The Sten was a British blowback operated selective fire sub-machine-gun which went through a number of changes and variations from its development in 1941 until production ceased in 1945 by which time more than four million of various models (or marks) had been made. The Sten took a 9 mm Parabellum round from a 32-round box (though generally only 30 rounds were loaded to reduce jamming) and had a cyclic rate of 550 rounds-per-minute and a muzzle velocity of 365 meters per second, except the silenced models (MkIIS and MkVI models) which had a muzzle velocity of 305 meters per second. All models had fixed sights set to 100 meters. The original Sten, the Mark I was made in very few numbers, the first and most prolific model was the Mark II which had a 197 mm long barrel, over two million of this model were made. The Mark III was a simplified model usually produced with a single tube stock, but other stocks could be supplied. The Mark V had a 198 mm long barrel and solid wooden stock and a pistol grip but was otherwise essentially a Mark II. The Sten Mark V remained as the standard sub-machine-gun in the British Army until it was replaced by the L2A3 ('Sterling') during the 1960's. Research Sten
Abbreviations
Warfare
Research Sten