The Bren Gun

Discussion in 'Weapons, Technology & Equipment' started by jimbotosome, Dec 29, 2005.

  1. Lt. Winters

    Lt. Winters Member

  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    From Mont Pincon, Eric Hunt p18

    L/Cpl Ken Baker,7 Hampshire Regt, 43rd wessex Div.
    "Where the Bren would gain was that it was an accurate weapon. You could knock someone's eye out with it at a hundred yards without any difficulty. The German gun was more like a hosepipe."
     
  3. mark1966

    mark1966 Junior Member

    the bren gun is not that light but very effective and is still bieng used today a very good weapon
     
  4. pillip

    pillip Junior Member

    well i love my bren gun, i can tell you that. but i wouldnt want to carry it into action, or even to the shops. heavy as hell.
    phil
     
  5. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    i'll second that, i bought a deac bren mk.1 a couple of years ago and it never fails to amaze me that young men carried that into battle, bloody heavy. noone seems to have mentioned the main point of the Bren which was surely its utter reliability. the zb-26 (czech predecessor) first intrigued the british because of its simplicity and ruggedness. I have a mate who served with 59 commando in the late 80's/early 90's, he's a man-mountain and to see him brutally stripping my bren told a lot about its toughness. my mate said it was the only weapon he used in 10 years of service that never ever broke.. utterly squaddy-proof..
     
  6. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I carried the Bren from Normandy to the German Border. A great gun. When I was 19 it was not heavy. Recently I was given a rifle to hold and found it too heavy for me to carry........The passage of time.
    Sapper
     
  7. Herroberst

    Herroberst Senior Member

    I carried the Bren from Normandy to the German Border. A great gun.
    Sapper

    Did you ever use the BAR or have a chance to use the MG-42(bipod round drums version)? I would be interested in a Vets comparason opinion. I have fired the BAR and MG -42 but not the Bren, Although I have held a deact Bren. Did you guys use pick ups. What was the SOP on pick ups?
     
  8. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    No never got the chance, But I have fired a Schmieser?? In Normandy. That was forbidden,The German gun was so good that some of our lads use them and got killed by their own men,The sound was distinctive and on occasions the nearest British, hearing the sound, let go a burst in that direction.

    NO One will use German weapons...Company Orders
    Sapper
     
  9. Herroberst

    Herroberst Senior Member

    Thanks Sapper,

    I enjoyed firing the Mp-40 at an indoor range. I thought it was a very well balanced weapon.

    The German gun was so good that some of our lads use them and got killed by their own men,The sound was distinctive and on occasions the nearest British, hearing the sound, let go a burst in that direction.



    Great example of the Fog of War.
     
  10. Mark Hone

    Mark Hone Senior Member

    I must have been among the last British soldiers to be issued with a bren gun, as I fired one as an officer cadet in 1979. My dad had been a bren gunner in Burma, and carried a burn on his arm to the end of the days caused by changing a hot barrel during combat. I liked the weapon. As Sapper said, at 19 it didn't seem very heavy. Some people had a habit of blazing away with them firing from the hip (with blanks I hasten to add). I remember a Para RSM who was acting as an umpire roaring 'Who's bleedin' Errol Flynn?' at some unfortunate doing so during a section attack.
     
  11. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    You were suppose to be able to run with the Bren firing from the hip..try it and you will spray all those in the vicinity. I have tried..Its damned near impossible, Besides the best use of a Bren is in short bursts, line up and a quick squeeze. But run with it? No way.
    Sapper
     
  12. ErikH

    ErikH Senior Member

  13. jimbotosome

    jimbotosome Discharged

    You were suppose to be able to run with the Bren firing from the hip..try it and you will spray all those in the vicinity. I have tried..Its damned near impossible, Besides the best use of a Bren is in short bursts, line up and a quick squeeze. But run with it? No way.
    Sapper
    Sapper, did it have much recoil?
     
  14. morse1001

    morse1001 Very Senior Member

    Sapper, did it have much recoil?

    it had a hell'va recoil!
     
  15. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Hi Erik. Good pictures, (but staged!) The press Boys would stage these pictures now and then. Much better than taking photo's in real action. Who can blame them?

    Did the Bren have much recoil? No not for me far from it, I found it a very smooth gun to fire....a very easy weapon. I preferred it to a rifle, bursts of five, ideal.

    What has amazed me, is how age and infirmity robs you of strength, I go each year to the local school, amongst other places, to give a talk to the kids about the Normandy Campaign.

    Someone brought in a de-activated WW2 rifle, exactly the same as my own bundook. I put my crutches to one side and tried to do a military slope arms, just for fun,....Could not lift the damn thing.

    I liked the Bren, It was an accurate smooth machine gun.I did not experience recoil, mind you if you did not hold it firmly? (then any gun recoils) But with a much slower rate of fire than the Spandaus. They could acually cut a man in half.
    Sapper
     
  16. plant-pilot

    plant-pilot Senior Member

    I must have been among the last British soldiers to be issued with a bren gun, as I fired one as an officer cadet in 1979. My dad had been a bren gunner in Burma, and carried a burn on his arm to the end of the days caused by changing a hot barrel during combat. I liked the weapon. As Sapper said, at 19 it didn't seem very heavy. Some people had a habit of blazing away with them firing from the hip (with blanks I hasten to add). I remember a Para RSM who was acting as an umpire roaring 'Who's bleedin' Errol Flynn?' at some unfortunate doing so during a section attack.

    We still had the LMG, the Bren chambered for 7.62mm, in our armouries up until the mid/late 80s. A fine weapon.
     
  17. mattgibbs

    mattgibbs Senior Member

    I thought the drill with the Bren lying down was with feet down to anchor oneself because the Bren due to its design would actually pull forward..? Is this a myth?
    Regards
    MG
     
  18. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    It is a gun I know very well. I found no movement forward or back. It was remarkable stable, really a fine bit of machinery. Accurate,slower than the enemies Mc guns. But very stable, never moved about much while firing.,That is proved by the small group in a burst, mine always covered a small area of the shots.
    Sapper
     
  19. mattgibbs

    mattgibbs Senior Member

    Thanks sapper, very interesting. I assume by the time you got your hands on them the Mk1s with the handle fastened to the butt had gone? Nice to know these details, I hav 2 Brens myself [deactivated].
    regards
    MG
     
  20. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Having read the thread replies with interest, specifically Mark Hones comments on his father recieving burns from exchanging the barrel in combat.

    My late father said that he loved the Bren gun when he served in Italy and he too burned his hands when exchanging a barrel under fire.

    My question is;

    How many magazines, or rounds could be fired before the barrel heated up sufficient enough to produce innaccurate firing and be exchanged?

    Perhaps Sapper can provide first hand experience?

    Regards

    Tom
     

Share This Page