Sunday 26 January 2014

Sten Mark II

I recently acquired a  new toy, an Airsoft Sten Mark II. I've been meaning to get a Sten for a while, even though it is a relatively niche piece of kit compared to a Lee Enfield or a Bren. It at least means I have now have a reasonable collection of Airsoft versions of WW2 British small arms. Not sure how much use it is going to get, but it is nice to have and doesn't take up much space as it is essentially just a piece of piping!


The replica looks the part, even if it is a bit clean and new. 

This particular gun is manufactured by ASG, and airsoft stens have been around for a few years now, although the early AGM models only took lipo batteries and didn't have adjustable hops. The perforated barrel jacket is also often held on by a teeny tiny screw, so tends to fall off. On my second hand one, this seems to have been solved by the green gaffer tape. I'll have to do something about that.


The stock is thicker than the original to accommodate a standard NiMH stick battery. The garish weapon marks are also quite evident.

Unfortunately the the airsoft innards is clearly visible and the slider behind the bolt isn't very long so doesn't cover it. Not much I can do about that, maybe blacken it so its isn't so obvious.

The ejection port is closed as if you open it yet more airsoft innards are exposed including bits you really don't want to get grit or dust in. A shame is it could have been used to access the hop adjustment mechanism, instead you have to swivel the magazine mount through 90 degrees.

The sling mounting is one reason why the barrel jackets fall off as it puts a lot of strain on it. This is an original sling, I'll need to do a more permanent fix for the barrel jacket than green tape.
The gun itself seems to work fine and takes my tuned MP40 magazines without any problems (just as the originals were designed to do), decent rate of fire, and good range and grouping but no fancy gizmos like a safety catch. The magazine lock is very solid though.

I just need to do some reinforcement work on the barrel jacket and then the bit I really enjoy on airsoft guns, modelling work to weather it. I have been fortunate enough to fire a real Sten, and the blueing on that was so worn it was almost silver. This particular one just needs some work on the metallic finish and I need to think about how to disguise the cylinder and tone down the weapon markings, then it should be good do go.


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