We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:06:41 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Click the pic for hi-res. In http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/002639.html">this post, Nicholas of Quotulatiousness offered this comment: Ah, yes, the Sten. Best room-clearing device since the Mills bomb. Just put in a fresh magazine, cock the bolt and throw it into the room. Oh, and make sure you're behind something bullet-resistant. Fortunately, by the time I was issued a sub-machine gun, they'd upgraded to the Stirling SMG instead, so I never had the opportunity to find out if this was actually true from first-hand experience. This comment isn't as silly as it sounds (though I'd argue the penetrative capacity of the 9mm... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html Fri, 03 Sep 2004 16:41:22 -0600 Oh yeah! The General Motors Greasegun! Shut the lid on the ejection port and you have a positive bolt stop! (I think; never seen one except for drawings.) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6527 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6527 Sun, 05 Sep 2004 16:14:55 -0600 Hmm, now that I've thought some more... You haveta think about the bolt picking a cartridge from the magazine, and complicating the manual of arms, and... Well, all I can say is, that other folks have made SMGs that were almost as cheap, and significantly less dangerous to the user and his friends. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6526 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6526 Sun, 05 Sep 2004 16:11:20 -0600 Yes, even I have read many stories over the years, of the "Oops, sorry about that, don't panic, just dropped my Sten, anybody hurt?" variety. Hey it's an engineering problem, there's an engineering solution! If I had one of the things, I'd get me some drill rod, some sheet metal, a coupla' rivets, etc. and make an obstructive crossways bolt-like thingy, somewhere forward of that silly notch, that absolutely precluded the bolt from going past it. It would also save the mainspring from staying compressed all the time, and let air flow through the barrel to cool it, too. The people who designed the thing never intended it to be more than cheap and nasty, but I think they may have been a little too cheap and too nasty when it came to safety. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6525 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6525 Sun, 05 Sep 2004 16:03:32 -0600 The sten has always represented to me the people fighting against the enemy. I have a bit of a romantic view of the sten. I also heard that you could run .380 through if desperate. Possibly just rumor. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6501 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6501 Fri, 03 Sep 2004 23:21:12 -0600 A friend of mine learned how to use the Sterling SMG when he was a young Gunner in the Canadian Militia. It had its problems with reliability and safety as well. Especially by then (late 1980s) since the SMG was getting to be quite long in the tooth. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6499 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6499 Fri, 03 Sep 2004 21:21:06 -0600 I know about things like a worn Sten. I have a old Mossberg 22 semi that has a safety much like the Sten. a movable pin through the bolt. Mine is so worn that it will fire very rapidly if you catch my drift. Don't want to sell it to some fool and can't bear to destroy it. I have had it for over fifty years. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6498 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2004/09/room_clearing.html#comment-6498 Fri, 03 Sep 2004 18:17:58 -0600