@War Zone they're actually have in a few designs similar to that they just don't work very well and are typically restricted to a small not very effective caliber
Their finding out now that no Christmas is coming. They're just waking up, I know just what they'll do. Their dust covers will hang open a minute or two. Then their muzzles will all cry, "boo hoo hoo"
I worked with a Pom in Australia who fought in Korea and he didn't like that war. Stuck his bayonet into an enemy and it got jammed in his ribs so bad he couldn't pull it out and had to leave it embodied so to speak. The _didn't like_ part comes from him being charged for losing his bayonet and had to pay 15/- (shillings) for a replacement. 25 or 26 years after the event and he was still unhappy with that.
@@vattmann1387 that would be bad. Bayonets are straight for a reason. You wield it like a spear. Kukri is for slashing.. Though it might work with a one handed gun, like a sidearm
@@soumyajyotimukherjee4752 You have to think outside the box, with a curved blade your gun turns into a glaive instead of a spear! With two bayonet lugs you can choose to slash in two different directions, or slash AND stab!
Don't be silly, if it was down the middle it would have missed the ejector on strip down, giving no reason to piss about with a hard to access screw in battle conditions🙄
GAU-8 only has around 80mm penetration at combat ranges, tanks have more to fear from the MANY precision munitions the A-10 carries. Fortunately, with the advent of IFV's, there's a new generation of vehicles on the battlefield completely defenseless against GAU-8.
@@austinm.9832 I'm not. Don't forget that even the roof has a spall liner and the rounds aren't coming in straight up and down, either. Active protection systems further defang poor old A-10... though many can't reach up towards the sky, being little more than an alternative for vehicles too light to mount N/ERA.
Ya know on "The Walton's" John Boy won a race against Thoroughbreds riding a Mule(not a donkey I know) albeit a race in mountainous and wooded terrain :)
Think about those pretty English villages with half timbered houses. So historical! What really happened was the village used to be important enough to have grand houses - but then the village failed economically and wasn't worth improving, so they left the old houses alone. Go somewhere successful - new everywhere, except where the old stuff makes a massive profit by attracting visitors. That sounds like a massive tangent but the principle stands - useless old things are best kept to show the future where we went wrong. And charge them for the lesson :-)
@@iraizsanchez7292 they made one of these, the gun that replaced the sten was the sterling (the starwars blaster) this is the failed attempt at its update
@@iraizsanchez7292 Ian: The S2 replaced the STEN gun. This gun was a failed upgrade, so there is only one. Iraiz: *forgets to smart* MAnY s11 aRe eXIst
Hey, the charging handle is in the way of the sights, maybe we should cut a hole in it or move it to the side Nah fam lets just move the rest of the gun to the side
This is Britain. Here, there are two taps on each sink, the bus stops are listed in alphabetical order, and black leggings are the height of fashion. What did you expect from their firearms industry? Logic?
looked obvious to me, they moved it offset because they wanted to use the rifle bayonet on it and centered the barrel was too far away. As soon as that bayonet clicked home and it was a perfect fit...
What you saw WAS a beautifully hand crafted antique (kind of) weapon. It's a one off - even using cheap materials it's mind bogglingly expensive to make a prototype - to make something that fires full auto at all is an achievement beyond the scope of hand crafted single shot crap with chequering and gold plating BS. Think of a Ford Fiesta. Make one and it would be hand made and the price of a Ferrari (more expensive - a lot of Ferrari parts are hand made because mass producing things costs millions...spread over the production run). Make millions and an ordinary person can afford one. Even with a crackle finish there are lots of exposed parts that need protecting from human touch - it's a one off and the aim is to conserve it FOREVER, not have fingerprints that would need cleaning off (friction and/or chemical cleaning - both eroding the metal). It may not be pretty but it's unique.
Barrel is offset for two reasons: 1) to line the sights up with the eye with such a large, wide stock 2) so that recoil is in line with the longitudinal center of mass that is effected by the magazine on the side. This should negate the tendency of the gun to 'climb' to the right under recoil. My opinion is that if you were to place a half-loaded magazine in the gun, you could balance the weapon on its muzzle.
Could be... but I’d point out that if a design for a SMG offsets the 1) barrel, to fix the 2) sights because of 3) the stock and 4) the magazine, the designer may have forgotten, out of 1, 2, 3 and 4, which is the part a soldier points at the enemy to do the whole “gun” thing the gun is supposed to do. This wasn’t meant for the job of a Bren in WWII, after all.
Honestly, dumb as it may be... I think the barrel was placed there to allow for that jungle carbine bayonet. Why they didn't make the gun narrower (or literally any other solution) is beyond me
*Sees thumbnail* Attachment unlock: Dual Bayonet Description: Increase melee range by 75%. "What better than a one bayonet. TWO BAYONET. One for you and one for your MOTHER!" - Random Japanese guy
@@Dom-J What do you do when you want to run water that isn't either ice cold or scalding hot? Me, an American, I just turn on the hot a little and the cold a little and get warm water to wash my hands in. Ahh, the luxury of not being in the UK. I can wash my hands in water that's exactly the temperature I want, among other things.
@@immikeurnot You turn both taps on at once. Sounds silly but you use the amount of each to sort the temperature. Like lots of hot + some cold = hot water that's good for washing hands in. To you this may sound ludicrous to you, but I have never had issues with it.
I suspect that it is there to reduce the angle/distance between the magazine lips and the chamber. They need a substantial bolt to keep the chamber closed for blowback, and therefore needed the width, but a central chamber would have made feeding problematic. I can see the sense in what they were trying to do - keep the angle the same as the L2A1
Paul C That was my first belive, but if you want a heavier bolt there are 2 way wider or longer. Adding one inch in length would have cure asymmetrical..... Who knows..
