"No Bren Gun chests were hurt"....... A No 15 chest..

[skiprat]

Thanks to the detailed plans available on this site, I decided to have a go at producing a copy of the No 15 Chest.
I have a number of old Bren gun chests and originally saw these as a source of parts and a place to start from. But as the price of these Bren boxes are rising and the only parts that closely match the No15 chest are the hasps and catches, I started to look at building with all new commercially available parts.

A local timber yard was able to cut all the wood from knot free pine. the side walls, lid and bottom are slightly thinner than set out in the plans but this was a stock size and I did not want to make anything that could be passed off as an original.

The strap hinges were from a local farm suppliers and are a standard 4 inch strap hinge that I have bent to shape in a vice. they are the right length and have the correct number of holes for a British box.... but the spacing of the screw holes is a little "out". the hole nearest the hinge pin on the lid is closer the edge than it should be.. It works, has not split and is again distinguishable from an original..

The catches were purchased from a military vehicles dealer, they are repair parts for the tool bins on British army Bedford 4 tone lorry (they look the same as the originals)

the hasps on the original are/were a military produced item and I have not been able to find a source for these (apart from Bren gun / GPMG transit chests). So....many ...many years ago I did "O" level metalwork ..... At last I could use what they tried to teach me (why as a 16 year old would I need to make hinges)
the hasps on the box are made by hand from stock flat bar (a bit narrower than the original hasps) and the "key hole" cut out on the milling machine..

the rest of the construction was straight forward, I do a bit of leather work so I had the leather. It did take a bit of time to find a supplier for the screws, as slotted screws are not the screw of choice..

The paint finish is NATO green IRR paint (standard issue) on the outside.
inside I painted it with "red oxide" primer the standard primer used on everything in the army also called "red lead" (it no longer contains lead). The Bren boxes I have have been primed in this way..

The stencils are from an army issue set (yes... there need to be more of a space between S.A. and No)

thanks for the plans and the inspiration ......

Information

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[Warren]

Nice job. If you are in the UK the lumber probably cost you 200 quid !!!

[grant580]

Very nice indeed Skiprat!! You have done an Awesome job on that box!

You must have been very determined to make all those pieces of hardware! For one of my transit boxes I made once I took a set of Canadian 8 hole hinges and cut them down, welded all the holes shut and cleaned them up with fine grinders and files then reset the holes and their locations. If I remember right, I spent about 8 hours, maybe more on that by the time they were paintable. If you ever decide you want to change the stencils I have some sets here that are the British type and I also have some of the Large hard to find #12 screws for the hasps and posts.

I also find it interesting that the proper name for the interior primer of most of the boxes is called "red lead"

What is your next transit box?

[skiprat]

lumber
In the UK the TIMBER only cost £40 (enough for 2 boxes) if you shop about woods not that costly.... I make a few No4t cheek pieces and the cost of the wood works out to less than £5 for Beech or American Walnut ("proper" English Walnut is a lot more)

the stencil set was "borrowed" from the British army so its probably more like it was repainted in service than issued from the maker.

thanks for you kind comments

NEXT I have to make a start on an early fal (X8 E1) stock and pistol grip...

[callum]

Hello there skiprat. I'd really like to build a chest for my '44 Mk II - where did you get the plans from? I've looked all over this site and am coming up short. Thanks, and, very nice work! Callum

[skiprat]

hi I used the plans on this site.. in the "Knowledge Library" (in the tab bar next to "forum")
then in the "categories" box (lower left hand side) under blueprints/drawings chest S.A. No15 Mk1.
all I need now are the plans for the transit chest for the L42..

[callum]

Thanks very much!