I picked her up two nights ago at the dealer. This thing is AMAZING. Stan did a fantastic job. The action is as smooth as butter. It came very well lubed and greased. The offset sights are actually very comfortable, since you don't have to crane your neck over the stock like a normal rifle. Lefties are pretty much out of luck, unless they decide to get with the program and join the winning team.

The next step is test firing over Thanksgiving and then on to refinishing the wood. I'm not sure how I'll do that and keep it period, but I'll do some research. I'm open to suggestions.

Enjoy!




The Bren mags are essentially AR mags that found themselves out of work and decided to grow fat on a steady diet of cosmoline and daytime television.



The underside of the upper receiver. Visible is the piston and the thingy that pushes the doohickey.


Trigger group and selector below the recoil spring...I think.



It's terrifying to think that all that stands between semi-auto innocence and rampant automatic mayhem is a little weld...Ok, there's more to the conversion than that. But still...*shivers*







The Bren laughs at your DI gas system. The piston alone weighs as much as a locomotive.



The neighbors have called the cops fifteen times with noise complaints. Apparently someone was screaming "FOR THE QUEEEEEEEEEEEN!" at the top of his lungs.



The Magpul MS2 SUCKS as Bren sling. This is mostly because the Bren's barrel RESTS ON THE FLOOR. Just like the balls of the men who carried her into battle. This is a HEAVY BITCH.



I plan on boosting its value by getting Guy Ritchie to sign the stock.



It breaks down REALLY REALLY easily. Just lift the barrel change lever, and slide off the barrel, then pop out ONE pin at the rear of the upper receiver, and the whole thing slides apart.







Gas system selector thingy. I believe this is the highest setting for SHTF.


Where the receiver mates with the barrel gas selector.


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This is a resurrection of an old thread I started in February, after finding a WWII British Bren Mk II LMG kit at a gun show and sending it off to be rebuilt as a semi rifle. The updates are at the bottom of the thread, along with new photos and info.

Enjoy!


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Original Post - 2/8/2009

I came upon this kit at a gun show a few months ago, and suddenly realized my pressing and urgent need for three feet of heavy-ass Nazi-killing steel.



The only problem was that the receiver had been torch-cut in three places as are all imported machinegun parts kits. The trick now was to find someone to reweld the receiver and modify the internals so as to render the gun semi-auto only.

This as it turns out is not an impossible feat, and according to the folks on 1919A4.com, my example was actually cut very cleanly and would be a snap to reassemble.



So, newly inspired, I went online to Numrich Gun Parts and for only $60, ordered a set of 12 30rd .303 mags for the gun. They came in a horribly crusty and greasy transit chest, and were themselves steeped in cosmoline.



They shipped to my mom's house since I am in an apartment and can't easily receive packages. When I opened the box, she eyed the horribly filthy case with suspicion. I told her that I had bought the remains of a German Nazi officer on eBay. It was legal, I said, because they were classified as historical artifacts and not subject to the restrictions of trafficking in human cadavers.

She looked at me as though I had finally sprinted off the cliffs of sanity and sailed, flailing into the gelatinous maw of poop-eating madness. After a pregnant pause, I flipped open the box and said "Naw, just some old mags." She laughed and tried to hit me with a long wooden spoon. Some people's kids...Honestly.

When I got back to my apartment, I set about cleaning the mags. I had been told that paint thinner was a good way of removing cosmoline and other packing greases without damaging the wood and metals underneath. So, with a paintbrush and a gallon of low-odor thinner, I carefully soaked and worked each mag over in a plastic Wal-Mart tub until I had removed every bit of grease.





Once I completed the outside, I disassembled the mags and cleaned the innards. Bren mags come apart much the same way as most other rifle magazines. Once you depress the detent on the bottom, the floor plate slides off to reveal a beefy flat-spring that WILL OWN YOUR FACE. HARD. Believe me. There is a splattered grease outline of my upper body on the wall behind my countertop as a testament to the force with which the spring egresses the magazine body. Best to hold a towel over the end for this part.





The spring is fitted onto the follower which rides above a "skirt" resembing an M1 Garand clip. I suppose its function is to ensure the spring doesn't bind, and to provide a smooth bearing surface for the follower.



Through the assortment of mags I have a range of cartouches denoting several different manufacturers. I have yet to locate their identifications, but there are several "Broad Arrow" British markings, as well as a few (I think) Canadian.







One had "28 rounds Only" stamped on the side in orange paint.



