Watch: Viper Mark I One-Handed Sten Gun

Here’s a weird sort of concept gun. In the wake of World War 2, the winners of the war were preparing for the costly and labor-intensive task of prolonged occupation of conquered Germany. The UK conjured up a number of unusual submachinegun designs intended to be used by their MP forces in West Germany, but none of the “Viper” family were ever officially adopted.

This one is based on a Sten gun, full-auto-only, and meant to be fired with just one hand. Oh, and it has no sights nor trigger guard; this is clearly meant for a close-quarters rumble. Or in the words of my late father, “The only time this gun is useful is if you’re in a room full of people and you want to kill them all.”

Designers took the already-primitive Sten gun design and simplified it even more, put it inside a wooden housing, equipped it with a 20-round detachable box magazine that is inserted in the left side of the gun, and added a simple rope sling for carrying the gun slung over one shoulder. It’s mean to be a sort of “armpit carry.”

Inside, we see just how simple it really is. The most-complicated parts here seem to be the two halves of the wooden housing! And you can still see the scribed layout marks on the interior of the wood.

It’s certainly a one-of-a-kind gun, and really cool as well.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.