead. They let you get the part much hotter than the melting point and soft solder or lead will flow like water, making it easy to remove. With TIG it gets mixed in… or splatters all over the place because you don’t have the ability to get the parts really hot before you weld them.

100% clean is always best. But sometimes you have to live with what you get. Occasionally I get some contamination from braze on Sterling parts. I think most of it floats to the top of the pool, like dross when you’re melting lead. A quick pass with a flap wheel and it gone.

[Vincent]

I am guessing the pistol grip is one of the 600 Canada had made from butt stocks as described in Peter’s Sten book?

[browningautorifle]

Otto Skorzeny's favorite, the Mk6S.

[philb]

I used to work on the rolls Royce, and we always had to heat panels to remove any lead as it would go BANG when tried to be mig welded

[Flying10uk]

Did you replace it with lead or body filler after welding?

[mrclark303]

The Mk2 was made that way so that it could be stripped down and put into a foolscap paper size cardboard box, complete with a basic cleaning kit, magazine loader and 3 (or 4?) magazines, Then 60 put into a container and air dropped

I believe these rusted up air dropped WW2 containers still occasionally come to light in the wide expanses of Norway, complete with heavily corroded contents!