Be welcome in any collection I would think.
Be welcome in any collection I would think.
This prompted me to go back to some of my old books for a couple of 'Bren' quotes : -
' The Bren is spoken of with affection by every British soldier who used one, and with good reason...' ( Ian V. Hogg, Encyclopaedia Of Infantry Weapons Of WWII, 1977 )
' ..there is no quicker way of being thrown out of a British Army Veterans meeting than to suggest that the Lee Enfield could not shoot straight. Try suggesting that the Bren was not a good gun and you risk having your teeth rammed down your throat as well.' ( John Weeks, Infantry Weapons, 1971 ).
I was very fortunate to get an Enfield 1943 Bren Mk1* spare barrel at a very reasonable price for my own set up earlier this year, but now they are almost impossible to get. The only thing I do not have is the box.
I joined the regulars in 1969 - just two days after my 17th birthday which was on January 1st. I never told anyone I had been in the Army Cadets for the best part of six years - and had actually ended up an instructor - it never did to brag in the army though. I was sent to Woolwich barracks to do my training, and I remember one particular day when we were being taught how to strip a Bren - it was an old DP Mk1 - live weapons were rarely used for instructional purposes. I was bored to tears and must have nodded off. The next thing I knew was that the Bombardier was bawling at me and dragged me out to the front of the class and told me: 'Seeing as you don't need me to show you, perhaps you would be so kind as to take over the lesson and show the rest of the class how to strip the gun.' I got up and went over to the gun, stripped it and reassembled it in the blink of an eye... and the instructor was gob-smacked!
I have many happy memories of using that beautiful gun.
Cheers,
Steve
I’ll take a punt that it has MA52 on the left side, has many MA, BA and SLAZ marked parts. I’d also guess it was deactivated by Ryton Arms and was purchased from Witham SV. I purchased a few from the same batch.
I actually engaged targets with an L4 7.62mm Bren. It did the job very nicely!
Well, I've just been over it with a magnifying glass and it has no 'MA52', BA or SLAZ marks visible ( I haven't field-stripped it ). There's one MA stamp. almost hidden under the front sling swivel. Then there are the Birminham deact mark, two Broad Arrows, plus 'N2714' on several parts ( barrel, receiver, change lever ) which corresponds to the number on the deact cert from Ryton's. The same number is on the transit case.
And yes, Paul Southerington said 'go and sort yourself out a nice Bren'. So I did !
It’s one of the Lithgow FTR guns, these were some of the nicest guns on the market as they were near new. The barrel and Bipod are of Lithgow production, the bipod being called the Mk3.
I picked up quite a few of these from Rytons (I think about 20 in total) a couple of Vickers and an Enfield Rifle. I still have the Vickers and Enfield but only about 10 of the Brens now. I tried to buy one of each version but missed out on the single digit guns the had. I did end up with one variation that is thought to be the only one in existence and that the Lithgow museum didn’t even know they had produced.
Well, sometimes you have to wait a little while.....another Forum member gave me a heads-up that a well-known UK arms retailer is closing down in a few days. Their 'clearance stock' includes some spare Bren barrels ; the price was very fair so I duly ordered one ( well, it's only 25 years since I bought my Bren ). It's just arrived, and a rather nice hefty item it is too. I now have every Bren item that I 'need' (a tripod and drum magazine doesn't fit that category).....
Nice to see it all complete! I see you also got yourself a: 'TOOL FOULING BREN MK.1', so I'll repeat the offer to anyone else who might be in need of one. PM me if you would like a freebie for your Bren collection.
Cheers,
Steve
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