![sten mk ii for sale sten mk ii for sale](https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/2019/5/23/7/8/e/78e5cd81-583c-4555-b9a6-634a1bd89c3c.jpg)
Because the barrel was permanently welded into the body, the barrel could not be replaced when it wore out – this was a truly disposable gun and so less cost-effective in the long run. II magazine housing, designed to rotate for storage, was replaced by a simpler welded-on version. The sheet metal construction resulted in a long distinctive rib along the top of the gun where the two ends of the sheet were welded together. Its sheet metal body was longer, extending out along the barrel and replacing the separate hand guard of the Mark II. This differed from the better-known Mark II in several ways. The War Office approved the design as the Sten Mark III. Lines himself redesigned the already cheap Sten to suit the machinery and processes used in his factory, reducing manufacturing time down to just 5 ½ hours per gun. Walter proposed a new version of the Sten submachine gun that made extensive use of sheet steel. As well as a capable factory, Lines’ company were specialists in making things out of ‘pressed’ sheets of steel. In 1941 Walter Lines offered to do more than just make parts of weapons. Lines started taking on contracts for small arms ammunition, artillery shell fuzes, and parts for weapons. Today the toys are collectors’ items.īy 1939 Lines had one of the largest and most modern factories in the world, which made it a prime candidate to be repurposed by the British government for war work. Successive generations grew up playing with these toys from their launch in 1919 until well after 1971 when the company ceased trading. Some readers will remember the ‘Tri-ang’ range of colourful sheet metal toy cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Lines Bros was better known under its tradename ‘Tri-ang’, named for the three sides of a triangle and the three founding brothers Walter, William and Arthur Lines. One of these firms was Lines Brothers, based in Merton in south-west London.
![sten mk ii for sale sten mk ii for sale](https://www.gunsamerica.com/userimages/236/959038560/wm_2268719.jpg)
The outbreak of war in 1939 required manufacturing companies to stop making peacetime goods like children’s toys and start churning out deadly weapons and ammunition.