Bren or BAR.

Bren for me. Larger clip size and even though accuracy isn't really that useful in supressing fire then Bren is still good. Plus it's service record which is second to none (comparable to perhaps the M2 50 cal and the AK47)

 

I've read that when trained on the Bren you were expected to only fire very short bursts of automatic fire, 2 or 3 rounds only. Is this 'double popping'? and is it done on auto or single shot? ie: one pull on the trigger or two.

Bren for me too.

'Double-tapping' is usually done with the weapon in automatic mode and one squeeze of the trigger. It's not at all easy and requires a fair bit of experiance. The advantage of the Bren (I think) is that it can fire single shots. Years ago I used to take part in shooting competitions against the Light Infantry, armed with late Brens (L1A1 or something), whilst we had GPMG. When hits on targets were counting toward the final score the LI were not allowed to use the single shot option as it was so accurate. My mate JJ was a master with the GPMG, however, and could single-tap it, much to the annoyance of both the LI and the Directing Staff. Ramble...mutter...geting a bit off message here...

 

Could the Bren's barrel be changed?

And if so, was it an easy task?

I didn't vote, as obviously I don't know enough about the Bren to even pretend to be knowledgeable about it.

 

okay another Q, well actually two.

1. How much a nuisance was the top mounted magazine when aiming the weapon?

I am sure this is subjective, but there surely must be some discussion about this.
I was reading where there was concern about the visibility of the prominent magazine, but looking at pics, it doesn't seem to stand much higher than a helmeted head.

2. Can the magazine be topped off (or bottomed, as the case may be) without removing it from the weapon?

 

This is definitely Owen's territory!! It would Adam's but there's no big tracks or engines attached to the Bren!

 

I don't follow that 'topping off' might mean?

Also the sights are offset quite seriously to the left, so the magazine's nowhere near the field of view but the thing still sits comfortably on the shoulder.

If you fire a few rounds and then have a lull, you use the time to replace the fired rounds in your magazine. Topping off means opening the breach and reloading the magazine through the weapon while mag is still attached. The M1 could not do this, but I think (maybe you small arms brains can verify yes or no) the BAR could. Do I make sense?

 

okay another Q, well actually two.

1. How much a nuisance was the top mounted magazine when aiming the weapon?

I am sure this is subjective, but there surely must be some discussion about this.
I was reading where there was concern about the visibility of the prominent magazine, but looking at pics, it doesn't seem to stand much higher than a helmeted head.

2. Can the magazine be topped off (or bottomed, as the case may be) without removing it from the weapon?


1. As previously mentioned, none at all. In fact there was a the top mag could be regarded as an advantage in many situations.

2. Theoretically, I suppose the Bren could be, yes. But... it'd be a damn site easier to just remove the magazine and refill (and I wouldn't want to risk my fingers in front of the Bren's vicious breech-block forward slide anyway!!!).

Dave

 

Could the Bren's barrel be changed?

And if so, was it an easy task?

A click, a twist and a pull and it's off. Same in reverse. Seconds of a job - easy! (and a nice wooden handle to prevent burns too - perfect)

Dave

 

Thank you all for the info.

 

My sprogs are allowed to 'fire' the Bren if they're good... but it still scares me silly, particularly when little fingers go anywhere near the ejection port.


LOL

Just imagine the face of a 6 year old boy with a fully loaded Bren gun. All his Chrtistmas' rolled into one.

Wasnt there film somewhere with someone accidently fiting a bren in a front room, I seem to recall it, but it may be my vivid imagination.

Kev

 

Read somewhere recently of GI's taking their BARs to Veitnam, in preference to much disliked M60 ,not bad for a gun designed during and for WW1.

Up the BAR!

 

Bren and L4 Light machine Gun - ARRSEpedia

The Bren was developed from the Czech 7.92mm ZB26. Production started at Enfield in 1937 and during cPanel® it was also produced by Inglis in Canada where in addition to the .303" version they also made a 7.92mm version for Nationalist China. So accurate it was claimed to be a fully auto Sniper Gun, Last used in Gulf War 1.

L4 7.62mm version of the .303 Bren Gun.


.303 Bren Gun Mk 1

 

Here's one. The website owners Father was in Vietnam with ARVN Forces.
http://hometown.aol.com/rtoartilleryfo/photosp661.html



got thr bipod on too, i thought that was phased to early in WW2??

 

I think the bad thing with the Bren is the position of the magazine.

At the Royal armouries yesterday, I had a go of the Bren shooting range thingy. I kept missing targets that were popping up just to the right of where I was aiming. I kept missing them because the magazine was blocking my view. I can imagine this being a bit of a headache during battle.

 

A dumb question here, Marcus, but were you actually looking through the sights correctly? I'm just asking because I've never experienced nor heard of this being a problem before and, if it was, i'd have thought that there would have been some major design change in the Bren's 60 years of (British) service history (or indeed the 92 years service history of top loaded magazine-fed LMGs).

Dave