I 'accidentally' bought a sten gun

The charging handle screws on. Tighten it to stop the slide moving all over the place.

So simple yet I didn't noice.

Thanks.

No problem

Finally started trying to make my King Arms back up mags fit, I've got 3 ASG mags and 3 in the post.

So far a tiny bit of filing and a worryingly hard slap is enough to get them in, here's hoping the cheap mags break before any damage is done to the feed nozzle, I'll probably only need them for this weekend assuming I learn how to restrict myself to 300 shots a game.

Had a nightmare finding some KA mags, box of 5 on its way to me
I found the 50 round mags only allow about 4-5 seconds of burst fire with the ROF of the Sten so 110 round mags may be better. Now I just have to wait for another payday to finish building a budget airbourne loadout.
I am economising by using modern No2 uniform trousers for now as they only cost £8, No2 uniform shirt for £5, will DIY a helmet out of a cheap plastic M1 helmet and will stick to my soldier95 boots as they were such a pain to break in I may as well use em.

The 110 is certainly nicer if just doing a random walk on day and going up against people with hicaps.

Learning that the KA mags fitting is indeed a gun by gun thing. While the 3 I've done a bit of filing on need a solid slap to go into my MP40 they can be pushed in without a slap on the Sten, not easily but not feeling like it's being forced as much.

May have to pick up the No2 shirt and trousers myself just so I have something close to period. As much as I'd like some of the more accurate stuff I don't drive, the nearest site that does WW2 games is only an hour away but getting home on the bus afterwards (assuming I managed to scab a lift out and back to the nearest town) wouldn't be much fun.

I also picked up a pair of lightweights, just because they were cheap. They would make a good jungle green loadout option.
http://www.britishmilitarysurplus.co.uk/index.html

Wish I had bought the general service shirt to match it now, then I would just need the wide brimmed hat and the webbing plus puttees or gaiters. That will be a good loadout for the summer.

The helmet conversion went well. Just need some foam and a chinstrap to make it comfortable, plus scrim and netting.

Modifying the King arms mags (rather than the hop unit):
The reason my KA mags had difficulty was that the catch that holds the bb's in sticks out too far and when you insert the mag the hop is actually pressing against the horizontal portion of the catch. The solution I found was to glue a tiny bit of plastic into the gap between the grippy bit of the catch and the magazine body so it doesn't stick out so much. The numbers from airfix sprue cut in half is about right.

I have added a burst wizard mosfet to the sten, this allows me to program single shot or 3 round burst etc. With a 9.6v NiMH the Sten becomes an absolute beast.

The airbourne kit is coming along nicely. I have a belgian Denison, WPG denim battledress (I am allergic to wool),gaiters with Soldier95 boots, webbing including 2 mk3 pouches, water bottle and entrenching tool (no handle for it), Large pack. I currently have a helmet I made by cutting down a plastic American helmet but I won an ebay auction today for the real thing.
The Sten will almost fit in a large pack for transport if you remove the stock, you have just the tip of the barrel sticking out.
I also bought some retro motorbike goggles and have reinforced them to use as eye pro.

I may at some point have to get one of these:
Pashley Parabike, its a non folding replica of the BSA parabike they dropped with the airbourne troops. I am also a keen cyclist so this would be the stylish way to get to WW2 events

Hmm I'll give that mod to the KA mags a look, I thought it may have been that catch that was causing it but also seemed to be getting some marking on the actual feeding tube itself when I pushed it in so I took a file to that side of the feed tube and they seem to work. Now whether that is due to me removing what was actually blocking it or that the larger tube now allows the hop unit to hit that catch at a slightly different angle enough to get it out of the way I don't know.

I did take my Sten out to a local shoot last month using my six 50rnd mags and I must admit it is a very different experience knowing that every round counts so much more. If I was being a little aggressive with a highcap gun I'd probably use 500-600 rounds in that game type (800 if I was going crazy on the suppressing fire) so going in with 300 and being determined to not piss about with reloading mags mid game made it interesting and every hit felt more special.

