7.92 Bren marking

[Kev G]

The stamped marking is on an 0T series 7.92 Bren.





As far as I know it's not commonwealth (?)
Can anyone enlighten me as to it's origins and meaning ?

Many thanks for any info, ATB Kevin

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

The next question is what were its origins KG? Five pointed star could be Chinese but LOOKS as though it was stamped prior to phosphating. Anyone else recognise the mark as a matter of interest

[dastier]

The stamped marking is on an 0T series 7.92 Bren.





As far as I know it's not commonwealth (?)
Can anyone enlighten me as to it's origins and meaning ?

Many thanks for any info, ATB Kevin

It looks somewhat like Tula Arsenal markings: Tula 'star' and 'hammer'. Perhaps Czech or Yugoslavian? What's the history of this bren?

I'm pretty sure 7.92mm is not a Commonwealth caliber. If this Bren was converted to 7.92mm then I wonder if it was German captured then captured again by the Russians. Or if converted post war it might have been sold to the Israelis who were purchasing weapons from the Czechs.

[dastier]

I did a quick search on the Internet for 7.92 Brens and found this:

"As a bit more info, the Red Chinese had quite a large quantity of 7.92mm Bren Guns made by Inglis in Canada. (That's 7.92mm German not 7.62mm NATO). They were mainly captured from the Nationalist Chinese. A lot of their soldiers also used 7.92mm Mauser rifles..."

Bren Mark I Light Machine Gun, Bren Mark III, Bren Mark IV

As well I found a reference to OT serial numbers for Chinese Brens at Bren guns

"The Inglis 7.92mm Chinese contract Brens carried the 0T as well as the CH serial number prefix..."

Sounds like you've got a Chinese Inglis made Bren.

[Kev G]

Cheers dastier,it's really only the T above a 5 pointed star marking I'm seeking information on though.

ATB Kevin

[Peter Laidler]

The star above the letter T looks too even to be two separate stamps.

Any other 7.92mm Brens have this mark?

[Claven2]

It's probably the chinese inspector's stamp. When factories made guns for foreign governments, it was customary for the ordering gov't to send an inspector who did QA/QC on the batch. They usually used their own stamps, independent of what the factory used.

[Kev G]

It indeed does look to have not not broken the phosphate but as it is a very fine marking is it possible it could have 'dragged' the phosphate down when punched ?
......yes now you mention it,it does look very symetrical between the T and star.

I have not seen the mark before on the limited number of 0T and CH 7.92 Brens I have viewed,is this a mark found on Chinese contract Inglis Hi powers ?

Many thanks for the responses so far.
ATB Kevin

[dastier]

Cheers dastier,it's really only the T above a 5 pointed star marking I'm seeking information on though.

ATB Kevin

That got me excited! Thought you had some mystery Bren at first and then when I read that the Chinese had Canadian-made machine guns, man that just blew me away.

Imagine made in Canada, shipped to China, captured by the Chinese commies, ...then possibly used against Canadian soldiers in Korea (that last might be a stretch).

...and imported into the States. That gun should have stickers all over...

[Peter Laidler]

It is an absolute FACT dastier, this did happen and not only that, the Chinese were using Canadian .303" Brens, rifles and Sten guns against us in Korea and again, the VC were using them against us/Australians in South Vietnam. At out Brigade HQ we had a small collection of captured stuff.