Original WWII British Bren MkI* Display Light Machine Gun with Live Barrel, MkI Butt Stock, and Magazine

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a really nice example of the iconic Bren MkI* Light Machine gun, as used by British forces during WWII. It is Built from Original British WWII Parts on a BATF compliant non-firing solid aluminum dummy receiver, which has had an original receiver nose piece attached. As 75% of the total length has been replaced by solid aluminum, it is totally legal to own without a license of any kind. Every part on this display gun is original WWII manufacture other than the aluminum portion of the display receiver. The barrel on this example has not been demilitarized, as it was imported long ago, and still shows clear rifling on the interior, though it is a bit worn. It is correctly marked Mk1* on the left side, and has the stainless steel flash hider on the front, which was removed when the MkII was patterned.

This example is one that was built by IMA over 15 years ago, and is in the early MkI* configuration. It has the correct early rear butt stock with a sling hook and cup butt plate, though the original shoulder rest has been removed. It has the correct early issue MkI barrel with the stainless steel combined gas regulator and flash hider / front sight, as well as the original early style non-adjustable bipod. The lower frame / trigger group is the correct longer style, that extends beyond the tripod mounting pin. The nose of the receiver is the Mk1* style that was typically seen on Enfield made examples, without any flutes in the gas tube. The original rear sight has been fitted and secured into a dovetail on the left side of the aluminum display receiver.

Overall it is in very nice condition, with most of the original finish present on the original parts. Pistol grip and butt stock are in solid shape, with a great color and patina of age. This looks like a gun that was out on the battlefield, and then put away after the war, not one that was sold off as surplus. Comes complete with an original 30 round magazine, which will be deactivated if shipped where prohibited.

A very attractive display piece for any collection!

The Bren was a licensed version of the Czechoslovak ZGB 33 light machine gun which, in turn, was a modified version of the ZB vz. 26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The later Bren featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine, conical flash hider, and quick change barrel. The name Bren was derived from Brno, the Czechoslovak city in Moravia, where the Zb vz. 26 was designed (in the Zbrojovka Brno Factory) and Enfield, site of the British Royal Small Arms Factory. The designer was Václav Holek, a gun inventor and design engineer.

The Bren was originally very close to the Czech ZB vz 30 in construction, with carefully machined lightening cuts, dovetails, and other precision design elements. However, with the massive loss of arms during the evacuation at Dunkirk, the British Military needed a lot more Bren guns, and fast. Very quickly, a modified MkI Bren, called either the MkIM or MkI*, was introduced, which removed a lot of the bevels and lightening cuts that were machined into the original receiver. The complicated front adjustable bipod was also replaced by one with fixed legs. The extra sight dovetail on the left side was removed completely as well.

However, at the same time the MkI Modified was being developed, plans were already in motion for an even simpler redesign for new production lines that were not already set up to make the MkIM This new design involved a much simpler squared rear receiver, and did away with the complicated dial-driven rear sight. Instead a standard fold-away ladder sight was developed. The rear butt stock was dramatically simplified in design, being more of a slab, and it had a simple bent steel butt plate that screwed directly onto the wood. The MkI had a utilized a stamped "Cup" that snapped into special slots, and had a fold-away shoulder rest.

The most noticeable change to the layman however would be the new barrel. gone was the long stainless steel barrel shroud and flash hider that extended to the gas regulator. Instead, the flash hider was now pressed onto the end of the barrel, and was only about 3 inches long in total, with the front sight another piece that was pressed on. All of these changes together dramatically sped up production.