[borithan]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

The Sten was favored, more because it was low budget than anything else if the wikipedia article is correct

Also could be easily disassembled into comparatively easy to conceal parts. It barely looks like gun as it is... Also so simple that some resistance groups made their own copies.

The Welrod was liked because it was small and also could be taken apart. It also had no manufacturer markings though it is not clear why that mattered. Apparently it could be disguised as something else.

Sometimes known as the "Bicycle pump". Looks nothing like a gun until assembled, and even when done so barely looks like one. In part I wonder if the lack of markings was more down to that ("Why does your allegedly innocent 'tube' have gun maker's marks on it?").

It suspected (but not confirmed) that it has been used since WW2, so it would seem effective for what it was, but that wasn't as really as sidearm (it was an unergonomic "bolt action" pistol), but as an assassination/sentry removal device (ideally used in direct contact with the target).

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Interestingly, the Germans did make a knock-off of the Sten, accurate to the level of copying the inspectors stamps... which seems needlessly complicated (and it's not like they have the excuse of the Khyber Pass gusnmiths who might be supposed to not fully understand the purpose and meaning of the stamps).

I knew the silenced version was well respected by some of the German "special service" guys, and due to its simplicity they copied the standard version right at the end of the war (though with a vertical magazine, rather than the side mounted magazine). Never heard about them copying the inspection stamp though.

Just looked it up, apparently they made direct copies for "clandestine operations" (and they were separate from their last ditch copy), and so wanted them to pass for British weapons. Why they bothered when they had already captured loads of the things I don't know.

The DeLisle is an SOE weapon that gets nothing like enough love - allegedly the quietest functioning firearm ever made (although the GURPS stats I remember seeing for it were more conservative).

I had always thought that was meant to be the Welrod?