I had an impressive stoppage with a Sterling once when a round lodged itself sideways across the breech. I've no idea if this was common but I was impressed.
It wasn't that uncommon in the British Army. For training purposes, some 9mm was bought from India or Pakistan. It was known to be substandard but very cheap. Inconsistent powder in the cartridges caused these weak ejections. The Radway Green ammo didn't have this problem. I'm also glad that the L2A3 was adopted and not this hedgehog version!
SAR-80, not SA-80. I don't know if the SAR-80 rifle is bad, but I suspect it's fine since it's basically just an AR-18 variant as far as I can tell. Waters was NOT involved in the atrocity that was the SA-80 (the bullpup that doesn't work).
@@AleK0451 They funny thing is, while HK fixed the guns issues, they really didn't change that much. Most of their improvements simply involved changing alloys or heat treatments for parts that failed, or making extremely small adjustments. The A1 was almost a really good gun, they just couldn't quite figure out how to fine tune it. The core design works just fine
@@danbell3827 i know, it's a nato gun so in theory it would literally just be a bullpup ar15 or something along those lines which as long as it isn't literally a converted bullpup ar15 should work fine, they just had no idea what materials to use and how to make those small adjustments
It is a privilege being able to view these treasures alongside your outstanding knowledge of the machining and history associated with each design. Thank you so much for putting this series at such a high quality standard and for everything you do for this artform.
As a British soldier serving in the Gulf war and equipped with the Sterling SMG, I was approached by a US marine who offered a straight swap for his m16 because he recognised it from star wars, obviously I had to decline...we in the British military are far too professional to do that sort of thing! It made me laugh though
@@ejmuerterisefromthedead8924 some very unique and rare stuff but also rack after rack of Lee Enfield SMLE's. Some interesting walking stick guns if i remember correctly. Way too many to have o display. Worth a visit if you get a chance.
The Germans, Russians, and Americans have always been big on innovation. The germans are the only ones constantly innovating and actually developing new concepts. Which is why everyone loves them with their guns.
To be fair smgs are not nearly as adequate for purpose as they used to be. PDWS with fancy ammo and assault rifles take their place. They’re still cool but they’re a innovative dead end(for now)
I used the old Stirling on operations and it never let me down, I liked it. It could be a little dodgy on the safety side. I even fired it at Bisley with some success.
Probably the best researched, presented and narrated series on UA-cam. Full of interest, even if one lives in places like the UK where firearms are such a maligned engineering/historical/sporting topic. And a masterful presenter. Never a bad episode. Great stuff! Thank you.
Sounds like mid-60’s British industrial design. The goal was to build a competitor to an elegant competitor, by cheapening an excellent design we, Sterling, already produce. So well take design elements from all sorts of places, with little thought to unity of design though, apparently from a committee of blokes walking by the conference room. They took design elements from the UZI and Mac-10, stuff in their own shop, etc. Someone with pull had to think the charging handle needed to be mounted so as to accommodate right and left hand.
Unfortunately very much a st5aple of British engineering. When we get it right it's generally two blokes in a shed or a single person leading the way. When we get it wrong it's usually because a comittee was involved and they didn't understand the concept of "Cheap, fast, good. Pick two" but insisted it had to be possible to have all three.
I bet one guy designed the magazine well and other the receiver. When they found out the magazine wouldnt feed with the barrel in the centre they said bolliocks and just bodged it.
@@pjnoonan1423 Thats what I was thinking. Maybe with the form factor they wanted, the weight they needed on the bolt, they couldnt make the receiver thinner so, to use the Patchet magazine with that thick a receiver they had to offset the barrel? Thats like one of the only reasons I could think of, and its very likely false, I just cant think of why else.
Thats true, ive wondered about this for quite some time but i think ian told the basic benefits to where the magazine is: topfeed is for better reliability (but the magazine gets in the way of the sights), side feed good for easily getting as low on the ground as possible (but ofcourse the guns center of gravity is quite shifted to the side) and then bottom feed which gives you a gun which has the center of gravity in the middle but it does get in the way when going prone and has a little less reliability
The sten was designed with clandestine manufacturing in mind.It specifically used machining and components in it's design so it could be made by unskilled workers in any basic tool shop such a mechanics garage,plumbing shop, carpentry shop etc.
That’s because you can sell the average person a vacuum that they’ll never have the know how or need to open but you’d be one brave SOB to try and sell the military a gun they can’t fix
Further enhancements include an attachment point for a Zip-22 and a single-shot Gyrojet launcher that mounts to the side opposite the magazine. The buttstock will have a slot on either side, depending on whether or not they want it to carry chopsticks or a spork, and a choice of two oil bottles, depending on whether they want one filled with soy sauce or Worchestershire sauce (under no circumstances is actual oil or yankee Tobasco sauce to be placed in this bottle). The sights will be offset even further to allow a GI angle-head flashlight to be mounted on top (but only the opaque white lens will be authorized for use).
I suspect that the offset barrel allowed the operator to partially break down the weapon and insert a hot dog or tamale into the frame recess in front of the bolt / rear barrel mounting bulkhead allowing the gunman to heat his lunch during combat.
@@99thJediWarrior Close, Lucas used the L2A1 Stirling as the base for the Blastech E-11. If you check the weapons used in Star Wars you'll recognize a lot of actual firearms being used. Lucas did it to give the blasters an air of being real and well used. Which works well in my opinion.
@@michaelfodor6280 Yea I remember that the MG34 (or 42) was used for Chewbacca's rifle from Empire Strikes Back (not the bowcaster)and I think it was used for the bigger blasters that the Stormtroopers used. You can tell from the stock and grip on it as well.
