Among the more favored British weapons used by the Chinese Communists in the Korean War, the Sten Mark II was simplicity itself, being easily dismantled into its component parts. The mechanism was little more than a bolt and spring with the most basic trigger and fire selector equipment. Sights were fixed for 100 yds and could not be adjusted for zero. The magazine held 32 rounds, but was generally loaded with 30 to minimize strain on the magazine spring and hence reduce jams, and had to be filled with a special filler. The horizontal magazine permitted controlled firing while completely prone

I've linked one Chinese propaganda photo showing American prisoners, captured in North Korea when the CCF first struck our over-extended forces. One of the CCF soldiers, shown in this thumbnail, was covering the prisoners with a Sten Mark II. The submachine gunner has spare magazines in a carrying pouch hooked to his webbing. In the full photo the rifleman has their standard potato masher carrier.

The Sten was introduced in June, 1941. It was designed by Vernon Sheppherd and Harold John Turpin and developed at Enfield, the government arsenal. Total production of the Sten in various marks, from mid 1941 to late 1945, was 3,750,000. The Sten Submachine Gun was the first example of a new breed of cheap and simple full-auto infantry weapons that came to be adopted by many of the world's armies.

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