 It transpired that a potential barrier to the adaption of the Owen gun by the army was the development of the Sten gun in the United Kingdom, which was expected to be available by the end of 1941.Milford advised Owen that the army was prepared to wait for the Sten, unaware that significant compromises had been made to the design of the Sten to facilitate mass production.However, the government, in the form of the Minister for the Army, Percy Spender overruled the decision and placed an order for 100 guns.