You could not give me a Thompson.
I’d take the Sten any day.
Fact is, I’ve owned 4 of them, (a mk-5, a mk-2, and two mk-3’s) from time to time over the years-all class 3 weapons with the appropriate tax, help from our local law enforcement center, and licensing of course-which needless to say was not cheap. One can look at paying over $1000 each for this type. And the Stens are the absolute cheapest. Sadly, I no longer have them, and cashed all of them in at one time or another. I went forward and am into ak-74’s now-but that’s another story. And the ak’s are semi, so it’s more of a stress reliever on the conscience.
They do have a habit of hiccuping when least expected, but once you are used to it, it’s not that big a deal. And I never had that actually happen but a couple of times, and yes, I fired them a LOT.
They do not have many parts that can break. And if it does, it can be replaced easily.
The Thompson’s ammo is too heavy to carry the sufficient amount of ammo for it in the field for very long.
The Thompson also is more finely machined (as we all know), and does not take well to dust-dirt, etc.
The Sten’s which were in my possession, were quite accurate, after getting used to them. It was not un-common to hit coke cans at 75 yds. on semi.
On full-auto, they are practically useless. I know people will say, why?
Well, you can’t hit anything with them that way.
Bottom line. Muzzle climb is not as controllable as with an ak, due to the Sten being so short and little, and havin g to hold sideways on the magazine, which is awkward.
In semi-auto, they are very good guns. The only way I see full-auto being of use with the Sten, is in cover fire, door-to-door, and street fighting. Definately not finely aimed shots.
I have shot, but never owned any Thompsons. But from myexperience, I’d still pick the Sten. Simply because of practicality.
Hope this helps.
p.s.-if one desires a full-auto, please go through the proper channels and don’t try making one yourself. I have heard of people doing this, and needless to say, with the communistic laws now, it is not wise.
The reason I was able to do my work back then with full-auto, is because I was introduced to the proper people, had help, and FOLLOWED the law.
Please, follow the law. Be they draconian laws or not. We have no choice as of now. Hopefully, this will change one day, when America is truly a free country once again. And trust me, as someone who knows. Having a full-auto, is not that big a deal, because they a virtually useless in many situations. Only poor shots need full-auto.
If one begins imitating movies and tv in the real world, they will soon end up dead. That is not how it works in actual combat and it’s one reason I watch the History Channel, and not these stupid movies they put out these days.
If you simply must have a full-auto, then look at paying over $1000 for the Stens, and over $2-3000 for any of the others, and this is not the worth of the gun either. All of that money will go to the feds. You will still have a gun that cost $2.00 to make. In the end, it’s not worth it. Trust me.
Now, there are some semi-auto closed bolt Stens that can be had now, and these seem fun.
That would be a reasonable alternative. They have a longer barrel to bring length to spec. without having to have an SBR form.
