The Sten Gun (Weapon, 22)

Great for research concerning the quick development and production of the Sten. Lots of photos, good details of this historic weapon with all it's flaws and successes, variations and models and it's relationship with other sub guns of pistol rounds.

Something that is usually left out of the contemporary gun control debate is the observation that guns are simple devices.After the evacuation of Dunkirk the British were desperate for small arms to equip the Home Guard. A number of stop-gap measures were used such as the program whereby civilian owned weapons in the United States were donated to the British armed forces. However perhaps the most effective program was the design of a cheap and simple fully automatic "machine carbine", the STEN gun.In a manner that was similar to the production of the Mosquito Fighter-Bomber, STEN guns were designed specifically to use components that could be made in home workshops so as to minimize the impact on dedicated arms production facilities. Basically constructed of a few pieces of pipe, components for the STEN were produced on kitchen tables all over the UK. Something like 30,000 very small "workshops" produced the components which were then assembled at centralized armories into functioning weapons. In this way several MILLION STEN guns were constructed in just a few months.The STEN was also designed to use the 9mm Luger cartridge in order to allow partisan forces to fire captured German ammunition. Several hundred STENS were produced in various occupied European countries right under the noses of the Germans.While it was designed and built in a hurry the STEN gun was an effective weapon that remained in service for a long time. My Uncle told me that he used one while he was in the RAF in the 1950s.Whenever modern gun control advocates talk about the need to remove guns from society I just laugh at their naivete and tell them about the STEN gun, a weapon that was produced in civilian homes all over Britain at a time when that nation was in dire peril. I hope the British people never have the need to produce STEN guns again...

A well written history of the Sten Gun. Provides a basis of why the weapon was developed and the role it played in the British TOC for WWII.

Facing the imminent threat of a German invasion in 1940, with much of the British Army's best equipment left behind in the evacuation from Dunkirk, Britain needed weapons, fast. One solution: the Sten gun, a simple submachine gun with a few easily made parts and a common ammunition caliber. The Sten Gun would stay on active service for a half a century and many wars; this is its story."The Sten Gun" is an Osprey Weapon Series book by Leroy Thompson, with illustrations by Mark Stacey and Alan Gilliland. The narrative covers the development of the Sten, its use in combat, especially in World War II, and its impact as a gap-filler of a weapon with a long service life. The text is nicely supported with a good selection of period photographs, modern illustrations, and weapons diagrams. The evaluation of the Sten is even-handed, especially with respect to the number of jams and accidents associated with its use. On the other hand, its long service life is rightly taken as proof of its utility. Recommended as a good introduction to the topic.

I'm a student of WW2 weapons and weapon technology, and the design and creation of the Sten is one of the more fascinating stories. Leroy Thompson, who is an excellent writer and researcher I've been reading since the 90's, does a great job of following this story. The Sten is an ugly, crude weapon, but it is simple, effective, cheap, and it was manufactured in the millions. I think the reputation it suffered was far worse than it deserved, and it helped provide the British - and more importantly, various European resistance movements - with much needed concealable firepower.This Osprey Weapons series is excellent overall, and this addition to the series is no exception. I highly recommend it.

Lot of great information

IT DIDN'T MEET MY EXPECTATION . I WAS EXPECTING TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLACES AND THE FIRMS THAT WERE MADE.

If you want information about the STEN machine carbine this is the book for you. Give you the history of the development and production, it also describes the different models of STENs. The last half of the book is a history of its use from WWII, Korea and even Vietnam and of course every dirty little war in between. It's from Osprey publications, weapon series. This is the fifth book in the Weapon series I have and I find them all to be good books.