A newly built Sterling SMG is being built by a chap in the US, from the pictures, its a stunner. The chap has really done his homework

http://sterlingl2a3.com/index.html

I wish I could get hold of one.

5.56, this might interest you.

at 10000$ a piece!

Originally Posted by SHERMAN

at 10000$ a piece!

From what I hear thats the going rate in the US, perhaps 5.56 can give the heads up on prices.

Aside from that, the Sterling was a cracking little weapon, mine never gave me any problems and was pretty accurate.

Nearly 30 years ago a section 5 dealer (allowed to trade in fully auto) in UK was offering fully operational GMPG's at over two thousand pounds each, while fully operation 303 Mk3 BRENs were going for about three hundred and fifty. Sadly I wasnt a section 5 dealer, only a section 2 (semi auto), although I dont think I could have afforded the ammunition for a GPMG or a BREN

Originally Posted by BritinAfrica

From what I hear thats the going rate in the US, perhaps 5.56 can give the heads up on prices.

Aside from that, the Sterling was a cracking little weapon, mine never gave me any problems and was pretty accurate.

Nearly 30 years ago a section 5 dealer (allowed to trade in fully auto) in UK was offering fully operational GMPG's at over two thousand pounds each, while fully operation 303 Mk3 BRENs were going for about three hundred and fifty. Sadly I wasnt a section 5 dealer, only a section 2 (semi auto), although I dont think I could have afforded the ammunition for a GPMG or a BREN

These Stens are made from Pre-86 machine guns. Any machine gun made after 1986 or imported after 1986 cannot be sold to transferred to civilian ownership.

So basically the $10,000 price tag is because of Supply and Demand. These are either pre '86 guns that were rebuilt or this is a brand new semi-automatic version that is a short barreled rifle and falls under the NFA Act.

Perhaps my effort was not nearly so "swish", but I only wanted A$800


Sorry about the crappy quality photo, it was taken with a polaroid nearly 35 years ago, and was only found about two years ago.



Each one fired 90 rounds before being packed an sent to it's owner. This was one was somewhat different as I was asked to make it with a flash eliminator, something not found on the original.

Originally Posted by 5.56X45mm

These Stens are made from Pre-86 machine guns. Any machine gun made after 1986 or imported after 1986 cannot be sold to transferred to civilian ownership.

So basically the $10,000 price tag is because of Supply and Demand. These are either pre '86 guns that were rebuilt or this is a brand new semi-automatic version that is a short barreled rifle and falls under the NFA Act.

As far as I am aware, this Sterling is brand new and selective fire. The maker did send me a video of one in the "white" test firing fully auto.

Originally Posted by senojekips

Perhaps my effort was not nearly so "swish", but I only wanted A$800


Sorry about the crappy quality photo, it was taken with a polaroid nearly 35 years ago, and was only found about two years ago.



Each one fired 90 rounds before being packed an sent to it's owner. This was one was somewhat different as I was asked to make it with a flash eliminator, something not found on the original.

You built the Sten Spike?

If you did, its bloody good.

It looks like the Mk2 Sten, but the magazine looks similar to the Sterling curved mag.

I had a couple Mk2 Stens WW2 vintage in the shop a few years ago, the fella who imported them, imported them as semi auto Enfield Pistols. He gave me a couple to sell for him, he assured me they were converted to semiauto. I took one to the range to test and it was selective fire. Interesting but expensive on ammo.

Yes, I had a mate who loaned me an original and decided that they wouldn't be too hard to make. I originally only intended to build one but after making the jigs and blocks decided that it would be only a little harder to make ten.



This is a few of the early ones in varying stages of completion. The original straight Sten mags were hard to find and too fiddly to
make so I settled on F1 mags which I had a good supply of.



This is the special order with flash eliminator. My daughter in the background is picking up my brass for reloading, I only used cast lead 115gn slugs to keep costs to a minimum.

Originally Posted by senojekips

This is the special order with flash eliminator. My daughter in the background is picking up my brass for reloading, I only used cast lead 115gn slugs to keep costs to a minimum.

Excellent work Spike. The Sten I fired on the range, I loaded with commercial PMP 115 grain FMJ. I fully expected the gun not to function as the commercial 9mm para are much lower pressure then the original Mk2Z British issue, but the gun worked without a hicup, although with a lot lower recoil.

A question, how did you manage to get the rifling cut and did you use a chamber reamer?

The thing I loved about the Sterling, when the safety was on safe the bolt was locked, so if the gun was dropped with the bolt at rest and a loaded magazine fitted, it didnt fire.

A buddy and I were experimenting with cast 132 grain 9mm and 158 grain 357 bullets then copper plating them. I loaded up my S&W 357 magnum model 19 with very hot rounds loaded with the copper plated bullets. I fired 100 rounds, when I checked the bore, it was as clean as a whistle and no leading. I did the same with the 9mm para, loaded them hot and fired in my sons CZ75, again clean and no leading.

We costed the whole thing out, and it didnt work out that much cheaper then using FMJ's.

Thanks for the pictures Spike, interesting stuff

I cheated and used blank 22" .357cal barrels cut in half, then hand turned the chambers which I finished with a reamer and lap I ground out of a round file.

I also tried copper plating cast lead 158gn wadcutters, (for plinking with my .357) which I read about in a magazine. I ended up giving it away as the amount of time and effort was not worth the end result. The coper coated on quite quickly but was very rough, so we built a small circuit that converted the DC current to high frequency and reversed the polarity every 5/15 seconds with 15 seconds forward and then 5 seconds reverse. It worked, but took longer and they still looked porous. It was messy and just too much work.

Originally Posted by senojekips

I cheated and used blank 22" .357cal barrels cut in half, then hand turned the chambers which I finished with a reamer and lap I ground out of a round file.

Thats a good idea. We have considered doing that here, but barrels are licenced and there is a paper trail.