Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of the iconic Bren Light Machine gun, as used by British forces during WWII. It is constructed from Original British WWII Parts with a BATF complaint non-firing cut and blocked display receiver. 25% of the receiver has been replaced by solid steel bar stock and we have left the torch cuts visible on the other areas of the receiver. Additionally, the barrel has been demilitarized by having steel rod inserted and welded into the chamber and muzzle. The magazine has also been welded into place in the magazine well.

The display gun marked BREN Mk II on the rear receiver over the cocking lever. It is also marked INGLIS / 1943 farther up the receiver, indicating manufacture by the Canadian Firm of John Inglis, who was contracted to make Bren guns by the British Military during WWII after many were lost at Dunkirk. They were first mainly making the MkIm, which had some simplifications to the design, and then later made the MkII, which removed a lot of the faults of the MkI design, while reducing production time.

This display gun has the correct MkII receiver, with a ladder sight attached to the rear, and the correct "high ears" on the front of the gas tube. The butt stock is the simplified version, and the trigger group does not extend beyond the tripod mounting pin. It has the correct all steel MkII barrel mounted permanently to the front.

Overall it is in very nice condition, with much of the original finish present on the original parts. The receiver has been painted stove black, which makes the markings hard to photograph. Pistol grip and butt stock are in solid shape, with a great color and patina of age. This looks like a gun that was out on the battlefield, and then put away after the war, not one that was sold off as surplus. Comes complete with an original 30 round magazine welded in place.

A very attractive display piece for any collection!

The Bren was a licensed version of the Czechoslovak ZGB 33 light machine gun which, in turn, was a modified version of the ZB vz. 26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The later Bren featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine, conical flash hider, and quick change barrel. The name Bren was derived from Brno, the Czechoslovak city in Moravia, where the Zb vz. 26 was designed (in the Zbrojovka Brno Factory) and Enfield, site of the British Royal Small Arms Factory. The designer was Václav Holek, a gun inventor and design engineer.

The Bren was originally very close to the Czech ZB vz 30 in construction, with carefully machined lightening cuts, dovetails, and other precision design elements. However, with the massive loss of arms during the evacuation at Dunkirk, the British Military needed a lot more Bren guns, and fast. Very quickly, a modified MkI Bren, called either the MkIM or MkI*, was introduced, which removed a lot of the bevels and lightening cuts that were machined into the original receiver. The complicated front adjustable bipod was also replaced by one with fixed legs. The extra sight dovetail on the left side was removed completely as well.

However, at the same time the MkI Modified was being developed, plans were already in motion for an even simpler redesign for new production lines that were not already set up to make the MkIM This new design involved a much simpler squared rear receiver, and did away with the complicated dial-driven rear sight. Instead a standard fold-away ladder sight was developed. The rear butt stock was dramatically simplified in design, being more of a slab, and it had a simple bent steel butt plate that screwed directly onto the wood. The MkI had a utilized a stamped "Cup" that snapped into special slots, and had a fold-away shoulder rest.

The most noticeable change to the layman however would be the new barrel. gone was the long stainless steel barrel shroud and flash hider that extended to the gas regulator. Instead, the flash hider was now pressed onto the end of the barrel, and was only about 3 inches long in total, with the front sight another piece that was pressed on. All of these changes together dramatically sped up production.