.22LR STEN MK3 thoughts....

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NorincoKid
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.22LR STEN MK3 thoughts....

Post by NorincoKid »

Have quite a few projects already, really should be working on them but whats left is either tooling intensive, labor intensive, or $$$$ intensive.

Been mulling over the idea of a STEN with a .22 caliber rifle jammed inside of it. The more I think about it, the more "doable" it sounds, with really minimal cash involved, and not even a lot of welding. Finding the right donor .22 would probably be the hardest part.

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^^ an uber-basic visual.

But anyways, thoughts so far. Any insight/input/thoughts are appreciated.

STEN MK3 kit. They're still cheap and pretty easy to come by. Less complicated than a MK2/MK5, and use a longer tube.

Tube: Standard MK3 tube is about 18" long, and the barrel sticks out about an inch or so. I'm thinking that the OAL of a .22 donor rifle receiver with a 16" is going to be around 24". Making a longer trigger to reach further downward if need be is easy enough.

I think I'd just have to go with a two-foot long section of 1.5" OD tube and trim if need be to keep the original look. This would put it a few inches longer than a regular sten SMG in length, but shouldn't be longer than a STEN 9mm with a 16" barrel.

It would of course have all kinds of various blocks welded in to prevent the use of actual STEN parts (SMG bolt, trigger etc).

The plan would be to try to center the barreled receiver in the existing STEN trunnion/bushings. The tube would be attached to the trigger housing via 4 button head screws (not welded) to allow for the removal of the tube/donor rifle. The plan would also involve having a slot in the bottom of the tube section to allow for the trigger group to clear, and the whole barreled rifle assembly to slide out the rear of the tube for repair/maintenance.

Stock: I think a rear-tube loading donor rifle might be the way to go? Without one in hand I cant say for certain but I have some thoughts on loading/feeding the beast.

Image

It would depend on the length and angle of the rear feeding tube assembly, but it would seem pretty easy to cut the stock section off the rear "plate" of the STEN stock assembly, find some tubing the right size to house the inner/outer magazine tube assembly from the donor rifle, and reweld the rear stock to have the magazine housed inside and retain a "somewhat original" look back there. One would then feed through the buttplate or side of the stock depending on the setup of the donor rifle.

I'd think that while the angle and length may differ slightly from the original stock, it would still work. It would be minimal cost for small tubing like that and not much welding at all.

Any thoughts? Would trying to do a "under the barrel tube fed" .22 instead be less bull$hit to deal with? Id think it would be harder to work out a system in the front, and finding a barrel where the tube is less than 16" might be tricky to keep OAL down.

I dunno, a recoil-less WW2 style semi-auto plinker sounds fun.
indy1919a4
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Post by indy1919a4 »

I like it, lots of possibilities.. You know a 22 the ejected from the top that was magazine fed would work nice if you turned it on its side.

Of course the old 10/22 has had so many shells made for it this would be a nice use of one, I jist do not know how much clearance you have with the 10/22 with in the body of the sten to hide the 10 round magazine..

I never thunked such a wonderful idea before
indy1919a4
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Post by indy1919a4 »

Yeah forget the 10/22 the ejection port and clip mount will not line up at all
indy1919a4
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Post by indy1919a4 »

indy1919a4 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:39 pm Yeah forget the 10/22 the ejection port and magazine mount will not line up at all
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NorincoKid
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Post by NorincoKid »

indy1919a4 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:39 pm Yeah forget the 10/22 the ejection port and clip mount will not line up at all
As cool as it would be to go that route, it would require some home-made linkage to have a trigger in the factory STEN location, the 10/22 would be about 6" too far forward, and a LOT of work to get that to fit sideways (if at all) into a 1.5" OD tube.

The goal would be to cram the action as far "rearward" as possible, to keep OAL down. A 10/22 with the barrel starting in roughly the same place the factory STEN barrel would start would put it nearly 8" further out than the original SMG.

As it sits right now I think I found a donor .22 rifle. $100 on gunbroker for a rear-fed Mossberg model 380.

