sten gun

[philb]

only lead filler used on rolls Royce / Bentleys etc

[Vincent]

Were Mk3’s not air dropped then?

[Peter Laidler]

I didn't say that Vince. I just said what the spec for the mass produced gun was to be - and Turpin responded with the Mk2!

[Vincent]

I got that Peter. Just wondering if Mk3’s were also air dropped or only Mk2’s because they were more suited to it?

[Peter Laidler]

Yes, Mk3's were air dropped. We know that for certain because they have been photographed with Dutch resistance parties. The Mk3 design was nothing to do with Shepherd and Turpin of course. It was all down to Jacob Lines.

Incidentally, Lines's grandson and wife live in Oxford, very close to me and are good friends of my daughter. It was only 2 years or so ago that daughter told me that John's family made toys, cycles mecanno etc etc that the penny dropped. Now another member of the family has added a Mk3 gun to their family archives. What goes round, comes around as they say......

[Vincent]

Thanks Peter. We don’t hear much about the Mk3 over here.

Meccano! Wow, that takes me back a few years.

[mrclark303]

Considering the wartime expedient and very clever design of the Mk3 (it's got to be a simple as it's possible to go from a manufacturing perspective) I am surprised that Finland not only bought them, but refurbished them too.

I wonder if the contract was "X number of Sten Carbines" and they just got what came out of store, so an assortment of Mk2 and Mk3's?

[browningautorifle]

I wonder if the contract was "X number of Sten Carbines" and they just got what came out of store, so an assortment of Mk2 and Mk3's?

I'm quite sure that's exactly what would happen. There's no differentiation in the military when it comes to weapons, just fill the bill.

[Flying10uk]

Do you own a MK3 Sten of your own Vincent? If not I'll take a few pictures of mine (U.K. deac, of course) sometime and post them, now that I've figured out how to use a digital camera.

[Vincent]

No, I do not have a real original working Mk3 Sten. I have only ever seen one for sale here and my pockets weren’t deep enough to win the auction.

I would love to see some pictures.