Sten Gun Disassembled

Over the period of manufacture the Sten design was further simplified: the most basic model, the Mark III, could be produced from just five man-hours work.

Sten Gun

The Sten emerged while Britain was engaged in the Battle of Britain, facing invasion by the Nazis. The army was forced to replace weapons lost during the evacuation from Dunkirk while expanding at the same time. Prior to 1941 (and even later) the British were purchasing all the Thompson submachine guns they could from the United States of America, but this did not begin to meet demand. The American entry into the war at the end of 1941 placed an even bigger demand on the facilities making Thompsons. In order to rapidly equip a sufficient fighting force to counter the Axis threat, the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, was commissioned to produce a significantly cheaper alternative.