Well each to their own but the gun's aesthetics look perfectly fine imo and pleasingly modern for the mid 60's. ....It just didn't _work_ (well) that's all!
The handle is in the middle, so it will not really change the ballance, but it will change the recoil ballance. The magazine to the left will will rotate the barrel to the right during recoil. Most of the weight of the gun is to the right of the barrel to balance the gun more when accelerating backwards during recoil.
The barrel could possibly be offset to aid in more reliable feeding from the magazine seeing as it is off set to the side of the magazine. That and likely wanting a clearer sight picture probably contributed to the off set barrel. Edit- also can you use two bayonets at once?
Possibly so, the breech block has to be a certain mass for the blow back action. If the barrel was central the block would have to be longer or taller to maintain the same proximity in the feed and taller would compromise the basic round return spring design. Sadly, the multiple bayonets were probably just to evaluate the options on the prototype.
The reason why its off centre is to reduce the magazine to barrel breech jump distance that had caused feed issues on the Sten . Sterling survived on the SMG and the AR 18 / AR180 rifle ( another pressed metal design in black wrinkle high temperature paint ) eventually closing the Dagenham plant in the 80 s after the failure of the 9mm /38 dual calibre revolver they hoped would be adopted by the UK police forces and change in UK legislation for civilian ownership of semi auto rifles , although the AR180 was notably absent from our ranges before then . Frank went on to produce high quality air rifles in a unit not far from the original works in Rainham Road .
Might I remind you, good sir, that my great-great-grandfather successfully homesteaded 160 acres whilst riding on a donkey during the Great Oklahoma Land Rush. A donkey may not be the pinnacle of performance; however, it is still incredibly capable overall!
Donkeys are incredibly strong animals, especially for their size. One donkey can pull over 3 tons of stuff. That's a lot of performance from such an unassuming, small animal.
Nice unique piece. I personally find the single reason to ofset the barrel is to allow them to add mass to the bolt without extending it in length. For the open bolt fire machine guns is very tricky to find the best balance. The bolt mass provide the inertia, spring load provide static force to hold the bolt closed in the moment cartridge goes off.
I have an idea about why the gun appears to be offset to the left inside the receiver. Since it's a straight blow back operating system, it may have been an attempt to add mass to the bolt in the least offending direction. That may have been the best way to keep the bolt short or smaller in every other dimension???
The offset sights were for more comfort during shooting. You can negate the pull the magazine causes. Dual bayonetes are for right and left shooters. So you can create momentum with the weight of the gun during use.
English Army: We need a high performance submachi-
Sterling: D U A L B A Y O N E T
@War Zone they're actually have in a few designs similar to that they just don't work very well and are typically restricted to a small not very effective caliber
@War Zone like the one Squall has in Final Fantasy?
@War Zone it's called an Arisaka 😂😂😂
*loud bagpipe noises and screaming*
@@josephmontanaro2350 *bagpipe noises **_and loud screaming_*
The MP5 might have taken away a lot of Sterling's customers, but H&K was never able to secure that lucrative Galactic Empire contract.
It do indeed look like a E-11
@@quentinchambon9362 It's almost as if the E-11 props were Sterling SMGs.
@@XanderTuron Stormtroopers never used the folding butt stock. That's why they are poor shots.
Jacob Clark Nore the duel laser bayonets
They did get in on the scoundrel market though
This is the firearms equivalent of that English paper you write all of 2 hours before it's due.
Ok, so if I add two bayonet lugs maybe they won't notice that the barrel is not in the middle
@Calvin_Coolage ahh now i see where i went wrong with my education
I mean, to be fair, this was experimental. Your first draft never looks as good as the final.
@@Anon_Omis Perhaps, but if your first draft looks like this it's probably time to go back to the drawingboard.
@@Calvin_Coolage which is what they did.
Imagine telling your engineers to come up with a competitor to the MP5 and they bring you this. Probably no christmas bonuses that year.
It really looks like first years student first project he kinda forgot about until a week before deadline lol
So the Uzi was later?
"best I can do is a side-loading Uzi with a big knife on it"
Their finding out now that no Christmas is coming.
They're just waking up, I know just what they'll do. Their dust covers will hang open a minute or two. Then their muzzles will all cry, "boo hoo hoo"
I mean tbf, a competitor to the MP5 is already a lot to ask.
Thank god, i was tired of my bayonet running out of ammo
Hehe
Destiny players: (;-;)
All right, boys, ready for your *S U B M A C H I N E G U N C H A R G E*
"well achtualli, thueh bladche wuldchcsnrap, not rhun oucht of ammo"
I worked with a Pom in Australia who fought in Korea and he didn't like that war. Stuck his bayonet into an enemy and it got jammed in his ribs so bad he couldn't pull it out and had to leave it embodied so to speak. The _didn't like_ part comes from him being charged for losing his bayonet and had to pay 15/- (shillings) for a replacement. 25 or 26 years after the event and he was still unhappy with that.
Everyone gangster till a mad man runs at you with two bayonets on the same gun
Only upgrade I can see is attaching a Gurkha and a couple of kukris to it
@@vattmann1387 that would be bad. Bayonets are straight for a reason. You wield it like a spear. Kukri is for slashing..
Though it might work with a one handed gun, like a sidearm
@@soumyajyotimukherjee4752 You have to think outside the box, with a curved blade your gun turns into a glaive instead of a spear! With two bayonet lugs you can choose to slash in two different directions, or slash AND stab!
Halbred smg
Funded.
Ian: "And the barrel is also offset for no particular reason."
