A little while back I had a chance to take an Austen MkII out to the range. There were only a couple hundred of these ever made, at the end of World War Two in Australia. The Mk I Austen was essentially a Sten made with some die-cast components, as this was a specialty of the Australian firm contracted to make them. The Mk II pattern increased the number of cast components, but was found unsuitable and also necessary by the end of the war.

Anyway, today's range session was brought to a close by an out-of-battery discharge - always a bit disconcerting!