New Production Bren L4 Barrels
Hi all, I'm (slowly, but surely) putting together a semi-auto Bren L4 and while getting everything together, never put too much thought on where I'd get a barrel from. I figured I could just call up a custom barrel maker and have them turn one out for me. Well, as I was getting ready to do that, I realized that I didn't have any barrel dimensions or drawings to give them.
While perusing the ol' Gunbroker, I came across a new production Bren L4 barrel in .308. This was currently the only thing holding me back from getting this project underway so I ordered one. Pretty steep in price but, honestly, it was the only one I've come across in searching for them. He is still selling them for anyone interested. The machining is fairly rough and I actually had to borrow a machinist friend's lathe to do some adjustment on the OD of the muzzle end (not a big deal).
I suppose this post has a few purposes. The first being to let other US semi-auto builders know that there are new production .308 barrels available for anyone with a L4 parts kit.
And the second is to see if any member on this forum has an original L4 barrel and a micrometer to take some measurements for me to compare my new barrel to an original. I understand there will be variables in tolerance but I would like to make a comparison anyway. To make sure there isn't somebody out there trying to capitalize on a less experienced bren builder's need for a necessary item by hastily copying a blown out, retired .303 barrel, chambering it for .308, and calling it good without testing or actual measurement from a real L4 barrel. I don't know where this person got the dimensions from for this barrel as I have never found actual dimensions published anywhere for L4 barrel dimensions.
It's hard for me to imagine that somebody would try to capitalize on something like that. But, it's better to be safe than sorry I guess. Who knows, it might even be a member on here making the barrels. The main reason I'd like to take measurements from an actual L4 barrel is because the OD on the muzzle end (where the flash hider slides on before being pinned) was .025" oversized. Not sure if this was purposeful, but I want to make sure no other measurements are out. Ones that might be more critical to the function of the completed firearm.