Gun Designer, years earlier, walking in on his wife sleeping with a left-handed man
Don't be silly, if it was down the middle it would have missed the ejector on strip down, giving no reason to piss about with a hard to access screw in battle conditions🙄
its off center for balance
You caught it, too....it's my belief that any weapon that requires a tool to field strip it is poorly designed
@@colbeausabre8842 It's just a prototype issue. Would be fixed in serial items.
Barrel is offset in order for the side bayonet to be fixed.
"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him...But we don't want to spend too much.."
"we can build him better. Stronger, faster, more reliable... But that would cost to much so let's just not do it"
The 1100 dollar man!
We also lack the technology
"We have the technology, we have the money, but we don't want to spend that much"
Peter Griffin, the $300 man
"They made one."
This thing's forgotten as fuck.
It should be the mascot for this channel then lol.
Hellriegel is even more forgotten
There was just a pic of it
GAU-8 Avenger engineers: "We need a plane on a gun!"
Sterling S11 engineers: "We need a gun for our Bayonets!"
The A-10 is a beloved CAS aircraft, unless you're its target, this thing...
@@bthsr7113 Some ideas are better than others.
GAU-8 only has around 80mm penetration at combat ranges, tanks have more to fear from the MANY precision munitions the A-10 carries.
Fortunately, with the advent of IFV's, there's a new generation of vehicles on the battlefield completely defenseless against GAU-8.
@@cheyannei5983 don't forget the top armor on tanks is a lot thinner.
@@austinm.9832 I'm not. Don't forget that even the roof has a spall liner and the rounds aren't coming in straight up and down, either. Active protection systems further defang poor old A-10... though many can't reach up towards the sky, being little more than an alternative for vehicles too light to mount N/ERA.
"Mr. Waters, are two bayonets really necessary?"
Waters: "Yes, it'll help get the point across!"
10/10 sir
Da-boom-tish
It balances the weight of the offset barrel
@Jesus Christ thank you for letting us know
Take your damn upvote
"There's no particular reason why" just about sums this gun up perfectly.
Donkey in a Thoroughbred Race is quite possibly the best thing I've read this year.
Ya know on "The Walton's" John Boy won a race against Thoroughbreds riding a Mule(not a donkey I know) albeit a race in mountainous and wooded terrain :)
There's a song about this sort of thing:
ua-cam.com/video/e6JMvwORx-Q/v-deo.html
@@matthewspencer5086 Love a little Rusby, but I was expecting OG Val ua-cam.com/video/-1Ofhh30lwQ/v-deo.html
Sometimes I feel like a donkey in a thoroughbred race... And sometimes I feel like a thoroughbred in a donkey race. Oh, life.
Slim Rhyno I also choose this guys throroughbred
i remember someone told me once, "just because something's rare doesn't mean it's better, it just mean's that there's less of them."
Think about those pretty English villages with half timbered houses. So historical!
What really happened was the village used to be important enough to have grand houses - but then the village failed economically and wasn't worth improving, so they left the old houses alone.
Go somewhere successful - new everywhere, except where the old stuff makes a massive profit by attracting visitors.
That sounds like a massive tangent but the principle stands - useless old things are best kept to show the future where we went wrong. And charge them for the lesson :-)
@@pd4165 I feel like you must have replied to the wrong person or something, because that doesn't really apply to what I said.
Yeah, but this has two bayonets
@@pd4165 you replied to the wrong person
Like a rare disease
I was left with the empty feeling that both bayonets should have been tried on for our benefit.
To be clear...at the same time.
They are in the thumbnail. i.ytimg.com/vi/BZ3zvE8qcq8/hqdefault.jpg
ootdega Thanks you’re right! Just would like to have seen it done live video.👍
Perfect for engaging 5th-dimensional invaders from Universe X
@@Thy_Boss The ones with two hearts.
If your desire goes yet unfulfilled, do check out the Video by Jonathan on the Royal Armories channel, you won't be disappointed.
2 bayonets at once... and one might have wondered why it was the Brits who came up with Warhammer 40k and its shenanigans.
One for the heretics, one for the xenos!
For killing astartes.
*Stab him before he bleeds on the models!*
Japanese guy: AyyyEEEEEEEAAAAAH!!!
@@TheRealColBosch god is there one witcher player that doesn't have the game as 80% of their identity?
@@isaacburrows8405 you can say the same with WH players.
If this were to be a Borderlands weapon, it'll certainly add 200% melee damage.
And manufactured by Bandit
Even 400% melee damage
*insert, that's a lot of damage! meme*
@@TemptationsEnd terrible terrible damage
Da
"Fix bayonets!"
"But commissar, we already fixed bayonets!"
*BLAM* "FIX BAYONETS"
Lol
ENCHANTMEN For Cadia!
Fix MORE bayonets!
Cadia stand
"Fix bayonets"
"Fixing bayonet"
"No, I said bayonets..."
"at least on this one" he says with the only one in existence
It replace the sten so that means there's more than one dude
@@iraizsanchez7292 what, no, he said that they made only one in the very beginning.
@@iraizsanchez7292 they made one of these, the gun that replaced the sten was the sterling (the starwars blaster) this is the failed attempt at its update
@@iraizsanchez7292
Ian: The S2 replaced the STEN gun. This gun was a failed upgrade, so there is only one.
Iraiz: *forgets to smart* MAnY s11 aRe eXIst
Peter: “What would you do if you had a million dollars?”
Lawrence: “I tell ya what I’d do, man. Two bayonets at the same time, man.”
Onkel Pappkov Yup!
