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WWII weapons - Submachine-guns: Part 8

Nov 13, 12:00 PM

• AUSTEN MK. I

CALIBRE – 9 mm.
CAPACITY – 28 rounds.
LENGTH – 845 mm.
WEIGHT – 4.65 kg.
MUZZLE VELOCITY – 380 m. per second.
RATE OF FIRE – 500 rpm.

This remarkable Australian weapon took the best points from the famous German Schmeisser and the British Sten. It was first produced in 1941, and when production ceased in 1945, 20,000 had been made. The name of the gun was an abbreviation of ‘Australian Sten’. A later version, the Mk. II, was very similar in appearance but differed radically in construction; the tubular body of the gun was enclosed in a two-piece aluminium frame in order to simplify it and speed up production.