Who assembled My Nk2 Sten ???

[Vincent]

The Fins did do a nice job of finishing Stens. It would be very unusual to find one that had been through their workshops and didn’t get the boxed “SA” stamp.

[Brit plumber]

I'll have to check my gun to see if it is SA marked. I remember paying an extra £10 for the better condition and going through a load of them to get the one I wanted. It is number 77777, although that is a replacement number

[Flying10uk]

There is no "SA" stamp on it. Did any U.K. factory blue their Stens perhaps even as part as a U.K. refurbishment post-war before being sold off. It looks like it's been nicely finished before being blued but was then left to corrode. I have managed to bring back some of the finish.

[Vincent]

I think suncorite paint over phosphate was the normal British finish.

There’s a lot of prep work in bluing. All the parts have to be polished and clean. With phosphate the parts are sandblasted and dipped in the bath. Then they are neutralized, rinsed, dried and painted (or soaked in oil). It’s quick and fairly inexpensive compared to bluing.

Someone probably blued it and squirreled it away in the attic after WW2.

[Flying10uk]

Did the Finns ever proof their Stens? There is no sign of any proof marks on this particular gun.

[Peter Laidler]

Another injection of reality.......... Can you or anyone in the known universe tell me what earthly point there is in proofing a blowback weapon firing from an unlocked breech. Except as a weird example of paying lip service to laws dating from the 19th century - while we're well into the 21st century. Clearly the Finns can see into the basic physics and engineering associated with such nonsense.

[Vincent]

Did the Finns ever proof their Stens? There is no sign of any proof marks on this particular gun.

I have never seen any proof marks on their [SA] marked Stens, just the property mark.

The Finns has some Mk3 Stens also. They were beautifully blued. The process probably took a lot longer than the time it took Lines Bros to make the guns.

[Flying10uk]

I don't know if the Finns ever proofed their Stens, Peter, but hopefully someone will tell us and I don't see the point of proofing a blow back weapon either.

[Flying10uk]

Perhaps the British decision to start proofing their Stens had something to do with the relatively heavy bolt??? Surely the most strain on the barrel will be just before the bolt the bolt starts to move backwards again and it was felt that due to the weight of the bolt and the effort required to get it moving again gave cause for concern??? Just a thought.

[Vincent]

I have had a few squid loads (primer only, no powder or very little) that caused the bullet to stick in the barrel. The next bullet hit the stuck one and drove it out. It puts a bulge in the barrel but I am pretty sure that’s from the expanding lead. You feel a hesitation, like a stutter if you’re paying attention. If you have other things going on, you can miss it and never know it happened. So I can’t see any need to proof blowback gun barrels. As long as one end is not locked closed nothing really bad is going to happen.