1939 Bren Mk.1 - just obtained & questions

[Peter Laidler]

The stop shoulder on the barrel nuts were one of the first things to be modified during the late 1940 simplification programme and it was declared redundant thereafter on existing barrel nuts already in the system. They had to do it this way because the barrel nuts are diamond hard and you just can't hack-saw or file the stop off. It has to be ground off and not many unit workshops had a high speed grinder as we know them today that would slice through it like butter.

By coincidence, the straight edged butt plate was also one of the items simplified under the same programme. Is that the blanked out/patched butt marking disc hole that I can feintly see? I suppose you gound hook that out and replace it with the correct marking disc. It LOOKS as though the backsight leaf is also a Mk1/1 variant too that was a modification to ensure that the full range of foresight blades could be utilised to zero the guns. If it is, it'll hacve a small /1 on the side at the aperture end or inside the H section along the side. Trivia really if you ain't going to shoot it!

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