Help With Bren Guns

[Lt. Martin]

Did the Mk1M reciever use the Mk.1 barrel, or did it use it's own seperate type of barrel

(I know that the barrels were able to go into different models of brens, what I am saying is.... was there a model meant to go with the mk1m reciever like a mk1m barrel?)

[Lt. Martin]

Thanks for the help guys, S. Martin

[Infanteer]

The Bren guns manufactured in Canada for the Chinese are easy to distinquish as they are engraved with large Chinese characters on the side of the receiver. Also, they were made in 7.92mm as opposed to .303 cal.

Bren Mk1M guns were commonly used by the Canadian military during WW2 and it is perfectly legitimate to find them with a mixture of Mk1 and Mk2 parts as already mentioned due to replacement of worn and / or damaged parts. While it is nice from a collector's point of view to have an all matching model, if you want an example of a gun used in the field during the war then a gun with a mix of parts from different models is not only fine but probably even more realistic.

[brit plumber]

All I am asking is, was it ever the case that the people making the Brens would have had mixed parts during transition time?

And would the Bren mk.1 M reciever ever be placed with the Mk.1 barrel, or woul it have had to be a Mk.1 reciever to have a Mk. 1 barrel?

Was there some sort of MK.1 M barrel?

The only manufacturer to build a Mk1 gun with a Mk2 stock or Barrel were Lithgow in Australia. These were known as an upgraded model. A Inglis or Enfield gun would only have originally been fitted with a Mk1 barrel and Mk1 Butt. The British Mk2s were made by the monotype group in a completely difrent factory so no mix up of parts would occur. The Inglis Mk2 commenced production after the Mk1 production had ceased.

It has been mentioned about the 7.92mm versions, these were Mk2 guns but marked up as Bren or Bren Mk1 because they were Bren 7.92mm Mk1 guns but were 100% Mk2.