THE STEN GUN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 151, 28 June 1943, Page 4

THE STEN GUN

LOCAL PRODUCTION ;

INEXPENSIVE WEAPON The Sten gun, a British light automatic weapon, is in production in New Zealand. .The gun was originally designed in Britain in December, 1940,- by LieutColonel' RiV. Shepherd, a British arms expert, and . Mr. Turpin, a draughtsman. The first gun took a month toi construct; but by July, 1942, one mil-! lion Sten guns had been produced inj Britain. The name is derived from I the initial letters of the designers' surnames, plus "en" for England. This gun was used by the commandos in the raid on Dieppe. Its production in New Zealand is designed mainly for the arming of the Home Guard. The Sten gun uses the standard. Continental 9mm (.354 inch) rimless pistol

ammunition, and fires, at the rate of 650 rounds a minute. The magazine: holds 32 rounds, which can be fired in three seconds. An expert might fire as many as 300 rounds a mmute. The Sten gun can.be and is being made from materials' easily available in any engineering business, and its fabrication requires no more than the standard of engineering skill to be found in any, good workshop. use can be made of discarded .303 rifle barrels. The barrel of the Sten gun is about 7 inches long and a standard .303 rifle will provide material for two, and sometimes three Sten barrels. The Sten weighs about 6Jib. It is about 2ft 6in in overall length and most of that length is taken up by the stock and firing mechanism. It costs'-under £5, whereas the Thompson sub-mach-ine-gun, its nearest equivalent, costs about £40. Nothing more than a bayonet, a knife, or a small screwdriver is needed to take the gun apart The magazine protrudes from the barrel horizontally on the left and thus provides a firm grip- for rapid fire, minimising the tendency to kick upwards. FACTORY CO-OPERATION. Three factories, formerly producing very different things for civilian use, have been co-ordinated for the production and assembly of the component parts. One factory, built for the production of radios, has been entrusted

with the greater part of the production of the gun. Another factory makes the barrel and bolt, and a third pro-ides the springs, which are entirely different from the ordinary run of gun springs. The biggest job was the production of the necessary dies and jigs of which in the main factory 150 were required. The order upon which this factory is engaged was put in hand last' October and production is now getting into its full stride, with a weekly output of 700 sets of the parts made in that factory. Extra production is a matter of more staff. The gun can be adjusted very simply to fire either single shots, which can be aimed, or for continuous operation to the limit of the magazine's capacity. Press representatives who recently visited the factory were able to test the firing qualities of the gun and also its accuracy when mounted on a test clamp. At 25 yards the great majority of the bullets struck within a threeinch circle, and it did not require many rounds to blow the bull's eye completely out of the target.