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I am in the process of replacing all my Inglis marked components for Enfield/BSA parts on my 38 dated Enfield.
So far I have managed everything apart from the magazine opening cover and for the life of me can't work out how to release the old one.
Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks in advance!
Remove mag catch and ejector assembly by pressinbg the spring loaded pin from left to right. Slide mag catch and ejector forwards and up to remove. Mag well cover will slide out of and to the rear. Assemble in the reverse order. Next question!
Fantastic! Thanks Peter.I think that's it for the questions as all the Inglis parts have been replaced.
Again many thanks!
That brings up a question. My MkII Bren had a Mk I mag cover which I replaced with a Mk II cover which is much plainer. How common was this and what was the reason? The Mk I cover looks better but I felt that the gun deserved the correct cover.
I say once again............. In the real world of working Armourers shops, outside the fantasy world of 'concourse' shows for guns and so called originality contests, an Armourer would take the next part on the shelf and fit this to a needy gun. All parts were made to be interchangeable (within the reals of some hand fitting which was the norm for the period) and the gun went out again. The only exceptions that I recall with Brens were that the barrels had to be matching mark/type and never, ever, if you can help it, use a Mk1 butt or Mk1 carrying handle if you had a Mk2 or 3 gun type on the shelf. Gas plugs, pistons, triggers, tripping levers or magazine opening covers - it made not one jot of difference to us!
I never ever in all my service saw an Armourer - ANY Armourer go to a tray of parts and select a specific make of part. That is the world of make believe, believe me. And nor did I ever hear a moan from a gunner about mixed parts either!
Peter: I am gratified that you repeat this from time to time. Many just don't get it.
M
Thanks for the Mike. It's what I like about this forum. You can tell it as it really is without fear of or upsetting anyone. I know others have dfferent ideas about rifles and MG's being 'concourse' and getting all the 'right' parts together to falsely make things into what they probably never were etc etc. But the real irony is that in all my years of looking I have yet to see a competition that they ever take place in!
I mean....... It'd be different if there was a competition somewhere and they were judged be some expert - but there ain't! They're being judged by the people who falsify them themselves! Wierd isn't it?
Just my take on things as a complete 'outsider', based on nothing more than a bit of life in the real world Armourers shops and what my mum used to call '.......the bleedin obvious'!
We display guns twice a year here at the Houston Gun Owners Association show. They don’t allow picture taking in the hall, but you can get the idea here HGCA Photo Gallery
It’s a large gun show. The gun display areas usually run the length of the hall in the center. There are also vehicles, etc on display. Last year there was Vietnam era plastic PBR (Power Boat River) on display.
There was nice Bren display a few years ago. He had made three from parts kits, a Mk1, Mk2 and a Mk3. They looked really great. The remarkable thing was he had done all the work with his left hand after losing his right arm to cancer and while going through chemo therapy.
All done using his left hand/arm..... That's a man that I admire. I couldn't do my L4 conversion properly using both hands!
........It's called the 'market place' ! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
Matching numbers and as original as it left the factory will always demand a premium.
Not sure how replacing an item is falsifying it when most of the Brens in the UK market place at the momment have been made up from parts picked randomly out of spare parts bins ?
In the UK there time in the hands of gunners and armourers workshops was over a long time ago !
ATB Kevin
Ah, yes Kev........ Matching numbers I can see and fully agree with - providing that the barrel fits correctly and the barrel nut is tight (and bolt is fitted correctly if necessary and numbered) While the butt slides were always numbered I have to confess that I didn't place too much importance on it because the either fitted or they didn't!
But when it comes to '...... original, as it left the factory' demanding a premium then there is the rub. Or is that '......original, as it would be in the parts list'? There's a subtle difference. And a Dodgy Diamond Dave the Dealer who reverts a mid-life Mk1 back into an all singing and dancing 'parts list' Mk1 ain't being honest in my humble opinion simply because a) he's in for a quick buck and b) he doesn't KNOW what it came out with. Surely making one up from a parts bin store is more honest because that's how it really happened on a workshop assembly line.
It's only my opinion of course. But on a similar note, there's a thread running on a car forum 'wot I write in' about restoring a body shell and the restorer wants to keep it 'original' and is asking if anyone still has the facilities to paint this 1960's car in the old original cellulose paint.......... I mean......... Cellulose! Presumably he still wants the original Leyland orange peel effect too! Anyway. (PS. I just told him to get real and get it done in modern, tough as old boots, hard wearing two-pack paint)
Have a nice weekend everyone in Bren Gun land.
Well I wouldn't expect a Monotype MK2 to leave the factory with a Canadian JI part even if it did have the same part number.
For the weapon to function it isn't going to matter but as a representative Montotype MK2 gun in a collection having JI marked parts all over it is an epic fail. (IMO)
Each to there own though.
While on the subject of paint....... I went to Arbourfield a few years ago to strip down,inspect and photograph a couple of weapons of interest; a Czech ZH29 rifle and a Czech made Bren gun for Iraq.
The ZH29 showed wear but retained it's original finish now a lovely plumb colour.
The Czech made Bren 'should' have looked similar in appearance but some one in his infinite wisdom had decided to give it a nice hard wearing coat of modern Suncorite paint :eek:
........I could have cried !
Have a good weekend yourself Peter, ATB Kevin
That used to happen at Warminster where there would be comments about a finish that we'd applied in the past or 'foreign' parts we'd fitted. But we had to come clean and just say that some of the weaponry had come to us from the battlefield and was here simply because we'd tested it to death! And thereafter set about preserving what we'd got. The very first MG42 that England had obtained, captured in the western desert was a good example
But on the other hand Kev, what about an Inglis Bren leaving Inglis with UK Hercules Cycles bipod legs as per:
INGLIS AND THE BOTTLE-NECK BIPODS
It was during the Autumn of 1942 that the Mk1 type bipod was found to be causing a bottleneck in production due to the difficulty in obtaining supplies of upper and lower bipod tubes. Quite incredibly, the shaped tube was shipped from Accles and Pollock in England to Canada and in 1942 the North Atlantic was definitely NOT a safe place for allied ships. The tapered tube used in the production of bipod legs (and bayonet scabbards incidentally, more about which later….) was a recent innovation and
Comments on a postcard please..................
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Comments on a postcard please..................[/QUOTE]
Having a Lovely time, wish you were Here!.....................................
That made me laugh Kev....... Made my day! Have a nice one yourself.