Catco STEN ?

[bplvr]

I have found a Catco STEN receiver and trigger housing for sale. These were sold in the late '80's in a semi-auto configuration. There were some major issues with their functioning and they quickly went out of business.They have now become somewhat of a collectors piece . The issue that I have is that they used an original I.D. tube . STEN semi kits now have a reduced tube ID .
There is a Catco for sale on GB today. Are these still ok now ,or are they a headache waiting to happen with that original ID tube ? {tube is stamped "Catco" and has a serial #}
The one that I found could be cut up into a parts kit and built as a reduced tube Semi. , however it would be a shame to destroy a legal Semi STEN.

[straykiller]

i think it would be more trouble than its worth. that being said personally i am not an expert but the tube could be used but you would have to weld a denial bar or pin to keep any unmodified FA parts for going into battery. then it must be changed from its original open bolt design to closed bolt, the original fcg can be used but it must be permanently welded on the semi setting. again im not 100% sure someone correct me if im wrong but that is my understanding.

[wash]

If it's a legal semi and already a firearm, it sounds like it is grandfathered in as a legal semi-auto, kind of like the Steyr FALs that have a safety sear.

As long as you don't obliterate the receiver markings you can probably repair it with a working semi-auto FCG and not have to worry about adding new denial pins or anything like that.

Just make sure it's not a listed "assault weapon" and whatever you build is compliant with the California "assault weapon" ban.

[bplvr]

i think it would be more trouble than its worth. that being said personally i am not an expert but the tube could be used but you would have to weld a denial bar or pin to keep any unmodified FA parts for going into battery. then it must be changed from its original open bolt design to closed bolt, the original fcg can be used but it must be permanently welded on the semi setting. again im not 100% sure someone correct me if im wrong but that is my understanding.

The Catco fired from a closed bolt. They were made in Napa ,Ca. It used 2 sets of springs ,one for the bolt and one for the separate hammer ,which is separate from the bolt when it is in battery. I.O. uses a similar bolt set up now in their Semi STEN kits.

[straykiller]

The Catco fired from a closed bolt. They were made in Napa ,Ca. It used 2 sets of springs ,one for the bolt and one for the separate hammer ,which is separate from the bolt when it is in battery. I.O. uses a similar bolt set up now in their Semi STEN kits.

i know its what im running on my sten. well then it should be fairly easy then since it is already set up for the striker method.

[jamesob]

you could always weld a peice of metal in the reciever and machine the bolt so a fa bolt will not go in it. if you have ever seen a semi auto uzi you will know the piece i am talking about.

[wash]

But why do that if you don't have to?

If it is legal as-is, just figure out how to make it run reliably and you will probably have a valuable gun because of the tube diameter.

Some people like to have guns that are almost machine guns, like people who want open bolt tec-9's, Steyr sear cut FALs and stuff like that.

[Jeepers]

you can build a legal s/a sten with orig id tube, but they have a blocker bar just like the sterlings... on a side note i dont remember catco ever making a semi tube they where sold for f/a builds, personally i would stay away from it unless cut up into a parts kits per current atf regs , lots of info on the sten yahoo group on building legal stens ....

[wash]

If that is the case and it's an NFA item that got loose, don't touch it. I would even stay away from it if it was de-milled, it might be considered destruction of evidence or something.

If it's not, don't destroy it's value for no reason.

[bplvr]

I found this advertisement for the Catco STENs :

[Jeepers]

I found this advertisement for the Catco STENs :

nice thanks i never knew they made a s/a .. if thats the case a simple DROS on the tube should be fine

[saki302]

I saw one of these for sale at a gun show well after the 2K ban, so I assume they're fully legal.

Quality wise it looked like a real POS, and I passed on it. The one I saw seemed to be non functional.

The only issue I'd have with one is if you break parts you can't find replacements. If they did in fact use an original diameter tube, none of the currently made semi internals would fit- you'd have to sleeve the tube to the smaller I.D.- seems like a lot more hassle than it's worth.

-Dave

[tony270]

I had a friend who use to build stens in Nevada back in the old days, POS is right, some of the parts came from shotgun news advertisements, and others from gun shows. The sten's he built had a lot of bugs. After talking to gobs of gun folks he learned how to correctly build, finish, and work the bugs out. The stens that he built came out nice, and when he shot them they sounded like a zipper does when you close it. Pay attention to detail ---burs and templaets---, and it helps to know someone who know how to troubleshoot malfunctions.