Dead eyed stared after he says it lol
Hey, the charging handle is in the way of the sights, maybe we should cut a hole in it or move it to the side
Nah fam lets just move the rest of the gun to the side
They moved the Gun, and not the Sights? LOL
This is Britain. Here, there are two taps on each sink, the bus stops are listed in alphabetical order, and black leggings are the height of fashion. What did you expect from their firearms industry? Logic?
looked obvious to me, they moved it offset because they wanted to use the rifle bayonet on it and centered the barrel was too far away. As soon as that bayonet clicked home and it was a perfect fit...
Miłosz Skowroński well if this place is so bad why don’t you go back to where you came from
I thought it was only in the US they used that "right-think or go home" line of crazy...
The second bayonet was added after many Imperial storm trooper casualties were caused by missing stabs at point blank range.
Its got 1 lower down for ewoks ...
@@garymitchell5899 let them, star wars used a lot of sterlings as the base for the blasters.
@@garymitchell5899 some one who cant pass a joke they dont like on youtube without being a bitch, how.....well you know
Bruh how ironic i commented how did u call someone a bi*ch without ur comment being deleted and it deleted my comment 😂@@leeboy29680-ol7gf
It looks like the neglected love child of a Sterling and an Uzi
that what I was thinking too.
That's what happens when you have unprotected gay sex...
I was thinking more along the lines of the red-headed bastard step-child, but..... eh.
The Sterling Dad left to go get cigarettes. And the Uzi mama just could not even.
Snuzi
All of the beautifully crafted antique weapons I've seen him review, and this sheet metal crinkle finish brute is the first I see the white gloves!
What you saw WAS a beautifully hand crafted antique (kind of) weapon.
It's a one off - even using cheap materials it's mind bogglingly expensive to make a prototype - to make something that fires full auto at all is an achievement beyond the scope of hand crafted single shot crap with chequering and gold plating BS.
Think of a Ford Fiesta.
Make one and it would be hand made and the price of a Ferrari (more expensive - a lot of Ferrari parts are hand made because mass producing things costs millions...spread over the production run). Make millions and an ordinary person can afford one.
Even with a crackle finish there are lots of exposed parts that need protecting from human touch - it's a one off and the aim is to conserve it FOREVER, not have fingerprints that would need cleaning off (friction and/or chemical cleaning - both eroding the metal).
It may not be pretty but it's unique.
@@pd4165 do you think he read your reply?
Universate I don’t know if he did, but it’s not that long
LOL
Ian doesn't want to cut his fingers on the crude finish.
Barrel is offset for two reasons:
1) to line the sights up with the eye with such a large, wide stock
2) so that recoil is in line with the longitudinal center of mass that is effected by the magazine on the side. This should negate the tendency of the gun to 'climb' to the right under recoil. My opinion is that if you were to place a half-loaded magazine in the gun, you could balance the weapon on its muzzle.
Could be... but I’d point out that if a design for a SMG offsets the 1) barrel, to fix the 2) sights because of 3) the stock and 4) the magazine, the designer may have forgotten, out of 1, 2, 3 and 4, which is the part a soldier points at the enemy to do the whole “gun” thing the gun is supposed to do. This wasn’t meant for the job of a Bren in WWII, after all.
Honestly, dumb as it may be... I think the barrel was placed there to allow for that jungle carbine bayonet. Why they didn't make the gun narrower (or literally any other solution) is beyond me
built in Kentucky windage is what it is
Sterling SMG on "Very low" graphics settings
This comment is seriously underappreciated
So the Empire contracted Sterling for their E-11 blasters
No wonder stormtroopers cant hit anything.
They should have kept the knifes xD
@@Shakezulla WWII not WWI
@@simonh6371 well the Lewis is also in the original, that gun was used in WW1
@@Stefan-Astro-Art The C96 is in there as well (Han Solo's blaster), it was used in WW1 I believe.
*Sees thumbnail*
Attachment unlock: Dual Bayonet
Description: Increase melee range by 75%.
"What better than a one bayonet. TWO BAYONET. One for you and one for your MOTHER!" - Random Japanese guy
Hahahahahahah!
got me
Sound like the description of a borderland gun
michal wilk true
@@michalwilk4748 Bandit SMGs happen to generate with TWO bayonets
The finish is blistering my eyes.
But I can see how it'd be good for keeping grippy when you drop it on the floor of the Vaseline factory.
Need the added grip after all the blood from the dual bayonets...😉
Nick Shabazz would be proud.
"They had an excellent reputation." Come on you missed an easy Sterling reputation there.
2 Bayonets on an SMG
2 Taps on a sink
BRITISH ENGINEERING 🇬🇧
Except 2 taps makes sense one hot, one cold. At least to me but I'm British so...
@@Dom-J 2 taps makes sense in every way possible, this man's joke was just stupid and braindead as a pebble
@@Dom-J What do you do when you want to run water that isn't either ice cold or scalding hot?
Me, an American, I just turn on the hot a little and the cold a little and get warm water to wash my hands in. Ahh, the luxury of not being in the UK. I can wash my hands in water that's exactly the temperature I want, among other things.
@@immikeurnot You turn both taps on at once. Sounds silly but you use the amount of each to sort the temperature. Like lots of hot + some cold = hot water that's good for washing hands in. To you this may sound ludicrous to you, but I have never had issues with it.
German here and we have them too sometime, i prefer them, then again we also love to drive stick/manual so....
I would guess that the offset barrel was there to accommodate the bayonet.
I suspect that it is there to reduce the angle/distance between the magazine lips and the chamber. They need a substantial bolt to keep the chamber closed for blowback, and therefore needed the width, but a central chamber would have made feeding problematic. I can see the sense in what they were trying to do - keep the angle the same as the L2A1
Paul C
That was my first belive, but if you want a heavier bolt there are 2 way wider or longer.
Adding one inch in length would have cure asymmetrical.....
Who knows..
