thumb|220px|An Australian paratrooper from the Parachute Battalion Training Centre armed with an Austen Mark 1 submachine gun.

The Austen (from "Australian Sten") is a 9×19mm Australian submachine gun derived from the British Sten gun developed during the Second World War. In total 19,914 Austens were produced during the war by Diecasters Ltd of Melbourne and W. T. Carmichael Ltd of Sydney.

Design and development

With the war in Europe demanding most of the available materiel for the British, Australia was not in a position to purchase weapons from the United Kingdom or the United States, and so they had to develop their own submachine guns. The British Sten submachine gun was taken as the basis for the Austen. The barrel, body (receiver) and trigger mechanism of the Mark II Sten were copied, while the folding stock and bolt, with separate firing pin and telescopic cover over the return spring, were copied from the German MP40.

A second version, the Mark II Austen, was developed during 1942 and 200 were manufactured by the end of the year for trials. By January 1943 Mk.II guns had undergone routine testing and an order for 200 XP MK.II guns at a cost of £5 each was placed on the 8th of February 1943 for operational testing and user reports. This model made even more extensive use of diecasting; the large grip assemblies at both the front and back of the gun were produced in this way. According to Ian McCollum the Mk.II was not ready until 1946, after the end of the Second World War. Two hundred examples were built, and these were both adopted and declared obsolete in August 1946.

The Austen never achieved the level of popularity that the Owen gun achieved.

Users

Notes

References

  • Skennerton, Ian. (1994). Small Arms Identification: 9mm Austen MkI and 9mm Owen MkI Sub-Machine Guns - Parts Identification and Lists, S.M.G.Series Notes, Exploded Parts Drawings, Descriptions, Accessories and Fittings. Published by Ian D Skennerton.
  • McNab, Chris. (2001). Twentieth-Century Small Arms. Grange Books. .
  • Allied Weapons of WW2
  • Jungle camo spray-painted Austen