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New Sten Gun owner questions.


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Hi All!

First off thanks for all the great info on this forum.

I have learned a lot from reading through the archives.

 

I just recieved my Mk2 Sten After a 14 month wait and I have few questions.

 

1. The manufacturer/Importer on the form 4 is listed as Specialty Arms out of Springfield, Ohio. Anybody know anything about them? How many Stens did they make or import?

 

2. The reciever near the trigger guard is marked England on the left and the serial number on the right. Has anyone see this type of marking before?

 

3. The gun wont fire, it feeds a round but the bolt fails to set off the primer and extract the round. Is this just a wire bolt? I have a new one coming.

 

Im going to post pics as soon as i can.

 

Thanks in advance.

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way back before 1968 when individuals could import auto weapons for self. some times customs required item being imported to be marked with country of orign hence the england stamped, also a serial number be stamped on the reciever, the mag housing is not the reciever. over the years iv seen many marked like this, since its a new tube gun did they use the nunber on the frame to register it or is it registered with a new number on tube ?? just sayn.

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I'm going to assume that you checked the simple stuff; i.e., the firing pin has not been machined off the bolt face, the barrel has not has the chamber bored too deep, etc.

 

Does the firing pin leave a dimple in the unfired round? What kind of ammo are you using? Some old surplus (especially French) is just won't go 'bang' reliably.

 

If you are anywhere near middle TN, I'd be glad to come help you troubleshoot.

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http://www.sturmgewehr.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1234-wwii-british-loop-stock-mkii-sten-parts-set-original-wwii-barrell-350-delivered/

 

heres a parts kit....rare to find an original barrel with the kit....grab it and swap bolts and main spring...see what happens

 

hopefully your trunion isnt crooked and throwing the whole gun off....odd its doing 2 things (not firing and not extracting)

 

need to know if its a light primer strike?

 

on my uzi thats caused by a crooked barrel and extra friction causing the bolt to lose inertia....hopefully in your case its just a F'd up bolt

 

no warranty from the seller?

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You should post pictures of the bolt face, recoil spring with tape measure, and a picture of the chamber area. If the gun won't fire the round, it has not chambered correctly or completely and the round may not have fully seated into the bolt face, therefore it won't get hooked by the extractor correctly and further, won't eject well either?

Likely a simple problem.

Is the barrel screwed in all the way and seated correctly?

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Thank you for all the replys.

 

The primers are getting light strikes,

Im using new mag tech FMJ ammo(works in my Glock)

I have identified one problem, the charging handle is getting stuck

In a hole in left side of the reciever tube.

Pulling it out slightly seems to have fixed this.

See pic 1

 

Is it possible that the charging handle was falling

Into that hole and preventing fire?

post-262157-0-58379900-1557709321_thumb.jpeg

post-262157-0-96428000-1557709348_thumb.jpeg

post-262157-0-77865200-1557709373_thumb.jpeg

post-262157-0-70466600-1557709402_thumb.jpeg

post-262157-0-20096800-1557709447_thumb.jpeg

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I will vote for a thorough cleaning of the extractor also. If you are having failure to fire and failure to extract, a gummed-up extractor would account for both of those. The other possibility is a too-deep chamber in the barrel, but that is a lesser possibility as long as the barrel is properly seated and secured in the receiver.

 

The hole in the receiver is a safety device to lock the bolt in the forward position. The Brits found that a soldier carrying a Sten slung over his shoulder could jump off the tailgate of a truck and upon landing, the inertia could cause the bolt to move far enough to the rear to chamber a round and ventilate the guy behind him still up in the truck. (Or so the story goes.) The charging handle should have a detent built into it so you need to push it in to engage that safety hole. If it just falls in there under its own weight, the detent is broken. It should "click" in and out in the bolt.

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try flipping the spring around as the spring coil is the detent that holds the charging handle in place, there is no separate detent. The extractor needs to be removed, the slot cleaned and put back. (Drive the small pin out just enough to free the extractor, no need to drive it out all the way). If it stays in that position, it's bent and won't work, it needs to be inside the cartridge ring firmly. The whole gun needs a thorough cleaning. It must have worked well at one point, since the last guy shot a LOT of rounds through it and never cleaned it!

I'm sure once it's cleaned it will run fine.

HTH

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Update-

I cleaned the gun throughly and removed the extractor, it was really dirty. The extractor spring is very weak. Ive order a MK 2 parts kit from apex, also ordering new extractor and spring.

