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Posted: 4/20/2012 2:12:12 PM EDT
| With all the Colt style mags that are available these days does anybody still use the old Sten mags? |
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Quoted:
If I could find them for less than Metalform mags, I'd use them. Sadly, I haven't seen any for less than $30 each in a long time. You surprised the heck out of me –– I had no idea that the price of sten mags had gone up like that. The sten mags were one of the first mags I used and could get them for $20 for 10 mags and some type of mag pouch. I guess it shows how long I've been out of the 9mm game. |
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If I could find them for less than Metalform mags, I'd use them. Sadly, I haven't seen any for less than $30 each in a long time. Really!? I haven't followed their price in quite a while. I guess it is time to sell a bunch of my Sten mags! Now where did that box go? 
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| A long time ago when I used the Sten mags they never failed me. The only problem was trying to load them without a special sten mag loader. I think the biggest complaint other people had was that the mags didn't have the bolt hold open feature. This wasn't a big thing for me since I had been using modified Uzi mags which doesn't either. I just put a 9mm together using some of my old 9mm parts and I want to try the Metalform mags but if they give me trouble I'll try the Stens again and see what happens. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
If I could find them for less than Metalform mags, I'd use them. Sadly, I haven't seen any for less than $30 each in a long time. Really!? I haven't followed their price in quite a while. I guess it is time to sell a bunch of my Sten mags! Now where did that box go? I know where my box full is, 10 is primary M11-9 SMG mags, a pile for back up, and 10+ Indian that I was going to make feed 40 S&W for my 40 S&W M11 upper.. Toying with idea of Glock grip for the M11 |
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Quoted:
If I could find them for less than Metalform mags, I'd use them. Sadly, I haven't seen any for less than $30 each in a long time. No kidding? I still have a box of 50 or so I bought a long time ago for an Oly upper. Might have to dig them out and put them up for sale. |
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Quoted:
I have about 25 or 30 I picked up at Knob Creek a long time ago for $2 each. Was going to build a semi Sten but went 9mm AR instead. They still work great in my AR with a Hahn block. Holy mackerel! Does Hahn make a magblock for Sten mags? I remember years ago that a company that went by (I think) SNS made a two piece block for stens but they got bought out by some company that never contiued to sell the blocks. I would love to see another commercial Sten magblock. last time I went with stens I had to make the block myself. Edit to add; I'm talking about a Colt style 9mm setup –– I just realized that Hahn does make a magblock for Stens but it's for the Oly style system. I'd still like to see a company make a Colt style Sten magblock. |
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Midway had them late last year for $19.99 each, which is still more than 3 times as much as I paid for mine about 2 years ago. They still have them listed on their site so maybe they are expecting more in the future??
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/228518/military-surplus-magazine-sten-mpa-30-930-9mm-luger-32-round-steel-matte |
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Quoted:
Midway had them late last year for $19.99 each, which is still more than 3 times as much as I paid for mine about 2 years ago. They still have them listed on their site so maybe they are expecting more in the future?? http://www.midwayusa.com/product/228518/military-surplus-magazine-sten-mpa-30-930-9mm-luger-32-round-steel-matte Not only are those midway mags expensive they look like hell. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I have about 25 or 30 I picked up at Knob Creek a long time ago for $2 each. Was going to build a semi Sten but went 9mm AR instead. They still work great in my AR with a Hahn block. Holy mackerel! Does Hahn make a magblock for Sten mags? I remember years ago that a company that went by (I think) SNS made a two piece block for stens but they got bought out by some company that never contiued to sell the blocks. I would love to see another commercial Sten magblock. last time I went with stens I had to make the block myself. Edit to add; I'm talking about a Colt style 9mm setup –– I just realized that Hahn does make a magblock for Stens but it's for the Oly style system. I'd still like to see a company make a Colt style Sten magblock. I've got three of the SNS blocks. One is the block I modified to work with CZ24 mags, one is unmodified and still used with my colt style 9mm uppers, and the third has a slightly modified ramp that I was using with my Tok uppers (before I switched to CZ24 mags). I also have a half finished one-piece sten block, that I need to find time to finish (after I figure out the solution to a problem I created while trying to "simplify" the design). Back when Sten mags were #3 each, I'd add 5 or 10 of them to orders for other stuff, so I've got quite a few of them still in the cosmoline. |
