Sten failure to feed problem

[StrangeRanger]

The magazines have quite a bit of front-to-rear wobble in my mag-well, enough to cause some failures to feed.  The fix as discovered by Got Uzi is just to grab the magazine with the left hand and push it forwards, exactly like the manual says NOT to do. I thought perhaps I could bend the inboard leg of magazine catch retainer slightly forward but that didn't work.  For reasons know only to the RSAF Enfield the retainer is hardened and attempts to bend it did not end well.  Fortunately BRP had a replacement.

So here's the question: does anyone have a fix other than manipulating the magazine into the correct position?

 

[johnsonlmg41]

Unless it's a ton of play, I'd try different mags, then a different mag housing (on tube gun).  If none of those are options I'd compress the mag well back into spec.  Is your barrel in spec? or is it not ramped correctly?

[StrangeRanger]

It's a lot of play. My mags are all in spec per a feed lip gauge and they work well in my Lanchester.  The barrel looks good but I'm not sure I'd recognize one that was slightly out of spec.  The gun is/was a Wilson but there's no way of telling if that's the original barrel or what else has happened to it in the intervening years.  BTW my ammo checks out with a Dillon case gauge so I think it's pretty much down to the mag housing. 

[APEXgunparts]

I have never done this, but I believe if you remove the barrel, remove the front sight, remove the plunger from the mag well, then the entire magazine housing can be slid forward and removed from the tube.
Since it is a Wilson STEN I assume the Form 4 serial number is on the tube not the magazine well.
If that is the case then you can try a whole other magazine well assembly and see if that resolves your feed issue.
Alternatively, if you want to retain the original part, working on the magazine well is best accomplished with it off the receiver (Body to the British) tube.

Richard

[StrangeRanger]

Removing the mag housing might be easier said than done.  I looked at it and the front sight has kicked up the edges of the dovetail slot just enough to make removing the housing a problem.  I have no idea how brittle the steel in the trunnion is and I have no desire to find out by peening the edges down to remove the housing, installing a new or repaired housing and then forcing them back up again when reinstalling the front sight.  I have seen pix of receivers where the dovetail was broken in exactly this area and presumably by doing something very like this.  It's not an $11 (postage included) mistake like trying to bend the mag catch retainer

[johnsonlmg41]

Richard is correct other than you just pull on the plunger and it slides off, no need to remove it.  Pulling the front sight is the worst part, because some are welded.  The dovetail slot should not be protruding anyhow, so filing that down flat is always a good idea.  The sights are normally have a relief cut in the bottom to make them hold some tension.  You'll need to mark it or have to re-sight after doing it.  

Tube guns can be marked about anywhere?  Some use the mag well original numbers, some on the side of tube, bottom of the tube, top of the tube, side of the trigger.....

I've got at least a half dozen, with a few originals.   Just got one in today, bulged barrel, trunnion welded crooked so the front sight is off, upside down stock, welding so bad it restricts the bolt movement, etc.  It won't take more than a few hours to straighten out fortunately, because it's a sten, and if it falls on the floor a couple times during the process, it's not a big deal.  I wish other guns were half that easy to work on!!   I actually didn't even look at the front sight, because no matter what, it's relatively insignificant.

These are times when you should be so happy it's not a matching MP38!