It would probably need the ejection port further rearward than the original STEN, but thats easy enough. If its really far back, I may make an extended cocking knob for it, and work out a polished sleeve to fit the ID of the tube so when you cock it, the original ejection port has a faux polished bolt that rides back/forward. For aesthetics. Non-reciprocating though, I don't know if attaching it to the cocking knob and having it move WITH the .22 bolt while firing would add weight/lead to problems with cycling.
indy1919a4
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Post by indy1919a4 »

NorincoKid wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 7:09 am
indy1919a4 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:39 pm Yeah forget the 10/22 the ejection port and clip mount will not line up at all
As cool as it would be to go that route, it would require some home-made linkage to have a trigger in the factory STEN location, the 10/22 would be about 6" too far forward, and a LOT of work to get that to fit sideways (if at all) into a 1.5" OD tube.

The goal would be to cram the action as far "rearward" as possible, to keep OAL down. A 10/22 with the barrel starting in roughly the same place the factory STEN barrel would start would put it nearly 8" further out than the original SMG.

As it sits right now I think I found a donor .22 rifle. $100 on gunbroker for a rear-fed Mossberg model 380.

It would probably need the ejection port further rearward than the original STEN, but thats easy enough. If its really far back, I may make an extended cocking knob for it, and work out a polished sleeve to fit the ID of the tube so when you cock it, the original ejection port has a faux polished bolt that rides back/forward. For aesthetics. Non-reciprocating though, I don't know if attaching it to the cocking knob and having it move WITH the .22 bolt while firing would add weight/lead to problems with cycling.
You will not know till you get in there weight wise Most 22 bolts are overbuilt and would allow some weight removal... A bottom ejection port makes it easier, I was thinking of using "correct" Sten port, would be cool.

I thought I found a perfect gun, a Gevarn

It fires from open Bolt, a nice touch.. You can turn the thing on its side, mount the Magazine in the Sten Mag, make the ejection port alittle more open, by removing the top metal of the port, as you turn it to the side

That was really near perfect .. Until I saw the price..




https://www.gunbroker.com/item/869312877
indy1919a4
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Post by indy1919a4 »

In reflection, I am seeing the genius of the rear tube feed design
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NorincoKid
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Post by NorincoKid »

That’s super pricey...I’d almost hate to cut up something like that.

Hoping the Mossberg 380 will do the trick. Should have it later this week to start taking apart and looking over. Just need to get some STEN parts and hit up AutoZone for some pipe.
indy1919a4
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Post by indy1919a4 »

NorincoKid wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 8:52 am That’s super pricey...I’d almost hate to cut up something like that.

Hoping the Mossberg 380 will do the trick. Should have it later this week to start taking apart and looking over. Just need to get some STEN parts and hit up AutoZone for some pipe.
Yeah, I like what you are doing better,,, Alot more cheaper guns with rear feed, I think if you can load through the hole in the Sten stock that will look Boss..
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NorincoKid
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Post by NorincoKid »

On the backburner for a while now, damn you PSA! With your $299 Israeli FAL kits.....

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All I have on hand is a MK5, so not super helpful but gives me a rough idea, sorta.

MK2/MK5 Tube is around 12" , the MK3 tube is around 18".

If I get some 1.5" OD tubing, 24" / 2FT in length I'd have plenty to cover the longer barre. Would probably trim to 22", to have a little barrel sticking out past tube.

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Would put at only 3.5"-4" longer OAL than a STEN MKIII SMG with a 8" barrel.

Trigger looks long enough, should actually reach down just fine as is I think. Not sure if there will be enough room in the STEN FCG housing for it to slip down through though. Will either need to thin it out on the inside, or modify the trigger, or both, or just make a new trigger from scratch if need be.

The magazine tube is longer than I thought it would be. Without the "T Stock" in hand to look, I feel like its considerably shorter than the magazine tube.

Will have to weigh the options. Use a shorter magazine tube (won't be fun) or lengthen the stock (won't look good) , It will depend on how "off" it is.

Angle doesn't look to bad though.
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