| Is there any difference in dealing with British cosmoline compared to the Russian stuff? (I hope!). That commie gunk is horrible, worse than Spanish or US preservative by a mile. My "new" Sten mags are "preserved," and I am now learning of all the nooks and crannies inside them, one glob of crap at a time. |
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Quoted:
Is there any difference in dealing with British cosmoline compared to the Russian stuff? (I hope!). That commie gunk is horrible, worse than Spanish or US preservative by a mile. My "new" Sten mags are "preserved," and I am now learning of all the nooks and crannies inside them, one glob of crap at a time. Being a mechanic and working in a shop that has a solvent tank(parts cleaner) does have it's advantages. With the mags that were in the worst shape (finish mostly gone, some surface rust), I refinished them with a Norells bake-on finish. Started with the solvent tank, then dried the mag and cleaned it to bare metal in the bead blaster. Next step was to wipe the mag down with acetone, then put it in an oven at 300 degrees for maybe half an hour. Any remaining cosmoline in the seams would be melted by the heat, run out of the seams (at least most of it), and could be cleaned off with a final acetone wipe (after the mag has cooled enough). If you don't have access to the fancy stuff, stock up on rags and Q-tips. and you could try soaking the mags overnight in a bucket of kerosine. Cheap paint brushes (1" and 1/2" width) also come in handy - cut about 2/3 of the length off the bristles, to make them stiffer, then use them to scrub solvent (kerosine or whatever you end up using) into seams and other areas that a rag won't reach. |
| I've got most of a gallon of paint thinner, some cheap (natural) paint brushes, and some good industrial gloves to keep from degreasing my hands too much. At least the British stuff seems to respond to chemicals I can safely manage; cleaning my Mosin Nagant was an adventure in scraping and washing with bore cleaner, repeat ad nauseum... |
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Quoted:
I've got most of a gallon of paint thinner, some cheap (natural) paint brushes, and some good industrial gloves to keep from degreasing my hands too much. At least the British stuff seems to respond to chemicals I can safely manage; cleaning my Mosin Nagant was an adventure in scraping and washing with bore cleaner, repeat ad nauseum... The worst I've dealt with was something called (if my memory isn't off and I'm spelling it right) paralketone. Kinda resembled freshly applied cosmoline, even after the paralketone had been on the part for ages. The removal procedure was to scape off as much as possible, then pressure wash with steaming hot water, and finally break out heavy rubber gloves and solvents to remove the "residue" that wouldn't steam off. Any time I start getting the least bit frustrated with cosmoline, I remember that stuff and the cosmoline doesn't seem like any trouble at all. Maybe eastern europe prefers paralketone to cosmoline? |
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I don't remember having all that much trouble cleaning the stuff off my magazines. There was stuff inside and on the spring but that came off easy with mineral spirits and something I think is called a bottle brush –– then again maybe I just didn't care that much back then –– they were just Sten mags. I believe they only cost like 2 bucks apiece. SNS wasn't making their magblocks yet so I made my own –– still have it! It's for the Colt style system.
Edit to add; I have some old Colt 32 round mags and just got some new 20 round Metalform mags to try out. If they work OK I'll maybe stay with them for a while. I have noticed with those mags that they sometimes don't like to feed if you hand cycle the action –– works just fine if you have the bolt locked back and just hit the bolt release. The Sten mags always seemed to feed no matter what you did. I guess there is at least one good point for single feed mags. |
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Quoted:
Is there any difference in dealing with British cosmoline compared to the Russian stuff? (I hope!). That commie gunk is horrible, worse than Spanish or US preservative by a mile. My "new" Sten mags are "preserved," and I am now learning of all the nooks and crannies inside them, one glob of crap at a time. A hand steam shooter does wonders for cosmoline. |
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