MkV Sten Gun - Another...

[philb]

very nice.........also thanks for signing my book today peter ...

[peregrinvs]

Received the gun from D&B today...

Very pleasantly surprised as it is in significantly better condition than I was expecting. Needs a good clean, but other than the barrel nut, trigger mechanism cover and a few minor parts, it seems to have most of its original finish. As requested from D&B, it has an earlier 'MkV' stamped magazine housing. I was also pleased to find it has the earlier butt with the No.4 buttplate.

A few minor niggles, it has a Mk1 barrel nut (the purist in me would prefer a Mk2 - any sources?), the No.4 foresight protector is slightly bent, the foresight blade is loose and it appears to have 'mismatched' woodwork. All amendable though.

So what can you tell me about it from the markings other than it has an Elkington & Co made magazine housing?

To echo Geoff's sentiments; grabbem' while they're hot folks...
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Just a quick note to thank Geoff / bigduke6 for refurbishing the metalwork on the above Sten. He has been incredibly generous with his time and efforts and it looks fantastic - almost like a 1944 fresh gun. You are a real gentlemen Sir. He's also done some nice work on a repro foregrip to make it useable.

I haven't done any pictures yet, but am intending to do so soon. I'm currently in the gradual process of moving from one house to another and the bits I didn't send are stored at the new house, so there'll be short delay before I reassemble it.

[peregrinvs]

Some quick pics of it mostly reassembled and I'm dead chuffed with it. Compare and contrast with my initial pictures. The butt is a work in progress and I've just temporarily propped it in position for the pics. Likewise the repro foregrip which needs the wood routing out slightly, but I can confirm the ring now fits the barrel nut tightly. I'm also going to invest in a new foresight guard as it is quite bent looked at from the front.

I will take some minor credit though for the rear grip which has tidied up fairly well after some steam, wire wool and lots of linseed oil.

Cheers,
Mark

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[Peter Laidler]

A bit pernickety now, but photo 3 looks like the trigger guard has been knocked forwards so that there is a distinct and rather large gap at the point that it leaves the grip and extends forwards. The trigger guard should touch all the way down that flat section of the forward face of the grip. At the end of their lives in service we were having to patch and re-patch Mk5 grips and butts. I seem to recall that we could just chop out the top thin rear hollow section of the grip that used to split. While you're cutting it out, just as easy to carry on along and insert a new piece of wood!

Part of the fun - and skill - is to make good what's there I say. A foresight protector should be simple to dolly straight

[peregrinvs]

Nearly there...

It's acquired a new butt and foresight protector plus a mint sling I've had for a while. Another small moment in bayonet collecting history as that's the first time in the 20-ish years I've owned it that the No.7 bayonet has been attached to the correct gun.
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[Peter Laidler]

Good to see that the gun number is on the left side of the butt socket. It should also be on the left side of the foresight protector as the butt socket was always hand fitted to the gun. The barrel of course was zeroed to a particular gun - hence the number on the f/s protector

[browningautorifle]

Another nice looking rig.