What is a fair asking price for a semi auto Bren MKII in todays market ?
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What is a fair asking price for a semi auto Bren MKII in todays market ?
Buying or selling? Maker? Have you seen it run?
All these make a HUGE difference in price.
Looking to buy MKii 303cal. Built by Wise Arms . No have not seen it run . Looks as new . I have been told the some will fire off 20 rounds or so and then bind up when it gets hot .
I have one, and I will tell you, you need to see it run 250+ rounds through it before you plop down 3k or more for one.
average price for a gun and a few mags 3K
my guns all run fine after a bit of tuning and tweaking. My general rule is if it wont run properly on HXP run away or be prepared to do some tuning and tweaking.
now is it a wiselite built gun or a gun built by someone using conversion parts from wiselite? there is a huge difference
they are not that hard to get running and if you do end up with one and need some help :wave:
Thank you for your reply . Yes it is a Wiselite MkII . It came with 2 barrels . they will not change out was they should . They need way too much persuasion if you know what I mean .I striped the receiver and cleaned it and could not find any thing in the barrel nut area that looked like it was causing the hard fit . I made up a polishing rod covered with 0000 steel wool and cleaned the area in front of the breach bolt . The barrel nut works very easy and seems to fit in the receiver with no slop .
Remember these US semi-autos are re-welds... if the receiver warped during that process then the barrel's gas block in the gas cylinder opening and/or the barrel shank in the barrel socket could be binding as the warped receiver may no longer have them in parallel. I've had a few that loosened up when I polished the offending surface with Emory cloth. Machinists have a great die they use... if applied and the barrel is driven home and then removed... the coated surfaces areas scratched/abraded at the interference fit areas. These high areas can then be gently lowered and potentially resolve the barrels too tight fit.
I assume from this that you now own it. if so congratulations.Quote:
Originally Posted by tr63
dont worry to much about swapping barrels. I have had the same barrel in mine for a few years and I dont think I will ever wear it out. I take it out for cleaning and to make it easier to transport. two ways to have a happy bren (1) find the ammo it likes and feed it well (2) work up a load that it likes and enjoy.
There are a few adjustments that can be done to the bren to make it happy the biggest one is getting the ammo sorted out.
for a sticky barrel clean the parallel section that goes in the receiver and coat the area with white board marker of your choice. with out the barrel nut insert the barrel as far as it will go with out forcing it and remove and look to see where the marker is missing/rubbed off. that is the area you will need to polish/remove some metal from either the barrel or receiver. repeat until barrel fits firmly
Guys,
For binding slides, threads and similar problems on rewelds I've found that Timesavers lapping compound works well. It's a powder you mix with oil. The difference between Timesavers and regular lapping compound is that Timesavers will stop cutting so you don't have to worry about getting every last bit out. It's particularly useful if you can't isolate exactly where the binding is occurring.
Everyone has their favorite method to get those pesky reweld binding problems solved.
Joe
I need to update as the fix for the barrel not falling out the way it should . The problem was found that the gas cylinder on the end of the receiver was out of round and the barrel gas block was binding in the inside the cylinder . The cylinder was replaced with a as new one I purchased from BRP. The old cylinder was removed by drifting out the retaining pin with a proper size punch . the pin came loose on the second blow of the ball pen hammer !! The gas cylinder was drifted out using a brass 1/4'' flat bar stock and a ball pen hammer ,it also came loose on the second blow !! the replacement cylinder was polished using 600 grit wet and dry paper and was driven in,being careful to line the hole for the retaining cross pin . The cylinder was coated with anti-seize before it was inserted to insure I could remove if I needed to for some reason . Before I reinstalled the retaining cross pin I placed the barrel on the gun to check for the Gas regulator fit and the barrel fall out . It was perfect , the barrel slipped on locked down and when the locking handle was raised it slide out when the gun was tilled nose down !! The same retaining pin was reused it fit very tight . I was amazed that I was able to remove the old cylinder and the cross pin with no problems and reinstall the replacement parts and the old cross pin . I have read the horror stories about having to use torches to heat the cylinder and still not being able to get the cylinder driven off! Maybe Peter was looking over my shoulder !
Not usually a problem getting a MK2 gas cylinder out as they are not threaded :-)
KG
Just to update what has been going on in the market on semi auto Brens during 2020.
As there are NO large manufacturers tackling Bren builds and those medium to small builders, like Project Guns, Wiselite, SMG and others have ceased doing business. Their heyday appeared to have run through the late 90's and early 2000's.
Historic Arms, Kiwi Custom Guns and possibly a guy calling himself Neanderthal Armory seem to be the only manufacturers building and selling during the late 2019's into the 2020 period. All others are mostly built as personal builds and possibly offered on the open market at a later time. Neanderthal seems to have issues finishing builds in a timely manor but none the less, his name pos up on other builds that have come up for sale. I did see a Neanderthal Bren for sale on GB. Do not recall what it sold for. Possibly under $6k.
More than likely, Covid 19 and other political events have slowed down builds, and importation of parts. ITAR and ATF's restriction on importation of gun barrels has hurt the market and new builds as well. European Dewat or deactivation rules have also dictated a more complete destruction of useable parts, including barrels, receivers, internal parts like bolts and piston parts have also meant a large part of the surplus market is getting thinner. Less of those parts are making it into the US.
As of late 2019-early 2020, semi auto Brens were being listed and sold on line for $6,000 to $6,500 US dollars. I think this may be the top of the market, as any higher and one can get into an actual machine gun, although usually in 9mm. The problem with these higher prices, in that they may be fair prices, IF one gets a solidly, well built gun that functions reliably. The qualifier there is RELIABLE. Too many of us have seen that these builds can be problematic for a number of reasons. Some are easy fixes, some are not. The last L4 Bren (.308) I watched try to sell for months at an upper $7k price and eventually was lowered to around $6500. I am not sure if it sold or was just pulled from the market? Achieving $7k didn't seem to be a reality.
With a slow down or a fear of a slow down, I think people are having to realistically adjust their spending habits. The rioting taking place in large cities has driven gun sales, but not on some of the upper end collectables. That is not a 100% coverall statement, as I have watched FN M-249s selling for $12k average. Of course this is a large, well known manufacturer, turning out a product that is presumed to be reliable and backed by the FN corporation. As well, with some of the chatter and fear of Civil War within the US, the gun market has been very active. BUT many first time buyers or new security minded individuals, they are buying the lower end, like AR-15s and 9mm pistols.
If your experience with pricing is different, please comment.
I had a Historic Arms Bren for several years, extra barrel, case of mags, two butt stocks, 7.62x54R kit with different mags and barrel. It worked fine and ran flawless, never bound up or had issues of any kind with commercial ammo, a few issues with old milsurp ammo and hard primers. If it does not run without binding up, it is not a $6k rifle in any market.