My Sten gun

[mossie]

I visited a militaria fare last year and purchased what I was told was an SOE sten,I have since found out that this is not the case,It is in fact a remodeled sten made by Finland in the 50's.
As you can see the Sten was in a very bad way,Rusty,Missing parts and the wrong main spring,But was legally deactivated.
I stripped and reblued and made the missing parts and found a mainspring,It was then that I was told the Sten was a Finland made item,So back to my shed as I wanted a ww2 model.

I replaced the cocking handle,Cut the rear grip and used the connecting part from this,I made the Butt plate and gusset plate,Cut a tube and welded a new butt assembly.
Just need to Blue the new parts now.

While restoring this,I have found out that the Sten is actually a British made 43 dated model.

[Gunny Hartmann]

I wasn't aware there were any built in Finland, looks good though!...

[lithgow]

Not built in Finland but modified there-they have a long tradition of improving on existing weapons-they bought a job lot of Stens post WW2 which apparently also had a few Lanchesters mixed in.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Paul, the Finns only bought these, they never made them.

Hi Gary, you are certainly very handy when it comes to metal working.

Cheers, Ade.

[guns ltd]

Great Job Mate!!! Looks good!!
The pistol grip modification would have made a great building clearing weapon.
Great metalsmithing on your part of this restoration.
I always liked these. I wish I had picked up a Parts kit when they were selling these in the US cheap.

John

[m3bobby]

Much better looking now, you just need to remove the front sling swivel from the barrel nut. Do you want the dimensions for the rear sight, I reckon you would have no probs making one.

[kanister]

When in the other thread I sayd that this was a Finnish mod. I did non intend to say that this was a Finnish made sten.
Now you must take away the front sling swivel, that is also a Finnish mod.

[m3bobby]

And a little history on the Finnish STENs

In 1957/58 The Finnish Ministry of Defence made a contract with Samuel Cummings (Interarmco) for the exchange of 74,381 Italian 7.35mm Carcano M/38 carbines, 217 Swedish 6.5mm M/21 LMGs, 2,117 French 8mm Chauchat M/15 LMGs, magazines, equipment and ammunition for 76,115 Sten Mk 2 and Mk 3 submachineguns and about 379,500 magazines. Some of the STENs were quite worn and in rough shape, so the Finns made the decision to FTR and upgrade the STENs. The Sten remained in Finnish use untill the 1980s and were eventually sold of in the late 80s early 90s. My own Finnish STEN Mk2 was purchased in 1995 and I paid an extra £15 for one in better condition and that made the price a massive £75!!! I originally converted it to its original look but I've since converted it back to Fin spec as I've got 3 of them now.

[James C]

nice gun and great restoration ,as im not to clued up on guns can you explain what blued means im guessing a form of coating ? if so what is the process

[m3bobby]

Blueing and Browning are a way of protecting steal by controlled corrosion. The application of chemicals causes the steel to react in a way that gives the metal a pleasing finish and also some protection. It has been mainly replaced by Parkerizing (Phophate finishing) on military arms but is still in everyday use for sporting arms.