steel sten

[claymore]

THE ALL STEEL STEN FROM MODEL GUN COLLECTOR


[img][/img]

So this is the all steel sten gun from model gun collector of the UK, it is obviously a custom modelgun and possibly the first model gun made in numbers outside of Japan which in itself makes it a remarkable and highly collectable modelgun. However it is not just the fact that this is British made that sets it apart, it’s the fact that unlike any other modelgun made this model is full steel, the old steel Japanese modelguns had steel receivers but the barrel bolt and chamber were always zinc, not on this beauty every piece is steel.



So what are first impressions, well the gun doe not come in any fancy box or container like the Japanese models it just comes in a well packed cardboard box which is fine as and this is a custom gun so boxes are not important, there are a number of finishes that MGC do to the gun depending on which you prefer, painted chemical dipped etc I went for chemical dipped. On taking the gun out of the box my face immediately broke out into a smile, first the weight, the moment you pick it up the weight feels right and the gun feels quality and I am sure you all know what I mean by that. Taking the gun out of the bubble wrap and the first thing I notice is the finish I was surprised the chemical finish I went for was not what I expected, I had thought that it would come out looking matt black and cheap a sort of quick easy way of protecting the gun. Not so I was amazed to be honest and very happy the finish is superb and looks blued its very even and just looks the job, the reason I went for chemical black was so to protect all parts of the gun as obviously it gets into all parts where as painting does not, but now I am chuffed I paid the extra and got the chemical dip because it looks the dogs and lasts a damn site longer than paint.
Next the overall look of the gun, well again superb you just see that immediately this is a well engineered supremely accurate copy of a sten, as a replica alone it is worth the money, everything fits great and looks good.


[img][/img]

This is of course a model gun and is designed to fire a PFC round and so has all the necessary parts to do so, the gun is open barrelled and the all steel barrel is tapered from a 9mm size hole at the end to a very small hole (about 3/4mm wide) where its meets the chamber there is no barrel bar, the chamber is like a MGC Thompson chamber but far more substantial in thickness and has 2 small holes in the end to allow smoke to exit through the barrel. The bolt is all steel and weighs is pretty heavy for a model gun bolt but gives the model distinct advantages one in felt recoil and 2 it slows down the rate of fire and 3 does not wear or break.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

When you first get the gun the magazine housing is turned so as protect the chamber so you have to move it round to lock it into position just as on the real sten, now this is when you again realise the quality of this gun, the housing moved smoothly and locked into position with a definite click and again makes you realise the accuracy and good engineering that has gone into this model, now apart from some oil and loading the round this gun is ready to fire.
The sten has been made to accept real sten mags, a huge plus point but this does have disadvantages as real sten mags are notorious for being hard to load, but more of that later. The sten has also been made to use the mgc M9 berreta round which is a good choice, I have also tried ksc 93r rounds and Hudson sten and all seem to work fine.

[img][/img]

I was desperate to fire this model as it oozes quality and you just know that firing it is going to be fun, so I loaded a mag or at least I tried, I had 3 mags that came with the gun 1 original sten mag and 2 so called Indian mags which have been restricted to take only 19 rounds, I tried both and struggled to get more than 12 in either not good, finally I got 15 rounds in and went to fire the gun, I pulled the trigger the bolt went forward and jammed, Oh god! Disappointing or what, so I tried again same again it seemed that the pressure of the rounds from the mag spring was too much for the recoil spring to overcome, not good. So I played around with mags trying to get less force from the spring but with no luck and so any more than 12 rounds and the gun would not function.
So I tried the Hudson sten spring and surprisingly that worked fine, so maybe the spring is a problem, anyway perseverance is the name of the game with model guns and so it was with this model, first the bolt and spring need a little wearing in, now I should not be surprised there as my old S&W 45 auto needed 500 rounds put through it before it became accurate, the sten has had about 300 rounds now and the mag needed some tlc to make it move freely and get the spring sitting right and now it fires fine I can load 20 rounds no problem and it strips and feeds those rounds fine.

So how does it fire, it fires great now it is worn in and the spring in the mag sorted the gun does not disappoint, the recoil is great due to the heavy steel bolt the noise is good, smoke comes out of the barrel and the rate of fire is how it should be, it is not a fast firing model and this is good because it gives you better control to burst fire and more of a shoot if you just want to let off a full mag, some models let of half a mag with a pull of the trigger and for a model gun it can be too quick seeing how long it takes to reload the rounds so when it take about 3 secs to loose off a mag that’s great because it gives you time to enjoy shooting the gun. From the vid you can see the rate of fire but not so obvious is how the gun feels when it fires you can really feel that bolt moving and its great, the rounds eject with some force also and the overall shooting experience is superb.