The only real downside is that I don't have any Sten or MP40 mag pouches yet so I was just sticking them in the small breadbag type thing I usually use to carry random things like pyros and ammo to reload between games. Luckily I'd only ever been moving down one flank so after a walk back along where I'd been I found the 2 mags I realised I'd dropped when the game ended.

Other things I also noticed from this first run out were how much I must rely on "walking" my fire onto targets when I've got 500+ rounds to burn and the slightly irritating hop adjustment, needing an alan key isn't the end of the world but having to move the mag well round, adjust, move the mag well back, test fire, repeat seems more complicated than it needs to be. Mind you as long as the hop is all good and not slipping about it shouldn't really need tinkered with often.

You can fit 6 mags in a Mk3 ammo pouch on P37 webbing.
I presume that filing the hop feed tube does the same as modifying the mags, I just think modifying mags seems a bit less drastic.

Oh I was meaning the feed lips/tube on the mag not the one on the hop unit, yeah I'd seen suggestions of modding the tube on the hop but felt much safer maybe destroying a £5 mag over the hop unit.

I'll certainly check out some mk3 pouches, part of me is tempted to just make some myself pouches aren't exactly complicated but for the right price would be nice to get some actual ones and finally start picking up parts of a basic "okay at a glance" uniform.

I've got some spare Mark III pouches. PM'd.

Cheers
Martin

Hi, I'm new on here and still quite new to Airsoft. I saw the Sten MkII for sale at LWA and thought I'd have one. I love it! Took it to an my local airsoft game the other week and it chrono'd at 310-315 and really shoots laser-sharp at as far (I think) as 175ft? A really excellent weapon; solid in the hand and actually far more comfortable to hold than I imagined. I was also lucky enough to find a box of KA 110-round MP40 mags so they were snaffled up also - they actually take 130 rounds btw . No problems with fit, one of them needed a bit of fettling because the little bb retainer thingy was sticking so when I was trying to load it they were spraying out everywhere, but sorted now. So for £150 I think I have a really very lovely airsoft weapon and one that is kind of bringing me towards WW2 airsoft. My only slight reservation is, having come from re-enacting I am loath to go back into the 'stitch-counting' that sometimes went on. Anyway that's for another thread. No hesitation in recommending the ASG Sten MkII and after biting that bug a KA Thompson 1928 will be with me on Saturday.... happy days!

Martin

This was me on Sunday, I have a better helmet on it's way but other than that it's just minor tweaks need to be done to my gear. I think they gave up trying to chrono my gun as the rate of fire was too high to get a reading, should be about the same 310ish though. I may have to get a gas mask bag as a dump pouch and if I'm going to use ammo as fast as I did some more mags might be an idea. But otherwise I found this a very comfortable loadout and the Sten was very effective. I may try some heavier ammo next time though to punch through foliage better.

I absolutely love this weapon.... I have a few guns now and you might guess that while the Sten was the cheapest its my favorate. Can anybody suggest any mods that might be desirable? I know about the front iron sight, I'm on with that one but any others?

I have called my Sten, Maggie. This is due to the lack of safety features making it unsuitable for minors (miners) and the high iron content.
Compared to other AEG's its rather loud but for pure shock and awe on an airsoft field, I have not seen anything better. I do wonder what it would perform like modified closer to the 350fps outdoor cap but at short to intermediate ranges the accuracy is very good indeed out of the box. I may have to test it at my local indoor site now I have a burst wizard to give me a semi auto option. I don't know how much the magazine position will be a problem.

I have called my Sten, Maggie. This is due to the lack of safety features making it unsuitable for minors (miners) and the high iron content.
Compared to other AEG's its rather loud but for pure shock and awe on an airsoft field, I have not seen anything better. I do wonder what it would perform like modified closer to the 350fps outdoor cap but at short to intermediate ranges the accuracy is very good indeed out of the box. I may have to test it at my local indoor site now I have a burst wizard to give me a semi auto option. I don't know how much the magazine position will be a problem.

No Problem if you are laying down Which gives the brits an advantage over the Thompson and Mp40