@@paulc2886 maybe it is to balance the gun against the magazine
my guess is that it was designed by a committee....
Sounds possible
Can't lie, I watched because of dual bayonets. Solid clickbait thumbnail Ian Lol
Well, it has two mounts for bayonets. Gotta admit that's pretty weird.
Same
Somebody discovered LSD earlier than the other gun engineers.
“Barrel in line with grip, sights in line with barrel... it’s a _prison,_ Procurement Man! _Free your mind!!”_
I had an impressive stoppage with a Sterling once when a round lodged itself sideways across the breech. I've no idea if this was common but I was impressed.
“But with S11’s Dual-Bayonet System®, you’re fully prepared, as your single stopped weapon becomes two swords at once!”
It wasn't that uncommon in the British Army. For training purposes, some 9mm was bought from India or Pakistan. It was known to be substandard but very cheap. Inconsistent powder in the cartridges caused these weak ejections. The Radway Green ammo didn't have this problem. I'm also glad that the L2A3 was adopted and not this hedgehog version!
Two bayonets...for making the enemy more deaderer
Deadier?
Deadester
Is it like multi bladed razors?
For even fillets!
The deadest
"... the guy behind the design of the SAR-80 rifles"
"uh oh"
SAR-80, not SA-80. I don't know if the SAR-80 rifle is bad, but I suspect it's fine since it's basically just an AR-18 variant as far as I can tell. Waters was NOT involved in the atrocity that was the SA-80 (the bullpup that doesn't work).
@@neruneri Well, at least the A2 variant of it is fairly good
@@TrueFlameslinger thanks hk
@@AleK0451 They funny thing is, while HK fixed the guns issues, they really didn't change that much. Most of their improvements simply involved changing alloys or heat treatments for parts that failed, or making extremely small adjustments. The A1 was almost a really good gun, they just couldn't quite figure out how to fine tune it. The core design works just fine
@@danbell3827 i know, it's a nato gun so in theory it would literally just be a bullpup ar15 or something along those lines which as long as it isn't literally a converted bullpup ar15 should work fine, they just had no idea what materials to use and how to make those small adjustments
"Oh no, the MP5 threatens our market! Clearly, the response to this new premium firearm that threatens our market is an esoteric uzi clone!
The engineers of this gun be like: "There's something wrong with those firearms out there ya know, they're way too symmetrical!"
It is a privilege being able to view these treasures alongside your outstanding knowledge of the machining and history associated with each design. Thank you so much for putting this series at such a high quality standard and for everything you do for this artform.
Sterling S-11: **exists**
Japanese Soldier: **HEAVY BREATHING**
* burithingu
An English SMG with unexplained and pointless design choices? It must have secretly been built in Birmingham
What makes you say that 😂
I'd say it has a point. Two of them, in fact.
It’s sad how accurate this is.
Oh cool! Didn't realize Ian was looking at a BlasTech E-11 with optional expanded tibanna gas canister!
And option for ewok (low) or wookie (high) bayonets
As a British soldier serving in the Gulf war and equipped with the Sterling SMG, I was approached by a US marine who offered a straight swap for his m16 because he recognised it from star wars, obviously I had to decline...we in the British military are far too professional to do that sort of thing! It made me laugh though
It’s nice to see a company actually kill a project rather than forge ahead with a terrible idea that is bound to be a failure.
*stares in zip.22*
I did my work experience at the Leeds Royal Armouries, the amount of guns they have in storage is unbelievable.
@@ejmuerterisefromthedead8924 some very unique and rare stuff but also rack after rack of Lee Enfield SMLE's. Some interesting walking stick guns if i remember correctly. Way too many to have o display. Worth a visit if you get a chance.
Reminds me of when you see that truck that someone decided to cover in bed-liner.
Yeah, and goes down the road crooked and only runs on 5 cylinders lol
Hey, that's pretty impressive for a four cylinder engine!
Star Wars imperial blaster
I can't help but think that most submachineguns of the time look so antiquated in comparison to the MP5.
The Germans, Russians, and Americans have always been big on innovation. The germans are the only ones constantly innovating and actually developing new concepts. Which is why everyone loves them with their guns.
To be fair smgs are not nearly as adequate for purpose as they used to be.
PDWS with fancy ammo and assault rifles take their place.
They’re still cool but they’re a innovative dead end(for now)
MP5 just looks fancier than most SMGs of the time because it's basically a scaled down G3.
@@alexanderstrickland9036 that does make sense. SMG's were phased out by assault rifles.
@@coolsenjoyer right. A more advanced system on a more simple firearm. That's kinda what a PDW is.
I used the old Stirling on operations and it never let me down, I liked it. It could be a little dodgy on the safety side. I even fired it at Bisley with some success.
Probably the best researched, presented and narrated series on UA-cam. Full of interest, even if one lives in places like the UK where firearms are such a maligned engineering/historical/sporting topic. And a masterful presenter. Never a bad episode. Great stuff! Thank you.
Gun Jesus has brought us another strange firearm. Blessed be this gun
🙏
Definitely looks cursed.
#thoughtsandprayers
Nah, man, this gun went straight to gun hell, where the only rounds are blanks!
British Military: Mum, can we get an MP5?
Sterling: No, we have an SMG at home
The SMG at home:
Like when I asked my dad for a skateboard when I was a kid and he offered to take the handle off my scooter lol
@@LowEndMarauder Well, it worked on Back to the Future, so your dad is not 100% wrong, stonks
@@isaacdepaula2103 haha thats very true I forgot about that scene
The empire likes them so they must be good
@Judge Dredd ok boomer
Once the MP5 came out, what else could Sterling have produced? Ah, ours has two bayonets!
