Yes, the design is a wee bit dated by modern SMG standards, and made even more obsolete by the modern uber-short rifle caliber weapons that abound, offering greater range and striking power than any pistol-caliber SMG or carbine. Still, for those who have to a a reason for owning a cool firearm, consider that unless you are willing to go through all the BATFE red tape (and unless your state and local authorities allow for it), you're not going to get the real short barreled rifles anyway, unless it's one of the stockless "pistol" models. Even then, once you get to the range you, your friends, other shooters on the line, and probably the range master will be at best impressed and at worst annoyed with the extremely loud report and giant fireball muzzle flash you generally get from shooting rifle rounds in a short barrel. Now, it's the middle of the night and you're facing an armed intruder in your domicile. Can you say "flash-bang?" That same cannonesque report and big ol' fireball will deafen and blind you. Introducing a new or timid shooter to the fun? How about getting other members of your household up to speed on handling the piece? The lower "boom" and very limited recoil of a pistol caliber carbine might intimidate them far less and make the whole thing a lot more fun. That's just something to consider if, you know, you just have to have a reason for adding a cool gun to your collection.
In November of 2010 I picked up a neat 9mm carbine marketed by Century Arms, and built on a Sterling Mk4 L2A3 parts kit. Wiselite made the receiver tube to replace the one butchered ... er, I mean torch cut to legal specifications per BATFE regs. The bolt, firing pin, and trigger group have been modified to make the weapon fire from a closed bolt (bolt sits closed, firing pin cocked prior to being fired). The original Sterling SMG fired from an open bolt (bolt stayed back when cocked, fixed firing pin, pulling the trigger released the bolt which loaded a new round and fired it upon closing). Semi Auto open bolt firearms were determined to be too easy to convert to full auto and now even a semi-auto open bolt gun will fall under the National Firearms Act (NFA) like its full auto brethren. So, they took a lovely original Sterling SMG that had been [shudder] torch cut to make it "just a parts kit," and rebuilt it as a semi-automatic carbine. Oh, they had to add a 16 inch barrel as well since they left on the folding stock. Otherwise it would be a short barreled rifle (SBR) and that, too, would require NFA paperwork, an expensive tax stamp, approval of the local authorities, etc, etc. As it is, the new semi-auto carbine is just like any other rifle (at least so long as the Obama gun grabbers leave it the heck alone). It takes the standard 34 round Sterling magazines (of which there are a few variations). They vary in price. When I got mine the prices were from a low of $25 (huge retailer) to a more standard of $40 (typical gun shop). Supposedly the weapon will work with the much cheaper STEN mags of which about a bajillion were floating around the markets until recently. The STEN mag, however, is notoriously unreliable and feeds with the cartridges in a different position than with the Sterling which replaced it. I have no personal experience with STEN mags in a Sterling but those that do tell me they will work ... sometimes ... maybe ... in theory. Stick to Sterling mags.
I have fired mine a a few different range trips, with different ammo. So far I haven't found any ammo it doesn't like, except some cheap re-manufactured stuff that seemed to have either really hard primers or substandard primers with iffy ignition. Either way, any round that failed to fire would eventually fire if I ran it back through the weapon after the obligatory wait to be sure it didn't "cook off" later. The initial hits showed very light strikes on the primers but I did not notice this problem with new factory ammo.
Initially I was disappointed in the regulation of the sights. Rounds were striking at least two feet high at 25 yards, though they were well centered and clustered tightly. T'was then I discovered I had the 200 yard rear aperture selected. After uttering my usual litany against self-initiated silly mistakes (this litany has been known to wilt grass, kill birds in flight, and earn me stern, offended glares from bikers), I flipped the rear sight so the other, 100 yard aperture was up and resumed shooting. Groups were then down where I wanted them to be, pretty much right over the top of the front sight post at 25 yards. Methinks, were one so inclined, minute-of-squirrel or half-minute-of-rabbit groups could be managed (check your state regs for magazine limits). While ear protection is mandatory and hearing damage will occur if you shoot this firearm without any, report is not blasting like with rifle caliber carbines. Recoil was negligible. Everyone who has fired this weapon, including some recoil sensitive folks, report it being fun to shoot.
Now the downside: The magazine, as I mentioned, goes in the housing in the left side of the receiver, parallel to the ground. With a left support hand on the cooling jacket, the magazine lies gently along the left forearm and this helps make the weapon rock steady even in tuck-the-stock point shooting. Also, the very comfortable grip is at about the perfect angle for a natural hold and at least with my hand, my right thumb is in place to quite comfortably flip the safety selector on the left side top of the grip. How is these bad things, you ask? Well, notice I said my right thumb is in the perfect position to activate the safety. Notice I said the magazine lies comfortably along the left support forearm. This is a very right-handed weapon. I, you might have gathered from previous posts, am more of a left-handed shooter. Yes, yes, I have shot my Sterling left handed, and ran some drills with it held thusly. It works, but without the left forearm being used for support, that heavy magazine tends to make the weapon want to rotate a bit counter clockwise while being held and the balance, though still nice, is a wee bit off. So, I willingly make the concession that I should mostly relegate myself to pretending to be a right handed shooter when using the Sterling. That's not really a big issue, I suppose, though I'd LOVE a mirror image model. Unfortunately, the way things are going now, it looks like we'll be lucky to have any models if the current administration has their way.
So, through some ingenious engineering, Wiselite and Century Arms have given us a nice model of the Sterling that can be owned without any special paperwork and enjoyed by pretty much everyone (even a crusty old left-handed shooter that normally rails against right-hand only guns). Though "dated" it can still be pressed into service and serve well indeed as a home defense gun (though that 16 bbl might make cornering a tad dicey), patrol carbine, or just a handy "woods rifle" (again, check local regs). Mainly, though, it's a heck of a lot of fun to own, handle, and shoot, and is always good for some "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the other folks on the range.
