Pren Gun
Tentara Genie Pelajar (TGP) · Submachine Gun · Discontinued · 1948
Also known as: Pren-gun, TGP Sten
Overview
The Pren Gun is an Indonesian submachine gun, a locally manufactured copy of the British Sten Mk II built by student combat-engineer forces during the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949). Produced at a clandestine small-arms workshop in Tirtomoyo, Wonogiri Regency, by the Surakarta-based Tentara Genie Pelajar (TGP, 'Student Soldiers Combat Engineers'), it retained the Sten's simple blowback, open-bolt action and side-mounted 32-round magazine feeding the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge, while adding a wire skeleton stock and an additional flash hider. Its name is a portmanteau of its designer, a student named Pranggono, and the Sten gun on which it was based. The same facility also produced grenades, mortars and incendiary devices for republican fighters.
Specifications
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Open Bolt |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 32 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 365 m/s (1198 fps) |
| Effective Range | 100 m (109 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 500 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Steel |
Calibers
- 9x19mm Parabellum · primary · 9mm NATO — also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic, Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety Slot
- Features: Side Mounted Magazine, Wire Skeleton Stock, Flash Hider, Open Bolt Operation, Clandestine Manufacture
Service history
Operators
- Tentara Genie Pelajar · adopted 1948
Conflicts
- Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949)
Production
Production years: 1948-1949
Small-scale clandestine production at the Tirtomoyo (Wonogiri) workshop; exact numbers unrecorded.
Origin
Country of origin: Indonesia
Designer: Pranggono
Discontinued: 1949
Notes
Exact physical dimensions of the Pren Gun are undocumented; the weapon closely followed the Sten Mk II pattern. The Tirtomoyo workshop was one of several improvised Indonesian arms shops operating during the 1945-1949 independence struggle.
Background
The Pren Gun was born in a hidden workshop in the hills of Tirtomoyo, where teenaged engineering students of the Tentara Genie Pelajar hand-built Sten copies to arm the republican resistance against returning Dutch forces. Its name fuses that of its student designer, Pranggono, with the Sten it imitated.