Can anyone tell me the value of a Bren MKII semi auto?

It is one converted by Historic Arms.

Any help would be appreciated as I can find very few for sale.

Last one I saw for sale at a gun show last year was $3500 and the stock was rough. It sat for two days and he had it at the next show the following month. Not sure that helps.

Yes it does, I have seen them priced at 3000 for just the gun and up to 7000 for the

gun and box and a bunch of accesories.

They are built by Historic Arms here in Ga.  Depends on the time frame and how the customer wanted the gun originally . They are for the most part built to order but some dealers did buy on spec. Later ones are nicer in the receiver area than earlier guns . Make sure it has not been shot with corrosive ammo and not cleaned . A build-able Bren parts kit brings good money the later torch cut receiver pieces are useless to build with due to changes in ATF rules .

I've built six of them from torch cut receivers.

3 cut or 4 cut?

I bought one about 2 years ago that was made by Historic Arms.  I spoke to the owner and he said it was an earlier one but it has the premium furniture on it.  I didn't buy it from the builder I bought it from GB.  I paid $3500 and I got 3 barrels, an original box (or what appears to be original) I got 10 mags, and a bunch of canvass covers and pouches.  I did good but the chambers were rough in the barrels and the brass would get stuck and was a bitch to get out.  I bought a brand new barrel but have to bring it to my gunsmith to have him turn down the outer diameter of the barrel around the chamber just a little bit because it fits too tight in the receiver.  I think the receiver might be slightly warped from the welding that took place to get the receiver put back together.  It's nothing you can see by looking at it.  The quality of the work and the look of the rifle is really nice.  If I was going to sell mine today for the whole package I would ask $4000 and stand pretty firm on that price.  It's a fun gun to shoot but the trigger is weird because it's not made as a semi auto so it's real mushy with a very long reset.  Ideally if I ever buy a auto machine gun converted to semi auto I would like to shoot it first.  I know that may not be easy or even possible and it's nothing against any of the guys converting them but full auto machine guns obviously weren't designed (for the most part) to shoot semi auto from a closed bolt.  Everything about a machine gun action is rough and violent which works fine in full auto but not always in semi auto.  When you convert a full auto machine gun to a closed bolt semi auto you are slam firing every round.  If i look at the casing after I shoot them out of the bren, the primer is all messed up from a violent heavy strike.  So basically what I'm saying is- and this is my opinion only, that full auto machine guns that were never designed to be semi auto while obviously possible to convert it isn't the way they were made to function and you may have problems.  You're looking to spend a lot of money- at least to me, so be careful of what you are buying if you can't shoot it first.

Let me clarify the later torch cuts make some of the receiver pieces useless to build due to ATF rules regarding how they are cut . I can ask Len to chime in if you would like . I will see him tomorrow .

Hello Leemore.

If you call me 706-675-0818  or email me ([email protected]) with the serial number I will tell when it was made.  If you provide me with some photos I can even get you an approximate value.

There were only 200ish or so made.  99 percent of them were customer special order guns.   Some were museum grade others "economy-specials" depending on who ordered it and when it was ordered and what they wanted.

Median price for a used BREN made by Historic Arms LLC hovers around $5.5K   (Of course a well worn clapped out former rental, or economy build version will go for less as noted in this thread).

Len Savage
Historic Arms LLC

I know the l4a2 I am working on right now is a huge pain due to how they cut it, but still doable just needs more work.

kinda looked like this.



this bren I however would really suck.

now that we have Len here. I want to know how he did this.

Last one is actually the better of the two cuts. Looks like an early import that IMA still sells
No critical measurements disrupted like the barrel nut or gas bore alignment

All of them are rebuildable though.

That's...amazing. Do want.

Belt fed BREN....

Essentially built when we designed the semi MAG-58.  After a lot of reading and research I noticed the length of stroke in a BREN and a MAG 58 were identical.  Also BSA built a belt fed BREN to compete with the MAG 58 (called the gimpy by the Brits)

Anyway it was made from a modified MAG 58 top cover and feed tray and used a "deli slicer" drive armature ran up the side of the receiver and under the top cover to drive it.....

Would run on 8mm or .308 (quick change barrels) on m-13 links or MG42 belts.

