First ad-hoc loadout.

[IronCobra85]

So after recieving a bit of money and going against all advice offered in the New Players and Arrivals thread i went ahead and purchased a NE STEN Mk2(S). I also purchased a WE G18C because i had a go with one and just found it incredibly fun (dont judge me haha).

Anyway the STEN is a absolutely lovely but heavy piece of kit. The kick the recoil gives is actually quite a lot more than expected which suprised me. After a bit of faffing around i figured out how to load my one mag with a speed loader i went about setting the bolt stop feature up which added to realism which will add more bonus points in my honest opinion. I have a bit of a kink for historical WW2 weapons and am waiting on the day when a Lee Enfield gets released.

I'd love put together a British WW2 loadout, although maybe not the uniform (the 37 webbing would do), however the Webley having no hop up and being supposedly over 400fps is a no go and the Browning has faults and bad reviews (although supposedly the 2020/2021 one is better). This leaves me with the 1911 as an option which will probably be purchased later rather than sooner.

As you can see from the pics i had to bodge a front sling mount with paracord and a heavy duty key ring but it works and is rock solid. I went with a three point sling as after trying a two point i found it impossible to transition shoulders and with the 3 point its just easier although not as quick as a one point. A one point sling would be pretty impossible with this STEN as it swinging about and catching me in the nuts would absolutely fudging kill.

I recently got a tax rebate and am waiting for the mags to be restocked at AirsoftWorld, once i have a minimum of five i'll take it to a skirmish but until then its just sitting there looking pretty. Ohhh another thing, NE's customer service is exceptional, i had a few problems with the mag and NE are sending me replacements (and spare extra parts for the future) free of charge from Taiwan (hopefully the planned Chinese invasion of Taiwan doesn't happen soon and put a halt to Taiwanese exports) which is some of the best customer service ive experienced. I'll update this thread when i actually field it and give more impressions but as a bit of retail therapy from an absolute shit year of dickhead employers its really cheared me up.

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[Tactical Pith Helmet]

My boy has a Sten that he loves.   WWII games are great fun.  Dont be tempted by cheap Indian repro '37 pattern, it's awful.

As for the Webley, you can get power down shells, or modify the existing shells.  If I remember right you drill the gas ports out.  A mate fields one to good effect.  

 

[IronCobra85]

Ohh nice to know about the Webley.

The only 37 pattern webbing i've looked at so far is the stuff Soldier of Fortune do, i take it the GSE cheaper stuff is the webbing your talking about if were both on the same page with SOF, the Kay Canvas stuff is slightly more expensive. I had a quick look at the Chatham Dock Militaria fare last Sunday and saw a few bits but i think the price for just the original webbing belt on its own was around £50.

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

Yep sorry, '37 Pattern webbing!  Try E-Bay to source it.  Coincidently, I bought a '37 belt and water bottle cover tonight, well used but sound.  £15.75 for the belt and £8 something for the bottle cover.  

I bought the cross-straps for less than a tenner as an unmatched pair and the ammo pouches for less than a tenner each.  About £50 for the whole set up.  If you're feeling energetic you can Blanco them until they match colour wise.  

For battle dress try and find Belgian or Greek 'Ike' pattern.  Other jackets are close but the wool Belgian and Greek are closest to WWII UK.  As cheap as £15, again on E-Bay.  Hungarian Cotton Ike's are even cheaper.   

Militaria fairs are always expensive.  £50 quid is extortionate.  Try Evil Bay or your local militaria shop.  

 

[IronCobra85]

Great advice on the uniforms, ive book marked a few pages as you mentioned the Belgium and Greek stuff and it does look very similiar, i'll take a more indepth look tomorrow when i get up. I'll also have a look at the webbing on ebay too as i only looked for five mins at it on there in the past. Blancoing is not a problem, i was considering doing it to the canvas heat shroud on the suppresor anyway but i was also thinking of just doing a paracord wrap around it as the canvas slightly blocks the front sight and a paracord wrap would be more streamlined although less authentic.

On an unrelated note modern military surplus uniforms were cheap as hell at the militaria fair, i picked up two MTP and Two DPM British surplus shirts for 50p each, two MTP trousers for £5 each and a DPM and MTP windproof jacket for £10 each. It's just the older stuff that is over the top. I was contemplating a T-Stock for the STEN but i can imagine just that piece of steel on its own would of been £50+. Maybe next time.

 

[Druid799]

If your after WW2 kit check out Epic Militaria there a good one to use .

 

[DrAlexanderTobacco]

So after recieving a bit of money and going against all advice offered in the New Players and Arrivals thread i went ahead and purchased a NE STEN Mk2(S). I also purchased a WE G18C because i had a go with one and just found it incredibly fun (dont judge me haha).

No judgement here. People giving advice are doing it from an experience point of view, what works well etc - which is fair enough -  but I think it's easy to forget just how fucking cool your first RIF is. It's so much cooler than every other RIF you get in the future, you'll be impressed far more etc. So with that in mind, and considering you'll definitely get more RIFs in future, why not go for something that's simply fun to use and look at, at first?

Enjoy it! You'll think back fondly in a few years.

 

[Rogerborg]

A Sten as a first RIF is like your first girlfriend being a redheaded stripper called Tiffany.

Sure, your sensible friends will say you're crazy, but secretly they'll be so, so jealous.

 

[Jaylordofwaargh]

A Sten as a first RIF is like your first girlfriend being a redheaded stripper called Tiffany.

Sure, your sensible friends will say you're crazy, but secretly they'll be so, so jealous.

Nailed it.

 

[Badgerlicious]

Well... this went in entirely the wrong thread