This wonderful trainwreck of a gun reminds me of the line "Just because you're unique doesn't mean you're useful"
Damn. He click baited me with that thumbnail, I wanted to see this puppy with bayonets on it.
so you claim got clickbaited and then you didn't watch it?
J C ????? I watched the whole thing. I was just sad to not see the bayonet on the gun.
Put both bayonets on at the same time!
Looks like he did that in the thumbnail
I wish we had a full size picture of it. :(
@@jacobbrown1407 That's illegal
@@BleedingUranium Probably is one over on forgottenweapons.com
Sounds like mid-60’s British industrial design. The goal was to build a competitor to an elegant competitor, by cheapening an excellent design we, Sterling, already produce.
So well take design elements from all sorts of places, with little thought to unity of design though, apparently from a committee of blokes walking by the conference room. They took design elements from the UZI and Mac-10, stuff in their own shop, etc. Someone with pull had to think the charging handle needed to be mounted so as to accommodate right and left hand.
Its like the Morris Marina or Reliant Robin of British SMGs
Unfortunately very much a st5aple of British engineering. When we get it right it's generally two blokes in a shed or a single person leading the way. When we get it wrong it's usually because a comittee was involved and they didn't understand the concept of "Cheap, fast, good. Pick two" but insisted it had to be possible to have all three.
MrGrimsmith understood, but I think the Brits often add.... odd or weird.
iatsd; wait, US vehicles of the 1960’s weren’t bad, now the 70’s were absolutely unadulterated, crap.
I bet one guy designed the magazine well and other the receiver. When they found out the magazine wouldnt feed with the barrel in the centre they said bolliocks and just bodged it.
8:35 from this perspective, i get the feeling the double bayonet feature was the main cause of the barrel offset...
Or maybe it has something to do with the feed mechanism?
@@pjnoonan1423 Thats what I was thinking. Maybe with the form factor they wanted, the weight they needed on the bolt, they couldnt make the receiver thinner so, to use the Patchet magazine with that thick a receiver they had to offset the barrel? Thats like one of the only reasons I could think of, and its very likely false, I just cant think of why else.
I bet the S11 stands for "SHit, it's 11 PM and I've to turn in the design tomorrow!"
I like the unique action of the stock. Seems pretty solid and doesn't almost catch on the weapon like others that swing from under.
"Hey, You know how to reckognize a british sordier?
Yeah. WW2 ended, and they still have magazines standing horizontaly."
Hey it works for the Gurkhas.
Hey, if you're under fire and want to get REALLY down in the dirt.... don't knock it - it really works well (the Stirling SMG, not this thing!).
Thats true, ive wondered about this for quite some time but i think ian told the basic benefits to where the magazine is: topfeed is for better reliability (but the magazine gets in the way of the sights), side feed good for easily getting as low on the ground as possible (but ofcourse the guns center of gravity is quite shifted to the side) and then bottom feed which gives you a gun which has the center of gravity in the middle but it does get in the way when going prone and has a little less reliability
@@jackaubrey8614 so does a kalash and its infinitely more functional than the hot garbage that was the sterling
@@naeemsarwarmirza835 right? Why didn’t those dummies in WWII just use m16’s?!??
I know 4 out of 5 bond villains preferred the sterling smg in its day
Bond fired a Sterling in more than one film.
That and Calypso handguns (They're absurd US guns, look into it you'll love it)
@@nicholasbreecher9315 Maybe you mean Calico? No such thing as a Calypso gun...
Sten was in Dr. No.
The sten was designed with clandestine manufacturing in mind.It specifically used machining and components in it's design so it could be made by unskilled workers in any basic tool shop such a mechanics garage,plumbing shop, carpentry shop etc.
"Cheap, reliable, lightweight, and incredibly fast reload speeds. Tediore makes an easy to use gun!"
Absolutely beautiful. So primitive yet elegant in design.
no wonder the Empire liked it so much.... even Darth sideous and Vader bought the design for ther E-11
UZI?
Glock?
PM63?
Sten Gun?
2 Bayonets?
Yes all in one.
Metal Gear?
@@AreGeeBee No, a weapon to surpass even that...
Your display picture...aint that the dude who shot himself?
I love how guns are meant to be taken apart so we can see how they work, even rare experimental ones, unlike most modern products
That’s because you can sell the average person a vacuum that they’ll never have the know how or need to open but you’d be one brave SOB to try and sell the military a gun they can’t fix
Further enhancements include an attachment point for a Zip-22 and a single-shot Gyrojet launcher that mounts to the side opposite the magazine. The buttstock will have a slot on either side, depending on whether or not they want it to carry chopsticks or a spork, and a choice of two oil bottles, depending on whether they want one filled with soy sauce or Worchestershire sauce (under no circumstances is actual oil or yankee Tobasco sauce to be placed in this bottle). The sights will be offset even further to allow a GI angle-head flashlight to be mounted on top (but only the opaque white lens will be authorized for use).
I suspect that the offset barrel allowed the operator to partially break down the weapon and insert a hot dog or tamale into the frame recess in front of the bolt / rear barrel mounting bulkhead allowing the gunman to heat his lunch during combat.
It was hotdogs, everyone knows hotdog grease is as good as gun oil.
The off center barrel may be to keep the spacing from the magazine the same as the standard sterling.
Galactic empire wants to know your location
Is this gun the base for star wars blasters?
Ikr. It looks so much like the Stormtrooper rifle from Star Wars.
@@99thJediWarrior Close, Lucas used the L2A1 Stirling as the base for the Blastech E-11. If you check the weapons used in Star Wars you'll recognize a lot of actual firearms being used. Lucas did it to give the blasters an air of being real and well used. Which works well in my opinion.
