Sputter Gun
The Sputter Gun was a prototype test gun using 7 major components from the WW2 era British Sten submachine gun carbine, along with other specially fabricated parts to make a complete operational firearm. It was designed to circumvent the existing U.S. Federal law defining a machine gun. The Sputter Gun, lacking any trigger, was designed to fire multiple rounds automatically, upon release of the bolt from its safety slot, until all ammunition was expended from the magazine.
Sputter Gun
- Name
- Sputter Gun
- Field
- submachine gun
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7581633 · wikipedia · Sputter Gun
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Is Ranged — yes • Name — Sputter Gun • Type — Bicep Braced Machine Pistol • Origin — United States • Design Date — ~1983 • Production Date — Never saw production • Service — None • Used By — None • Wars — None • Part Length — 7.8 inches (197 mm) • Range — 50 yards (46 m) • Cartridge — 9×19mm Parabellum • Action — Blowback-operated, Open bolt • Rate — ~500 round/min • Velocity — 1,200 ft/s (365 m/s) • Feed — 50 or 32-round detachable box magazine
Background
Background
In 1983, the ATF became aware that, William M. York, doing business as York Arms Co., was offering for sale a version of a Mk.II Sten that was capable of fully automatic fire that did not meet the Federal definition as a machine gun. York advertised the “Sputter Gun” (so named by his attorney friend Ron Boutwell) as a firearm for those "who want the fun and excitement of owning and firing a fully automatic firearm without the government tax and red tape." A then employee, Chuck Lanum, of the ATF Firearms Technology Branch (FTB) in Wash. D.C. made a scheduled personal visit to the York Arms Co. in Hurricane, Utah, to inspect and discuss some of the Sten-based firearms the company was manufacturing under their Class 2 FFL issued by the ATF. York had in attendance at this meeting with Lanum both an attorney and a court reporter. During that meeting Lanum offered his opinion that the Sputter Gun might be considered a “machine gun” under Federal law if a person's finger could be considered the “trigger” of the firearm.
Classification
Classification
The Sputter Gun has never been classified or reclassified as a Machine Gun by ATF or any other organization of the Federal Government and thus has never been "outlawed." The US Congress defined a machine gun in the 1934 National Firearms Act...any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. In spite of assertions by ATF or others this legal definition has never been changed by any Ruling or Congress and still stands as Federal law.
Definition
Definition
The following is established of the heading itself. Institutional cataloguing adds that sputter Gun is classified as a submachine gun.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7581633: Sputter Gun
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Sputter Gun”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Scholarly record
The scholarly and documentary record stands as follows.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Sputter Gun, revision 1372726529 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
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References
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References
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Secondary witness
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Connections
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Broader subject
1- submachine gunTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
This entry is compiled from 10 catalogued sources across 6 independent registers. Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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