The STEN Gun - In The Movies

Sorry friends. Had to do a repost of this video. Youtube has some particular "family-friendly" rules, fair enough. However, tricky when making war reviews/videos.

There is a story of Norwegian resistance fighters making Stens underneath the German Army headquarters and when asked why they chose to do it there, they replied it's the last place the Gestapo would look and we even got the German Army standing guard.

The scene where Mini Me plays the piano from 1970’s Waterloo was such an amazing scene.

I got to shoot one full auto at a local indoor range here in Reno, NV. The bolt was so heavy there was no recoil. Very easy to keep on target and mag dump. Very cool.

They have one at my range here in Poland, a mk.2 that they claim was used in the Warsaw Uprising. Whatever it's true provenance, it's such a joy to try it out. The old angry pipe.

i went to vegas and went on one of those touristy gun range experience things. tour bus drove out over to arizona to the range. chose the sten as the first gun to shoot after signing the waiver, and one of the range guys said "just so you know, it might jam. these things were known to be unreliable." that time it managed to shoot 29 out of 30 or 32 rounds. was pretty fun to shoot though.

The Germans copied the Sten during the end, it was called the MP 3008. I remember the high command was critical of the sten for being so cheap but the German SF were impressed and recognised that it was simple, cheap and effective.

Experienced British soliders always told others to NOT grab the magazine, as doing so while shooting will cause it to insert bullets into the chamber either off-center or misaligned, effectively jamming the weapong after just a few shots. Info for those who stopped at 5:25

My grandfather used a STEN thought out his WWII service. He said it was a basic killing machine that kept him alive.

And of course after the war we got the Sterling submachine gun which was issued from 1953 and served until 1994. Actually by 1942 the price of a Thompson was down to $70. But at $11 you could buy six Stens and have change. One of the main problems with the early Sten was the spring was made of material which was to soft. This meant taking the spring out and stretching it back into shape. Knowing all the problems with the Sten, in the hands of a well-disciplined soldier, who knew how to avoid them, they were less of a liability as otherwise may be suggested. Interestingly, though not fitting tha magazine would have helped with accidental discharge troops decided to keep the magazine in place in case there was a sudden encounter with the enemy. This may have saved more lives by having the Sten ready then it may have cost through accidental discharge.

So glad you included Max Manus and Flame & Citron. Two excellent resistance films!

Great video. Yes, the STEN is vastly under rated. Dissembled, carried in a luggage bag for concealment until it got to its destination for use. A remarkable weapon. And what is a Britsh war film or a European resistance film without having at least one in the film.

Hooray, a video about the mighty Sten gun! Easy to manufacture, assemble, and operate. I really like the fact that so many of these were given to the resistance fighters in World War 2. Nice job.

“Operation Daybreak” was a Hollywood movie with Timothy Bottoms that showed the STEN in all it’s clandestine glory. A good shot showing the resistance team assembling the weapon just prior to the hit.

Great subject and clip. The STEN would go on to almost resemble a 'proper' SMG with the Mark V which added a wooden stock, pistol grip, sights, foregrip in the early models circa 1944-1945 (Operation Market-Garden) but later removed/omitted, and a Bayonet Mount to take the earlier WWII Spike Socket Bayonet and Post 1945 the later Short Blade style Socket Bayonet (the exact name escapes me) as per what was fitted to the Lee-Enfield No 4 late war rifles, and as per footage from Korea, Malaya and the Suez Canal operation. If not for the Sterling SMG it may well have continued to serve beyond the mid-late 1950's.

You can literally re upload videos and we’ll be here to support lol

The STen was much easier to produce, than the Thompson or the MP-40. Eventually the American military figured it out, with the adoption of the M-3 Grease gun. Yes, the STen was much more preferred as it literally looked like a bunch of pipes. They even called it the "plumber's nightmare, when it was introduced.

Not in the movies, but in young adult sci-fi. The Sten is the weapon re-introduced (as the wonder weapon of its time) in the post-apocalyptic "Sword of the Spirits" Trilogy by John Christopher (better known for the "Tripods" books). Also Imperial storm troopers carry propped up Short Sterlings, an evolutionary decedent of the Sten.

Evidently my grandfather used one of these to kill 3 german infantry in one encouter, he was a loader for a tank crew in like 1939 - 1942 around then, they had stopped to refuel and rest after having helped take a small village or town, ( forgive the lack of explicit details I heard this story when I was a kid from my uncle and again when I was still a kid from my dad so...) anyways while they were stopped my grandfather was sitting on some stairs and he heard footsteps approaching from around the corner of the building. He thought they were friendlies so he got up to go see them, but when he rounded the corner it was actually 3 Germans, they all startled each other, but Grandpa levelled his Sten and emptied the whole magazine into the 3 of them from like 15- 20 feet before they could shoot him, evidently they were using bolt actions according to my Dad and Uncle. The whole incident really messed my Grandpa up cause none of them died quickly and some other guys from Grandpa's crew heard the shots and came and finished them all off in front of him. Grandpa would just stare out windows lost in his thoughts from time to time for the rest of his days and never really talked about the war with me or my siblings much and I can understand why. Still glad a weapon like the Sten exists otherwise my family might not be here today.

7:12 That was my personal favorite scene from Waterloo.