Sten vs Thompson vs Mp40 vs PPSH 41 which is best and why?

Question

Sten vs Thompson vs Mp40 vs PPSH 41 which is best and why?

Answer 1

Well, YA refuses to do a "Gun" topic area, but you may want to repost this in "hunting", where the firearms experts hang out. As the best designed for its use, I like the PPSH, with light recoil & hi-cap magazine, and the Russian assault troops used twice as many as any other burp gun. The STEN is the cheapest, not too accurate, heavy for it's size, and that horizontal mag is weird. MP-40 is a stamped redo of the MP-38, same size magazine and cartridge as the STEN. If you offered to give me one of those four, I would take the Thompson, a Cadillac of detailed machining in steel and walnut, shooting a big .45 caliber round. Sub-guns in the military are meant to be easy to manufacture and use, mainly as a bullet hose to keep the enemy ducking while you advance. The PPSH is my pick, and you can buy a semi-auto long barrel clone, so it's still being made 65 years later. Check the links.

Answer 2

Thompson were notoriously unreliable and would often just stop working. The sten gun was and still is a simple piece of machinery. Drum magazines were clumsy and a lot of space was needed to carry ammunition if more than one drum was ever required. Magazines on a Sten took up less space and were easier to load when empty. Not sure how many round a drum took but the stick magazine took twenty five as a maximum.

Answer 3

You ask which is best but by what criteria?



If you look at simplicity, the sten has few moving parts, a very simple action and was easy to repair in the field. A lot of other weapons are based on the same sort of simple action. You can even download plans to build a working copy of one with little or no mechanical aptitude or workshop facility. But on the downside, the sten climbed upwards when fired and was limited in range and accuracy.



For looks, style and sheer popularity, it has to be the Tommy Gun. Thanks to Al Capone etc, these are well known worldwide. I believe you can still get them new in semi auto. Throw a drum magazine on them and they look very cool and rather intimidating.



I don't know a lot about the other 2, but if I had to pick, the Thompson in .45ACP with removable stock and drum magazine would be my choice.

Answer 4

I prefer the Thompson or the MP-40. While the 7.62x25mm is a great round, and I would love a Tokarev pistol, I don't put a lot of faith in drum magazines. I know, the Thompson uses drums too, but they also use stick mags too. The Sten is a good gun for what it is, a cheap subgun to arm large quantities of soldiers and partisans. Plus, the placement of the mag is counter to every other gun you probably have ever seen or used. Besides, I grew up reading Sgt. Rock comics, and I like the old gangster movies. If I were armed with one, my battle cry would have to be "It's curtains, Rocco!"

Answer 5

How about 'None of the above', and choose the Owen Gun instead? Australian and little known, but robust, useful, and with a magazine feeding reliably downwards from on top.