@@michaelfodor6280 Yea I remember that the MG34 (or 42) was used for Chewbacca's rifle from Empire Strikes Back (not the bowcaster)and I think it was used for the bigger blasters that the Stormtroopers used. You can tell from the stock and grip on it as well.
It would be cool to see this as the new blaster
All it needs now it a cup holder and it will be perfect.
Have one made to fit the bayonet assembly.
Love the way the stock unfolds on this, I’m not gonna lie.
"Gee Nigel, why does your mom let you have TWO bayonets?"
Two bayonets? I'll take two for dual wielding and opening my mail!
Reminds me of the "Pipe" weapons in Fallout 4, not sure what to make of that...
Anyway, fun video as usual :-)
This at least looks like the rounds don't have to go round a 90 degree bend from the mag to the chamber.
@T-Jay I stayed away from from 76 so I'll take your word for it :-)
Funny how many old and experimental guns looks right at home in Fallout.
@@WeDontTalkAboutJosh There is that as well :-)
The visual design of the weapons of the new fallouts is quite cool, at least. As long as you ignore the mods and the rationale behind them.
@T-Jay That works as well :-)
Two bayonets? Seemed like a sharp idea, I guess.
you really cut to the heart of the matter.
I see your points
Does this rlly cut it though
Ba dum tsssss
Fascinating walk through. 👍
What a beauty-thanks for all your great content Ian
Looks like something only a mother would love.
Well each to their own but the gun's aesthetics look perfectly fine imo and pleasingly modern for the mid 60's.
....It just didn't _work_ (well) that's all!
...some mothers drown their kids, this is a perfect example of why.
Now the important question:
Can you mount both bayonets at the same time? For... tactical reasons.
DarkestVampire92 reference thumbnail
I see no why you can't.
British engineering at its worst :/ its embarrassing to compare this to the H&K MP5
But can an MP5 mount 2 bayonets dear boy?
@@MattThornton87 lol, I don't know any other firearm that can
Personally, I think it's beautiful. The bayonet is a nice touch for those who have the stones to banzai charge when there are no other options left.
It was cheap tho - thats the point.
@@VCYT so many good cheap stamped smgs. this one is shit regardless.
The handle is in the middle, so it will not really change the ballance, but it will change the recoil ballance. The magazine to the left will will rotate the barrel to the right during recoil. Most of the weight of the gun is to the right of the barrel to balance the gun more when accelerating backwards during recoil.
“What about a bayonet?”
“You’ve already had it!”
“We’ve had one, yes. What about second bayonet?”
“I don’t think he knows about second bayonet, Pip.”
The barrel could possibly be offset to aid in more reliable feeding from the magazine seeing as it is off set to the side of the magazine. That and likely wanting a clearer sight picture probably contributed to the off set barrel. Edit- also can you use two bayonets at once?
No reason why you can't.
@@smittysmith6173 Perfect answer, sir. Just perfect.
Possibly so, the breech block has to be a certain mass for the blow back action. If the barrel was central the block would have to be longer or taller to maintain the same proximity in the feed and taller would compromise the basic round return spring design.
Sadly, the multiple bayonets were probably just to evaluate the options on the prototype.
Old episodes remind me of the before times ..better content than the history channel these days...
Old? This is from 2019
Affix bayonets!
Do it again!
One of the best channels on youtube
The reason why its off centre is to reduce the magazine to barrel breech jump distance that had caused feed issues on the Sten . Sterling survived on the SMG and the AR 18 / AR180 rifle ( another pressed metal design in black wrinkle high temperature paint ) eventually closing the Dagenham plant in the 80 s after the failure of the 9mm /38 dual calibre revolver they hoped would be adopted by the UK police forces and change in UK legislation for civilian ownership of semi auto rifles , although the AR180 was notably absent from our ranges before then . Frank went on to produce high quality air rifles in a unit not far from the original works in Rainham Road .
*Gun Jesus:* _"It's a donkey in a thoroughbred race."_
*Me:* D U A L B A Y O N E T
Legend says you can put a bayonet on the stock.
Might I remind you, good sir, that my great-great-grandfather successfully homesteaded 160 acres whilst riding on a donkey during the Great Oklahoma Land Rush. A donkey may not be the pinnacle of performance; however, it is still incredibly capable overall!
It was the M4 medium of its day!
Donkeys are incredibly strong animals, especially for their size. One donkey can pull over 3 tons of stuff. That's a lot of performance from such an unassuming, small animal.
You never told us to begin with so how can you remind us
Nice unique piece. I personally find the single reason to ofset the barrel is to allow them to add mass to the bolt without extending it in length. For the open bolt fire machine guns is very tricky to find the best balance. The bolt mass provide the inertia, spring load provide static force to hold the bolt closed in the moment cartridge goes off.
It needs three bayonets. And gosh thank you for these vids. So enjoyable and relaxing
People mock the double bayonet but we’re the nation that turned the word glass into a verb... I wouldn’t want us having one let alone two 😂😂😂
Maybe I should cork it, just so you don't put both eyes out.
Australia actually beat the british at verb-ising "glass" by several weeks. It's actually a national holiday (except in WA).
"Still not enough stab"- Finland 1944
Imagine an alternate universe where this replaced the sterling.
Okay, and I see the UK is having a civil war but all of their guns keep breaking. Damn, why you ask me to imagine that!?
I have an idea about why the gun appears to be offset to the left inside the receiver.
Since it's a straight blow back operating system, it may have been an attempt to add mass to the bolt in the least offending direction. That may have been the best way to keep the bolt short or smaller in every other dimension???
The offset sights were for more comfort during shooting. You can negate the pull the magazine causes. Dual bayonetes are for right and left shooters. So you can create momentum with the weight of the gun during use.