This is my new Sten. There are many other like it, but this one is now mine...

[browningautorifle]

You need a horsehair and canvas cover for that bad boy. Fit and finish seems very nice. Nice gun...

[Peter Laidler]

That was the SOE silencer and described in the book. Your gun should never be fired on automatic with that silencer fitted. I seem to recall that the change lever was made so that it could not be moved to the A side.

[Brit plumber]

Nice gun but I do have some questions, I'm not trying to tear the story apart but I just wonder if that paint finish is original. It doesn't look like suncorite and I can't see any paint missing. Compare that to the silencer and they don't match, the silencer looks spot for what I'd expect and thought the patina on the gun would match. The other thing I noticed is the breech block doesn't show signs of being lightened but I know that it wasn't always nessisary. Also the ground welds look similar to what the Finns did to their guns, non of my STEN Mk2s except the Finn gun have ground welds.

[Peter Laidler]

I totally agree with BP's comments regarding the two distinct finishes. Has the paint been burned off the hot silencer I'm bound to ask? They do get VERY hot! So far as the ground welds are concerned, I don't think that ground or un-ground welds on the mag housing are indicative of an S gun. More indicative of the manufacturer of the mag housing or at a particular time during the war. Ground welds were a spec. requirement later for the Mk5 guns

[Lee Enfield]

You need a horsehair and canvas cover for that bad boy. Fit and finish seems very nice. Nice gun...

Shouldn't need that, as the larger diameter tube is a heat shield which is spaced away from the suppressor tube.

I totally agree with BP's comments regarding the two distinct finishes. Has the paint been burned off the hot silencer I'm bound to ask? They do get VERY hot! So far as the ground welds are concerned, I don't think that ground or un-ground welds on the mag housing are indicative of an S gun. More indicative of the manufacturer of the mag housing or at a particular time during the war. Ground welds were a spec. requirement later for the Mk5 guns

[browningautorifle]

Shouldn't need that

They do get VERY hot!

Seems you're alone in that thought process...I've built and shot them. They get VERY hot. The originals had a wrap for a reason.

[Lee Enfield]

Seems you're alone in that thought process...I've built and shot them. They get VERY hot. The originals had a wrap for a reason.

Everyone is probably aware that they get hot, that's why the SOE MkIIS cans had this nifty spaced outer tube...theoretically removing the need for the canvas & asbestos or horse hair wrap. Not sure how effective it was, but certainly would be cooler than a Military MkIIs or MkVI can, and as repeatedly pointed out, these cans were/are not meant for full auto firing - which should significantly limit the heat build up.

Attachment 82136
Here is a photo of a disassembled SOE MkIIS can....note the inner and outer tubes.
Attachment 82138
note the (SOE ?) catalogue illustration, no fabric heat shield...
Attachment 82139
Attachment 82140
Note the Military Sten MkIIS & Mk6 can drawings, with fabric heat shields...



stolen from this excellent article
http://www.smallarmsreview.com/displ...articles=2360#

[Peter Laidler]

I'm a bit bemused by picture 2, para 2, that the silencer can be fitted to a standard (mk2) Sten but para 4, method, says that it cannot be used on any other gun because....... That's ambiguity at its best. It either CAN be used on any gun - or it can't! We can only assume that it is matched for bore to exit hole alignment alone.

Also in para 2 it declares that the speed of the bullet is reduced to 980 ft/sec. Quite how they achieve this by fitting a silencer is beyond me! The special notes part mentions the luminous sights. It amazed me when the radiation examiners came around with their radiac survey dosi-meters - or dosser readers as we called the users - , the meter clicked like the clappers when it got to our silenced guns. But they were right. Under years of black paint and hidden luminosity, the radium was still sound. I just assume that the radium was made and applied by Volkswagen!

My further comment on the lack of protection is that while there might well be a thermal shunt between the two 'casings', so was there on the Sterling. And that got too hot to handle after just a few rounds. We used to pull an old woolen sock, the thick army issue ones, over the casing

[browningautorifle]

stolen from this excellent article

You see, I'm not interested in borrowing someone else's article or talking about hearsay...I'm wondering how many suppressed "Things" you've handled yourself? Any?

I'm speaking about cans I've shot and handled and built. As Peter states...after even a few rounds they get hot. The Sterling (L34?) I've had here and know exactly what he's talking about. Even a Delisle has a wooden forend because even single .45's make the jacket hard to handle in a few rounds.

too hot to handle after just a few rounds.

Anyhow, I don't need to cut and paste other's work here. I just made a simple comment about aesthetics and you wanted to take me to task. I can discuss silencers in detail...

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Yep!

All of that energy has to go somewhere! '"Wet" cans are an interesting study in themselves. Otherwise, you have to get rid of the heat via the mass of the muffler itself; as it heats up, it basically becomes less efficient, because part of the way a proper can works is by essentially cooling the gases and slowing down their entry into the atmosphere.

Then again, who is likely to still be "clandestine" after expending several mags of 9mm, even with a decent muffler? The "smack" of bullets striking, even at sub-sonic velocities, is not to be ignored, never mind the rattle of the action and the "tinkling" of the spent brass.

"Silent" they ain't: the whole point is to "diffuse" the muzzle blast that is the rather distinctive signature of "normal" shooting.