I am not going to go into the stripping for cleaning side of things as it’s the same as the hudson except for the chamber which is held in place by an external allen bolt.
This is a great model gun and MGC UK should be proud of this model,now I hav run it in it fires great, any stoppages are now due to round problems usually the piston getting stuck in the cap and not blowing back, this gun looks good is extremely well made fires grat sounds good and to be honest a bargain at the price for an all steel model gun, I cannot praise it enough and oh! Did I say every bit is steel what more could you want, ah!Yes for MGC to make a sterling, thompsom, mp40******

I could write loads more on this model but I would rather keep the review shorter and discuss this model further with forum members as its model that deserves discussion

[img][/img]

Ok now the vid which is always the best way to judge the model the mag was loaded with 20 rounds and although it seems to fire at a slow rate it still gets through 20 pretty quick



The 1 round that failed to fire was the rounds fault not the gun by the way the piston got stuck

[kickback]

Hi Claymore,

Well what can i say mate yet another excellent review and video it is certainly another must have modelgun.
Keep up the great work

Kickback

[Spencerman]

It certainly does look absolubtly fantastic. You can see the recoil in the video. Very nice.

[Gatling]

That gun looks really great, love that finish!

I like that slow rate of fire, you get to enjoy each shot more than if the gun just fired of all cartridges at once.

[mark]

Great review Claymore!

And that is a very nice Sten too! I am not sure that I like the blued look as it looks too good I never expect the Sten to have a nice finish other than the fresh from the assembly Stens. If I where to get one I would get the painted version due to it would look more like the original mid-late war issued Stens. I like the rate of fire it looks just right. I do believe that the original Stens rate of fire was around 500 rpm or so.

[cerwyn]

Well Done Claymore, another cracking review mate.
I'd put in a short 'First Impression' shortly after receiving mine which I've reposted here for some further discussion hopefully.
I've had magazine loading problems too that I haven't yet fully sorted. The tip I got from MGCUK was to cut the original Sten spring so that only 1 and 1/2 coils protruded from the end of the mag with the cap removed. That helps, but there's noway I can fill a mag! I bought a mag loader off e-Bay but the bloody thing's twisted so I can't get the mag into it! I'm trying to buy a new loader from a dealer in the States but he's playing about a bit at the minute.
As you rightly say Claymore, this steel Sten is superb.
Your video is a another belter mate, I notice you've started using cardboard boxes to catch your ejected rounds now (and protect your camera too eh? Good idea that!)
Here's my 'First Impressions' again:
I've also bought one and as Claymore says, it's superb.
I'd like to compile a review myself too but Claymore does them so much better and he's got a camera and video!
My version has a skeleton stock rather than the T shaped stock.
It's beautifully made, has the chemical black finish and looks absolutely real.
It's relatively easy to strip, the stock slides off unlocking the recoil spring retainer at the rear of the receiver.
The cap pops out, spring out, followed by the bolt itself oncethe cocking lever's been pulled out.
The detonator chamber, similar to the MGC Thompson with integral non removable pin, but much better made, can be difficult to remove from the barrel. Mine won't tap out as the instruction sheet suggests, so again, following the instructions, the barrel's removed by unscrewing 3 retaining screws deep inside the barrel shroud tube.
My only criticism, and this is splitting hairs really, is that the Allen key supplied isn't long enough to reach the screws and turn fully, you have to give each screw a half turn before the tool fouls the barrel. Easily sorted with a longer Key though! and certainly doesn't detract from the gun.
Once the barrel's off, you can see a small 2mm hole drilled in the end of the receiver tube. I used a short steel rod (part of the Marushin XM177E kit tool kit) to push through the hole and tap it with a small hammer.
That pushed the detonator chamber out easily enough.
There are 2 small holes drilled through the chamber base to vent smoke out through the 2mm single hole and then out of the barrel.
Cleaning is easy, I've been using Browning Aerosol Gun Oil which cleans and lubricates. There's ample room to push a rag or cloth down the receiver tube and the bolt is dead easy to clean.
My gun was a bit 'sticky' on arrival, the bolt was catching slightly but stripping and cleaning down with oil had it sliding really nice and freely.
Loading the mags is a real job. I had 2 supplied, one a 32rd standard mag, the second the Indian version issued later to overcome jamming problems the 32rder had. The Indian has brass runners inside making the mag a single stack feed and reducing capacity to 19.
The single stack feed is supposed to overcome the jamming probs caused by the 32 rd'ers double stacking.
Springs are very heavy being real firearm items.
I can't get anymore than 15/16 into the 32rd mag, no more than 6 or 7 into the Indian mag.
Kevin at modelguncollector told me to cut the springs to leave 1.5 coils (one and a half coils) protruding from the bottom of the mag wiith the cap removed. We tried this and managed 17 into the 32rd, about 11 into the Indian.
He suggested trying the Hudson M3A1 mag spring but mine is a fraction too wide and catches the mag body. Maybe Marushin MP40 Mag springs will be ok but I haven't tried that yet.
A mag loader could well be the answer! I've just bought one a genuine Sten WW2 tool but it's slightly twisted and I can't get the mag to push inside it so that'll need looking at next.
Anyway, with 2 part loaded mags, let's try firing...
Single shot first by pushing the selector button in...
Bang! and a good strong ejection of the spent round, bolt re-cocked automatically...
Again... BANG! Same result...
Select Full Auto and squeeze...
Rat..Tat...Tat...Tat...Tat...Tat... YESS! Lovely! And again.. squeeze and Rat...Tat...Tat till the mag emptied.
Plenty of smoke from port and barrel, nice metallic clatter as well as the caps banging, fabulous!
Next mag in anf full auto all the way till empty.
Rate of fire is nice and slow, I wouldn't haave a clue as to rounds per minute but it just sounds so realistic!
Some models seem to fire rather too fast, but this is perfect.
Checking the rounds afterwards showed signs of denting around the nose, where the firing pin enters, and marks around the base where bolt and ejector claw clout the round.
I put 1 round through 3 times, and the nose had 3 dents about the hole afterwards.
This gun may be heavy on rounds if used regularly but I guess it's better to damage brass than bolts ain't it?
We've plenty of problems with zinc bolts breaking on models but this steel job won't break!
Overall impressions is this is a superb model. It's a beautiful reproduction of a classic WW2 gun, even down to gas welds around the trigger housing! The other welds seem to be Mig but who cares! It's a superb model.
Best of all it works and works well. Once the magazines are sorted with springs to allow proper filling, it'll be even better.
DOC should be proud that his design and idea works! Well done DOC.
Kevin at Modelguncollector markets these and he's onto a winner.
I'll be looking forwards to Claymore's review and his thoughts as he's far more knowledgable than I am!

