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There have been a LOT of Repro's of the Bren rear handle manufactured here in the UK. There is a well known dealer not far from Me. Who has had a lot of reasonable copies done over the years.
The Gent concerned is a VERY long standing friend of mine. Who would never market copies as originals either. & this is borne out by his stamping his initials on the handle assemblies, somewhere.
I have some of his superb replicas and I was very happy to pay what I did for them. He also told me where to find his mark and I have seen them miss quoted by other dealers which isn't his fault but it's handy being able to spot them. It would be a bit like the Mk5 Sten fore grip, I'd rather pay more money for a true replica than less for a poorly fitting piece of crap (I know Peter will chime in and tell us the originals were also an over priced cheap piece of crap anyway)!
Tankhunter, do you know if he uses genuine spare/surplus wood handles from the barrel handle or has he had some new handles turned up? I was offered a butt handle about a year or so ago and the wood handle part of the assembly looked genuine but I couldn't decide if the metalwork was or wasn't repro. The person selling it insisted that it was genuine unissued stock but I wasn't 100% convinced and so didn't buy. I memory serves me correctly it was around £90 which would have been fine if defiantly original. Thanks for the info chaps
I like the 2" mortar and transit chest, Vince.---It's probably a stupid question but are private citizens allowed to have fully working examples in Texas or is it deactivated?
The one in the picture is deactivated I believe.
Private citizens can legally own working mortars in Texas. The modern type fall under the NFA, have to be registered as destructive devices and a $200 tax paid for each one. Each exploding round is also a DD and has the same $200 tax.
Muzzle-loading black powder mortars are not regulated. Solid rounds are also not regulated. Exploding rounds are regulated as DD’s and have a $200 tax each.
Here’s a nice 81MM Mortar and a 60MM mortar that are for sale. Or maybe a 57mm Cannon? Here’s something a bit smaller, a M79, 40mm Grenade Launcher
Flamethrowers are not regulated at all in Texas.
Thanks for that Vincent; I especially like the 57mm anti-tank gun.
I have seen deactivated 2" mortars for sale here in the U.K. but not since the E.U. deac spec came out. The examples which I saw offered for sale I believe had had the tubes cut off and replaced with a length of "any odd bit of steel pipe" probably as part of their deactivation? Does any-one know if U.K. deactivated mortars are affected by the E.U. deac specs???
Flying10uk. The wooden handles were original items. he HAD a LOAD of Bren spares in his stock. But most has now been sold on.
Yes, mine were JI marked and NOS wood and steel washer thingy me bob.
---------- Post added at 05:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:34 PM ----------
At £90 it would be a repro, I'm about 99.9% sure there will be no unissued butt handles around since the early 40s. All the originals I have seen are obvious as they show signs of use.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flying10uk
It would seem that the person selling the handles on eBay has now separated them into 2 Lots and now has them correctly identified.
They've been watching here...actually, someone probably messaged the dealer.
The starting price appears to have increased.