1939 Enfield Bren - a spot of help please

[lugerfan]

HI all, I have a couple of questions on my new deact 1939 Enfield Bren that I’ve just picked up.

First of all the barrel’s been rubbed down in a few spots to bare metal, no idea why this is the case, but I guess need to get some blue to try and match the original finish so it’s not so horribly obvious. I’ve no experience with this sort of work so wonder if anyone could point me in the right direction. Especially with a manufacture and place to purchase it from here in the UK. Fortunately its localised on the rear of the barrel to the area in the photo

Secondly, I’ve noticed it has the usual ’39 Enfield inspection mark, but also in the same area it has a Crown E over 7D ’40 mark. Would this have been an indication that it had been reworked in 1940, possibly post BEF use, or just that it perhaps didn’t make it out of the factory in 39. Its an A series serial number, so early 39 manufacture

Thanks to all and sorry for the lousy photos

.Attachment 76476Attachment 76477

[browningautorifle]

You could cold blue or stove paint, which is close to what was actually used.

[Peter Laidler]

Not lousy photos at all. We need to see more of them to get the bigger picture and a fuller answer

[Brit plumber]

It's not easy to tell from the photos but it looks like this is one from the recentish Irish release and was a DP or at least the barrel was. The holes have been welded closed and made good (well a rush job).

[lugerfan]

Thanks guys, will try to get some better photos tomorrow in a good light (any specific areas to concentrate on?) . It was deactivated in 2014 so it could well be. It's got DP on the barrel and also on the rear by the upper serial number.
The upper, lower and barrel nut all match, the barrel has a b block serial number on it as well (faintly struck through) and the same number as the rest then stamped on. Looks like a light black coat of paint has been sprayed over the barrel around that areal, so that may have been to cover the welded holes.

What is the story behind the recent Irish release, were they all drill purpose weapons?

Any thoughts on 40 dated inspection mark ?

Thanks again for the comments

[Peter Laidler]

If the amount of weapons the Irish Defence Force have supposedly released in the past 30 years is indicative of anything, it is that they had the largest Land Forces in Europe apart from the old USSR.

The '40 inspection mark is just that. It went through the factory again in 1940. The principal reason for this is to replace worn out gas cylinders. Gas cylinders and replacement locking shoulders to correct CHS were a return to factory repair until early 1944. Much more to it than that of course but.......

On the other hand, it is possible that a gun could have a production line fault that was discovered late in its manufacturing life. This was not uncommon and such guns were diverted to a rectification bay or what was known as '....the hospital' where guns could be rectified and sent out for service instead of scrapping them. Some that went through the bay had an 'A' suffix added to the serial number. So it could be that the gun was eventually rectified and then proofed and out-examined yet again afterwards. By this time it was 1940 - when the early C to late F series numbers were produced.

There are a few anomalies like this known to exist.

[Brit plumber]

The Irish were given a lot of early Bren Mk1s in 1940 which later were converted to DP when the Mk3 entered service in 195x. They are recognisable by the Irish DP spec with the obvious thing being the 2 sets of holes, 1 set in the chamber and the other set just before the carry handle sleeve. 'The Gunner' store welded their examples up where as Kent Ex just left as was (which is better in my opinion).

[lugerfan]

Great info thanks, I think it may well be one of those, as the metal forward of the barrel locking nut at the top also looks as if it may have been welded and roughly filed over as well as the marks in the barrel area.
A couple of pictures enclosed.

The marking I don’t recognise is on the butt, where there is a D in a circle.

Attachment 76541

Is this second proof / inspection mark Enfield? It looks like a crown over an M, or has the E has been rotated through 90 degrees

Attachment 76542

The million dollar question is what solution is best to blend in the bare metal parts as much as possible - given I have no special tools and little experience blueing, I’m guessing a cold blue would be a good place to start, but any recommendations to brand and colour that would be a good match

Attachment 76543

As you can see from the photos it’s not a pristine example as it looks like it’s been painted over the original blue in places at some point.

Attachment 76540Attachment 76544

BP - you mentioned the Irish were given a lot of them in 1940, was this post Dunkirk, once we had started to recover from the loss of weapons, or before hand ?

thanks as always

[Brit plumber]

The weld in front of the barrel nut will be where the barrel is pinned to the body as part of the Deac process.

i can only see a WD arrow near the ED logo so can't comment on that. But it does sound like an inspector mark.

I wouldn't worry about the condition, you'd be hard pressed to find anything that's 70+ years old in mint original condition. It just doesn't happen with issued kit.

I believe the Brens were given to the Irish Defence Forces right when we needed them the most. This decision must have come from the very top of Government and so they must have been worried about the Germans entering the UK or controlling our waters by invading the neutral country of the Republic. The majority of the Brens are from 1940 and are sequentially numbered in the D series with a splattering of 38s and 39s.

[Flying10uk]

Isn't the "D" in a circle an early Daimler marking?

I brace myself to be corrected on this, but I think it's worth remembering that during WW2 Southern Ireland was a self governing member of the British Commonwealth. It didn't fully separate/leave the British Commonwealth until after WW2; the late 1940s I believe. During this time Southern Ireland had a similar right as any other part of the British Commonwealth to ask for help/assistance with procuring weapons for it's armed forces.