It still doesnt cycle 9mm snap caps. Also Both barrels i have are new made one by StenParts.com. Anyone ever had problems with their barrels?

Thanks again for all the Help.

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A buddy of mine was having feeding problems with one of those barrels and he got the back end where it leads into the chamber polished and smoothed out. It now functions perfectly.

 

Are you trying to cycle the snap caps with different magazines? The magazine is a real weak spot in the Sten design and you can go through several mags before finding one that works well. They can be renovated and tuned up, but first you have to find one that works to use as a template.

 

Next thing I would try is a new recoil spring. They can get tired and without plenty of "oomph" the bolt could have problems stripping rounds from the mag and chambering them.

 

Edit- I just had a brain flash. If you are trying to cycle snap caps that have brass plugs in the back to cushion the firing pin as it falls, they won't cycle normally in a gun with a fixed firing pin like a Sten. The brass plug will keep the bolt/firing pin from going forward the way it would with a normal primer. If you can, make up or find some dummy rounds without primers in the primer pocket and try those. Brownell's sells them, I believe.

Edited by DINK
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I can't report on the STEnParts barrels for a STEn. But their Sterling barrels had pretty tight chambers. I reamed Their Sterling barrel out a little looser and it ran perfectly in my Sterling. I'd be surprised if their STEn barrels weren't spec'ed out the same, though.

Edited by 1gewehr
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yea, thats where i got my barrel...sten parts

 

my gun is still in nfa jail, so i havent tested it out yet.

 

i was given a recommendation on their quality from a friend...but it was a $60 barrel i believe

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Update 2:

I tried a new bolt, Extractor and spring, no luck.

It appears the extractor isnt making contact with case rim.

Im going to try reaming the chamber and also might just buy that parts kit with original barrel.

 

Thank you all for the info, it has been a learning experience.

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How many mags are you testing with?

 

Buy some dummy rounds. Paint them black and run them in the gun. See from the wear on the bullet where the friction is. Maybe theres a mag height issue or the barrel is misaligned

Edited by huggytree
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not extracting is not the mags, does the dummy rounds you are trying to cycle have the urethane inserts in the primer pockets? do you have any ones with no urethane plugs? if you take a fired brass and push it on the bolt face does the extractor hold it firmly?

 

dummy rounds with urethane will be difficult to hand cycle, the extractor may grab the round but as soon at it moves out of the chamber the urethane will deflect the brass off the bolt face before the ejector can do its job,

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Take a fired casing, use a pin punch to drive out the primer, then place it in the chamber. Pull the trigger and let the bolt go forward. If the extractor doesn't pick up the casing, your chamber is probably already too deep and reaming it won't do anything but make it deeper. As mentioned a couple of times, your problem MAY be in the snap caps you are using. They don't work well with guns that have fixed firing pins.

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  • 1 month later...

Update.

 

 

I was finally able to find an original Sten barrel for

a reasonable price. The Sten now runs flawlessly.

If you have a sten parts.com barrel be aware the chambers

cut a little to tight. Now to get those other barrels working.

 

Cheers

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These snap caps have brass primers attached to a spring, so they'll move when struck by the firing pin.

https://www.amazon.com/Tipton-Snap-Pistol-Luger-pack/dp/B0048KFEQI

(Amazon isn't the only source of these.)

 

My recoil spring (called "return spring" by the Brits) and the bell-shaped housing attached to it measure the same length as yours.

 

Alternatively, If you reload (or know someone who does) you can make your own dummy rounds with a spent primer.

 

Both my Uzi and Sten benefited from a bit of time in a lathe and emery paper applied to the breech. They were originally so rough that the cases dragged on their way in, slowing them down enough to preclude detonation. Now both 9mm's feed just fine.

 

If the new extractor/spring combo still isn't grabbing the case rim, check the channel on the bolt that they fit into. There may be a burr or some deformity keeping the extractor claw from grabbing. Posting a photo of the updated assembly would help the diagnosis.

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These photos may help.

In the first one, notice how close the extractor claw is to the firing pin. (Yeah I use a bronze bolt. Call me old-fashioned.) Yours shows a substantial gap.

 

The 2nd photo (the best I could do at night in my garage with an old phone) shows the extractor securing the rim of the 9mm case against the bolt face.

bolt face.jpg

bolt face with cartridge.jpg

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