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A recent L4A3 build....took many man hours.   I think what Whiskerz was referring to was that there is a point of diminishing returns with respect of man hours in and money out....It's one thing to do as a hobby or because you love doing it....but if you are trying to pay the bills by building them, you get much more selective to stay profitable.  This build is a solid month of shop man hours.

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And here is the man with the Bren answers .

Why I do not like the last one is where they cut the receiver. Much harder to true up then had they cut it like most do.



Yea the l4 needs more rebuilding with weld but its not that bad. Heat distortion likes to pull the plate one way or another, so even if you have it all trued up, its the receiver is cut like the first one you are going to have issues.
If you ever went to school for welding you'd be familiar with since joint welding and trying to keep them straight. With normal cuts you have basically a U shaped peice giving it much more resistence to bending since you can tack it
along several places and do tiny welds back and forth to prevent any twisting.

Whats the channel on the left side of the receiver for? opposite of the charging handle on the right side?

That piece of metal between the arrows is bolted directly to the bolt carrier and it goes back and forth as it fires.

I has a roller on top that drives the top cover.....hence the need for the slot on that side of the gun.

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First of all, it is an honor you are here and 2nd of all, I'm sorry for all of the crap the alphabet boys did to you. I remember you from subguns.com and also the debacles and the hard work you have done in the firearms community.

My question to you is that you stated it takes a lot of man hours to do the receivers.

Is there a snowballs chance in hell for new cast receivers made that is semi auto only?

Is it even possible?

The problem you will run into next will be barrels since the ATF started requiring destruction of barrels before bringing in parts kits . I am not sure a cast receiver would be durable enough . I am also not sure if there is enough demand to make casting a receiver worth the upfront cost. Even a casting will still have to be finish machined .  I think CNC got toyed with briefly and never went anywhere .  I will let Len chime in.

Apologies for tagging along , but I thought I would jump in here rather than start a new thread . Anyway , a friend recently acquired a MKII Inglis parts kit and wants to sell it and asked for my input . I have seen it and it appears to be in very good condition aside from a dent in the flashider . It has a 3 cut receiver . Here is the strange thing . The previous owner welder the reciver back together in an attempt to make it into some sort of a display piece . Now , this was done in such a way that the internals will not fit and the barrel wont even  lock in . As this was not an attempt at a real re-weld , I am pretty damn certain it is still totally legal as it is in no way functional . I am also pretty certain than an experienced smith could fairly easily knock it back apart and do a real re-weld .

So , he wants to get rid of it because he can't afford to do a semi auto re-build and asked me to help . I clearly know little about these particular guns . Any help would be very much appreciated as to value , best place to find someone interested in it  etc ..... Thanks in advance .

~$600 or less. Having welded the receiver will hurt the value for someone looking for a parts kit. Having to correct someone elses mistakes is not fun.

Those are impressive rifles.

Anyone still doing customer builds on these? I've been sitting on a parts kit for years.

Len at Historic still is .

Len, if you're reading this, is the best way to contact you by phone?

My email is [email protected] and the shop line 706-675-0818

Try email first, shop line is ignored if I am in the middle of welding a seam or machining part......sorry.  I do try and call back when done though.

Are there any source for 308 barrels for an L4A3 kit?

Len has been working on this problem . No solution yet but close

My buddy had one of his kits built and had it modified do fire either 303 or 7.62x54r with reamed out barrels.  He had one of each of these barrels modified for blank shooting during reinactments . The 54r jams a lot but the ammo was cheap then.  The reamed chamber leaves some crazy bulged cases  it's a fun gun to take to the range

Yes there is.   I had a small run of chrome lined .308 L4 barrels made.

any still available?

I can probably obtain the authentic L4 barrels drawings, if needed. 

That would be excellent.

The drawings have been around for over a decade....That's never been a problem.  The issue is economy of scale.  Currently several other FFL's are supposedly making barrels for L4 series BREN.

Put in understandable terms:  It takes as much engineering time/money to develop one or two of an item as it does to make a thousand.

Even CNC'd manufacture means somebody has to set up the tooling and run the program, so those costs get spread over the whole of the "run".    

The bigger the run, the cheaper cost per unit.....

In the current economy inventory for obscure parts from historic firearms is essentially a gamble unless you can commit to the  "long game".    

In my companies case we had some barrels built for use in complete rifles....Selling off the barrels now means each one sold is one complete rifle I can no longer build.  When I am through in the next month or so, if any are left over from production then (and only then would I sell them).