bren markII

[Peter Laidler]

The straight Mk2 type butt plate without the overhang is in fact the Mk3 butt plate. It's little known but was used to replace the awful overhung Mk2 butt plate. The Mk2 butt plate caused nothing but trouble to Armourers because every time the gun was put down on its butt, it punched the nose of the overhang into the wood recess that it was fitted into (along the top of the butt.....) and split it. It also bent the top butt plate screw and stripped the threaded hole too. This meant patching the butt.

The first relaxation was that the top of the wooden butt could be made off so that the top strap of the butt plate was level with the butt and not recessed into the wood. That was all well and good but it STILL knackered the screw and hole..... which needed drilling out, wood peg plugged, drilling and a new screw. Common sense prevailed and the Mk3 butt plate was introduced - as shown, and this solved the problem.

The overhung Mk2 butt plate also prevented the gun from going into the chest unless a small chamfer was cut into the right hand end to allow the overhung butt plate to squeeze the butt onto the buffer and then into the chest. Mk2 butt plates, an Armourers worst enemy........

Oooooops, minor error slipped in here! The FLAT butt plate for the Mk2 butt, as shown on Gripweeds gun is the PLATE, butt, Mk4 and NOT the Mk3 as I said.
As a matter of interest, the Mk3 butt plate was a Mk2 butt plate, modified to fit onto the lightened Mk2 butt (called the Mk3, that looked similar to a Mk4 butt.....), for the Mk4 gun. Just HOW much more confusing can it get? Anyway, for the lightweight Mk3 Bren gun, it used the Mk5 butt plate on a Mk4 butt

Got all that regarding Bren butts and butt plate configurations..... because I'll be asking questioins on it during the next lesson......