Sten mkV identification : weird or not ?

[Jalabert]

Hi,

I have doubts on this sten. There is the same number on the receiver and the metal of butt stock (24954). However, the wood is mounted upside down since the attachment of the strap is down and not up .

Thank you for your expert advice and sorry for my bad English .

Best,
Jalabert

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

You are right! The butt is upside down. The rearward angle of the front pistol grip indicates to me that it is a repro.

You butts were configured so that they couldn't be assembled upside down in the butt socket. But give a man a hacksaw and a hammer and anything is possible. A simple fix for you to put right

[Jalabert]

Thank you for your answer. I had doubts also on the front grip... What about the authenticity of the butt stock (and eveything else) ?

I can not identify the manufacturer , so I do not know interpret the serial number. Help ?

[Peter Laidler]

All the rest looks OK. There are identifiers from the serial number to manufacturer. That and a zillion other things can be gleaned from a little book on the subject. The Sten Machine Carbine by Collector Grade in Canada. And cheap too.........

[Vincent]

It was produced before November 1944.

Everything you could ever want to know is in that book, “The Sten Machine Carbine”. It is THE Sten reference book.

I would love to buy a MkV like that one.

[Flying10uk]

Is the MK5 Sten unusual in having the sling attachment on the upper face of the stock? Off the top of my head I can't think of any other examples of rifle or smg where this is a feature; I suspect this is what caused some-one to fit the stock upside down. Jalabert could you ,please, post a picture of the woodwork part of the stock which fits into the socket once you have removed it but before you replace it into the socket, the right way round. It would be fascinating to see what "modifications" have been done to the wood in order to get it to fit upside down.

[Peter Laidler]

We do it that way for SMG's such as the Thompson, earlier Stens and Sterlings, GPMG's and modified Brens. Makes carrying and firing on the move easy. As for putting the butt on upside down and making the gun look stupid, it's easy. Just put the male part of the butt into the female part of the socket and then take wood off the bottom - now the top - so that the stock bolt in the butt fits into the threaded hole in the socket. You can do the same with a Bren if you try!