A WW2 MK 1 British Army Bren Gun, Made After Dunkirk In Order To Restock Britains Armoury Stock After The Disaster of Dunkirk. The Type Used by The Desert Rats in 1942/3 Against Rommel

Made in 1942. Very good condition and good markings. Fully operational action. The most accurate and easy to operate light machine gun made, in fact so accurate, a slight inaccuracy was purposely built into it's design in order that rounds did not pass through the same entry hole. No film ever made about the British and Allies in WW2 fails the show the amazing Bren in action, from the Desert Rats combat against the Afrika Corps under Rommel, to the fateful Dieppe raid, the campaigns in Italy, the Normandy landings, the Parachute regiments action into Arnham, and against the fearsome SS Panzer divisions right across France, Belgium, The Netherlands and into the heart of the 3rd Reich in Germany itself.

The world renown Bren Gun was the most faithful servant of the British Tommy, and one that he regarded as the finest of arms a soldier could be given to fight a most powerful, determined and fanatical foe. It is impossible to calculate the incredible loss of life the British and Allies forces would have suffered without the magnificent services of this amazing gun. At Dunkirk we lost tens of thousands of the pre 1941 manufactured Brens leaving us with only around 2300 to defend Britain. All the captured Brens were re-issued by the Third Reich to the German Wehrmacht such as their falshirmjager, the Afrika Korps and even the French most ardent Nazi volunteers in the Melice, and Vichy. See photos in the gallery. Thus re-armament using our factories around the commonwealth was a priority and vital. A statistic that is not discussed today is that the survival rate of the inmates of the 15 French Nazi Concentration camps was near nil, apart from POW detainees.

Sights were a bladed foresight with an aperture rear sight. System feed was a vertical box magazine of 30 round capacity (usual practice was to only fill to 28 in order to prolong the spring's life); each magazine weighed 17oz (0.48kg) empty and 2lb 12 oz (1.25kg) full.

The Bren was first produced at the RSAF Enfield in 1937.
Each gun weighed 22lb 2oz (10kg), was 45.5 in. (1155 mm) long and had a rate of fire of 500 rounds per minute. It fired the .303 in (7.7 mm) standard British rifle round.

Non EU {ie British} sales Only. Can be re-deactivated to EU/ UK spec, if required but not if not. Deactivated .303 Light Machine Gun.

The Bren was a modified version of a Czechoslovak-designed light machine gun, the ZB vz. 26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. They were loved by the troops who used them as they rarely went wrong and withstood all conditions equally well. They were very accurate and because they could fire in semi auto, they were often used to pick off long range targets. It was such an effective design that in modified form, it served in the British armed forces until very recently. They can still be found in Africa and work perfectly well to this day.

Photo in the gallery of the WW2 French Milice, the German falschirmjager, and the Afrika Korps. The Milice participated in summary executions and assassinations, helping to round up Jews and résistants in France for deportation. It was the successor to Darnand's Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL) militia (founded in 1941). The Milice was the Vichy régime's most extreme manifestation of fascism, and force of around 30,000 strong.

Any deactivated weapons sold by The Lanes Armoury are deactivated in the United Kingdom and hold London or Birmingham proof marks and a certificate stating that the weapon has been deactivated correctly. Can be re-deactivated to EU/ UK spec.

Code: 25288