Small Arms Training, Volume 1, Pamphlet 21, "The Machine Carbine" 15 April 1944
Extract from the pamphlet showing magazine loading; a weakness in the Sten was the single feed position of the rounds at the mouth of the magazine; this caused frequent stoppages, the most famous of which is probably when Josef Gabčik, during the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on 27 May 1942 under Operation Anthropoid raised his Sten but as he pressed the trigger it jammed; his comrade Jan Kubiš had to finish the job with a modified anti-tank grenade thrown by hand and supplied by the Special Operations Executive. The successor to the Sten, the Sterling sub machine gun (SMG) cured this by having a double feed at the magazine mouth.
During the war, the British Army used two "machine carbines"; the Thompson - "Tommy Gun" and the Enfield designed and manufactured Sten Gun. Thus this training pamphlet covers both models.
The Sten gun was developed at Enfield to make up for the shortage of Thompson sub machine guns, which were also costly; a Thompson cost $200, the Sten $11. Early Stens were prone to stoppages, but the basic design meant that accidental discharges were frequent with careless handling throughout the weapon's service although in 1944 a safety modification was added to prevent as loaded weapon from discharging if dropped or jolted. This fault continued with its replacement in the 1950s, the Sterling sub machine gun, always referred to as "the SMG".
Small Arms Training, Volume 1, Pamphlet 21, "The Machine Carbine" 15 April 1944
Extract from the pamphlet showing magazine loading; a weakness in the Sten was the single feed position of the rounds at the mouth of the magazine; this caused frequent stoppages, the most famous of which is probably when Josef Gabčik, during the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on 27 May 1942 under Operation Anthropoid raised his Sten but as he pressed the trigger it jammed; his comrade Jan Kubiš had to finish the job with a modified anti-tank grenade thrown by hand and supplied by the Special Operations Executive. The successor to the Sten, the Sterling sub machine gun (SMG) cured this by having a double feed at the magazine mouth.
During the war, the British Army used two "machine carbines"; the Thompson - "Tommy Gun" and the Enfield designed and manufactured Sten Gun. Thus this training pamphlet covers both models.
The Sten gun was developed at Enfield to make up for the shortage of Thompson sub machine guns, which were also costly; a Thompson cost $200, the Sten $11. Early Stens were prone to stoppages, but the basic design meant that accidental discharges were frequent with careless handling throughout the weapon's service although in 1944 a safety modification was added to prevent as loaded weapon from discharging if dropped or jolted. This fault continued with its replacement in the 1950s, the Sterling sub machine gun, always referred to as "the SMG".