When I had finally cleaned and oiled all 12 of the magazines, I began on the case. With a rag full of thinner, I scrubbed the grime and grease away, until I had a serviceable chest once again. There is writing on the front, but it is mostly obscured. A date was nowhere to be found.









For fun, I thought I'd assemble the Bren as best I could so I could see what the finished product might resemble. I am sending it off this week for rewelding, refinishing, and test-firing. It will most likely be a few months before I get my hands on it, but when I do, I will update this thread with pictures and hopefully a range report.



















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UPDATE 1:

Handling the build is Stan from http://www.projectguns.com. He's a mod over on 1919A4.com, and seems to really know his Brens, judging from his reputation over there and on other sites. I didn't want to post the info until I had his permission. I'm sure he has better things to do than have a bunch of people emailing him "OMG! Is this LEGAL?!!?!!!1?!?!1"

To answer the recurring questions, yes it's legal to build this gun as a semi-auto from a cut MG receiver. In the eyes of the ATF, the gun is destroyed, and is nothing more than
scrap metal. They're an 07 SOT and can do all the fancy welding and machining necessary to legally make the gun a semi.

There's a very informative tutorial on his site about the process: http://www.projectguns.com/bren2.html


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UPDATE 2 - 5/26/09:

I have been contacting Stan (the builder) once a month for status updates. They've been chugging through a large order of semi-auto RPDs, and as such have pushed the Brens to the back burner.

Imagine my excitement when I received this response to my monthly email:


WOOOOO! Hopefully not too much longer. More on this story as it develops.


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UPDATE 3 - 10/30/09

Well I missed a bump and my old thread was banished to the archives.

You can find it here: http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=828401

You didn't miss too much, just a bunch of shrieking about how this was illegal, blah blah blah. It's not.

Anyhow, the project took a LOT longer than anticipated, mostly due to the large volume of work Stan had received prior to beginning the Brens. Such is the case with many specialty gunsmiths. You pay a premium for a premium product, and have to endure a premium wait. Don't believe me? Go to the 1911 forum and inquire about the wait for custom jobs. It can be YEARS for some smiths. I waited 15mos for my .50 BOHICA upper, so I'm used to it.

The guys at projectguns.com were kind enough to keep us updated on our rifles' progress, and even posted a dedicated thread on their forum complete with pictures of each weapon as it made it's way through the line.

Here are a few pics of the steps the Bren took from beginning to end product. Mine's #458. I included a few shots of other rifles to cover all the angles, though. All shots are courtesy of Projectguns.com: http://projectguns.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315. You have to be a member to view them, so I rehosted them for this thread.

Rewelded receivers


























After refinishing




Refinished, test fired and assembled. It's on its way to me as we speak!


A range report and gratuitous gun porn will follow upon arrival.


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UPDATE 4- 11/6/09

Apparently the Bren was delivered to the FFL YESTERDAY and no one called me to let me know! Figures. The tracking number was bad, so I couldn't tell when it was going to arrive. When I called today to verify it, they told me it was already delivered! AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGH! Of course I have to learn about this at 9:30am so I can sit here thinking about it ALL GODDAMNED DAY!

I'll have pics up tonight!

Frickin' sweet!

Very NIce

In for gratuitous range pron

My pants just got tighter for some reason.

if you don't mind me asking, what do these kits usually cost? how much to rebuild it?

PM if you like

Sweet

Thank you for posting these pics.

Wish I could afford one of these - give the 1919 and MG42 semi boys a run for their money.

Awesome!

Dude, sweet!

I gotta know... how much do you have wrapped up in this so far?

do want.

$375 for the kit, and $1650 for the build, shipping included. I'll have just over $2k into it when all is said and done. It's an investment, that's for sure. I don't see myself regretting it...Unless it turns out to be carved from soap.

I'd give up my favorite AR for one of those. Sweet as hell.

Tag....still have my kit that I've been holding on to for years....time to save some money.

Awesome, thanks man. Is that mag deal still available? Searched on Numrich and couldn't find it.

We'll be expecting a range report ASAP. Tally ho!

It twitched.

bring it to the shoot some year.

Look 5 posts above yours.

VERY NICE!!! Cant wait for the video.

That's an amazing piece right there. Isn't it sad that regulations required that gun to be cut up just so it could be put back together again. Oh well, it turned out really nice.

That's a work of art, brought back by skilled artisans!

thats awesome

The precursor to the Bren was the Czech ZB vz 26 that fired German 7.92 cartridges. It is very close to the Bren, as the Bren was the Brits' version of the ZB. Most of the parts are very similar, and Stan mentioned that three of the kits sent to him had mixed parts.

i was wondering what happened with this. congrats!