Just finished the video FW posted on the John Keene Interview it was a pretty good watch.



The question came up what is a good entry level MG? And it was said the Sten and Reising. And Ian made the statement that he would take a Reising over a Sten and really threw off on the Sten.

I have fired a Sten and while it’s not the definition of a great sub gun it is fun, cheap and has plentiful parts/mags. I have always placed it above the Reising but Ian’s comments made the Reising out to be the better of the two. Not sure what merit he was weighing them on but would like to here y’all thoughts on the topic.

Those that have fired or owned both which did you like more and why?

I really enjoyed this this Q&A. Especially the details he has on the number of different type of mg’s in the registry.

I think Ian's opinion of the Reising is that its fairly well designed and its reputation is somewhat a little under deserved.  As a closed bolt gun it had some merits and qualities in its design that Ian seems to think are under appreciated.  He has a resing model 55 video where he really enjoys the compact version a bit.  Its weakness was in parts interchangeability and magazines (I've never had one to take apart and swap parts between)

The sten's beauty is that it is both simple and effective therefore it was made by the boat load and issued by the ton where the Resing faded from military use.  The Sten is not without its engineering merits, just not as much effort went into the technicalities of the gun's features, rather it was crudly simple, it worked well nothing more and in that way it is superior in my opinion.   The reisings I've shot seem to work well and you can hit actually okay with them  like a PCC- its evidently not well respected by the militaries of the world who could have taken the design further.

In my view history chose the winner, the Sten, although the Resing's reputation may not be as bad as rumored.

Just my 2 cents.

PS Does John Keene remind you of Dick Cheney in his voice and mannerisms?  Actually I enjoyed listening to Dick Cheney as a speaker, I heard rumor he actually liked to shoot MGs

The only thing I could possibly add is the fact that Ian is left-handed........and the Sten would probably make for more unpleasant / awkward shooting .

I am lucky enough to have both.

They both have their merits, but for a first MG a Sten sure.

A Reising is a great 2nd, 3rd, 7th MG. It is a poor () man's Thompson and nothing to be ashamed of. They will shoot minute of washing machine all day...