Status: In-Stock / Please Call to Purchase

This Chester County Armory listing is for an original, British-factory made, WW2 era Sten Mk III 9mm Pre-May Dealer Sample Submachine Gun.

Built in Great Britain, this is a wonderful historical example of one of almost 877,000 Sten Mk III’s made during WW2.

This Pre-May Dealer Sample Only machine gun was built by Lines Brothers Limited, as designated by the “LB” mark on the bottom of the magazine well. Line Brothers’ main production business was as a toy manufacturer, marketing their products under the Triang Toys name. After the start of World War 2, the British government deemed toy production as a non-essential business, so the company’s production facilities were utilized for the manufacturing of firearms out of necessity. In addition to the manufacturer’s initials and the serial number, this model is also marked on the top of the magazine well “STEN M.C. MK III”. All Sten MK III’s were produced during the war, as production of this model ceased in 1943.

Overall condition on this British-made machine gun is very good to excellent. The metalwork is in very good condition with no dents, dings, gouges, malformation, cracks, etc. noted. All welds remain strong and solid.  The internals are clean and note only minor interior wear. The bolt face is clean and well-defined, and the bore remains bright and shiny, with crisp, clean rifling. The barrel does note a small exterior bulge at the muzzle, but the internal diameter remains appropriately sized and the bulge does not appear due to excess pressure. It is theorized that this likely was part of the original manufacturing and assembling process. Gunsmith Michael Otte of Michael’s Machines has recently fully inspected this barrel (and overall weapon) and deemed it safe for continued firing use.

Cosmetically, this weapon notes only minor exterior handling and and storage markings in its original painted finish.

This Pre-May dealer sample only submachine gun is currently on an eForm-capable Form 3 that lists “English OR B Firearms Co, New York N” as the manufacturer/importer and “MKIII” as the model.