Cerwyn

[cerwyn]

Hey Claymore,
I forgot to mention I'd never considered that a model gun required 'Running In' as such... I'd been expecting almost faultless performance without realising springs need time to ease a bit.
If you've put 300 through your Sten mate, well I've only managed about 40 so it sounds like mine should improve with use.
Does the Hudson mag spring work ok then? I thought you said it was too short or something like that during a chat we had awhile back?
If it does work, are Springs available from Francky as a spare part or should I percevere and wait for my originals to run in?
Sounds like a good reason to shoot plenty of rounds though eh?
Cerwyn

[MadMike]

Hello Claymore!
Thank you a lot for this review. It is done very well again and gives an excellent overall impression of the new MGCUK Sten. I am very impressed by this modelgun. For being a hand made low volume production model it is sold for a very attractive price. Let´s hope MGCUK will release another model one day, hopefully a German gun, maybe a MP38/40.

[claymore]

Thanks for the comments Guys. Mark as for the chemical dip i know what you mean on the colour although i have to say i do like the finish the dip has but i got it dipped for the protection side as the dip gets into all the nooks and crannys where as paint does not.
cerwyn, the spring i refer to is the bolt recoil spring and the hudson sten fits and works, as far as the mag goes i have not cut down the spring but i took the mag apart cleaned it up and relocated the spring into the guides and this has made a difference as i can now get 20 rounds in the mag with no problem.

[mark]

Hi Claymore,

I do believe that the original Stens where blued and then they where painted. I would think that that would be the best finish to have. That, or have the gun parkerized and painted. As for the modelgun version of the Sten, we really don't play in the mud etc. like they do on the battle field so, it really doesn't matter just what finish that we have on our guns. But, I like to have close as possible finishes on my modelguns.

I think that the original magazines could use a good scrubbing up to ensure that the parts in them are all clean and free of burrs that will cause friction on the cartridges as well as the cartridge follower assy. I have used an original MP40 magazine in my MGC MP40 with its original magazine spring intact. It feeds and functions fine with 30-32 rounds in it. And, yes, it is a pain to load without the loader tool!