Bren Mk II mgfr '42, unfired until 2013??

[Peter Laidler]

Tact ain't been back re his thread starter but reading his thing again, I think he's saying that he's lifted his thread pictures from somewhere and they aren't his gun but used to illustrate one that he's acquired. On that basis, some of our comments may be wrong. I could be barking up the wrong tree of course but..........

But I doubt that any of us will be wrong about his being a pristine UNfired example!

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[TactAdv]

Tact ain't been back re his thread starter but reading his thing again, I think he's saying that he's lifted his thread pictures from somewhere and they aren't his gun but used to illustrate one that he's acquired. On that basis, some of our comments may be wrong. I could be barking up the wrong tree of course but..........

Hi Peter!,
Yes, you are precisely correct above; I just bought this gun from the GunBroker auction referenced in my initial post- the ONLY pictures I have to go by are those shown in the auction link, and that I also attached to my fist post here. Don't shoot the messenger!!

If you actually followed that auction link above, you'll see the statements about it being new were from the auction listing itself, I was questioning the same thing in my initial post, and came here with those pictures for some expert advice to add or detract from the assertion of newness claimed in the auction listing. I won't get the actual gun in my hands for a month or so, but when I do I will immediately post up a bunch of pictures, including all markings and mfgr marks and codes visible. THEN....we can go from some actual information.

My primary interest for a little support of the claim as to the gun being "new" had nothing to do with the finish, per se, but rather more about the condition of the metal and metal work it seems to show in the above pictures. The physical condition of the metal shown seems to advise that the gun and its parts have seen little exposure to service conditions and seems largely devoid of any scratches, dings, dents, or abusive treatments.....i,.e., it looks "new". Would be happy to hear any comments toward that light.......

Two helpful comments posted above-

"The Barrel is an Inglis replacement, the Daimler type has no key way for the locating peg found on an Inglis Mk2."

-and-

"......that the sliding butt group assembly is also Inglis (Canadian)"

THIS is the kind of supporting evidence that I was looking for! Things visible to Ya'lls eyes that I might not know about or catch on to......so, THANKS!!

(That said,,,,,pls educate me.....What gave away the fact that these are Inglis parts??)

The above two comments pretty much tell me what I need to know.....it's not all original Brit parts, so there we go. I am now more than ever inclined to question how this assemblage of mis-matched parts managed to not be beat up and show signs of use??

It's a Century Intl import.....so I guess I can go call George Samson and see what he can tell me about the serial number. He's pried open the books before for such a question.

(Peter- Thanks for your kind reply initially; Upon Herbie's kind invites, I have spent more hours than I care to remember bent over long tables and pull out drawers examining subtle nuances among markings and tooling marks on all manner of obscure ordnance at the old Pattern Room. Despite Richard's long suffering looks, I managed to learn quite an abundance of things, high quality optical magnifier in hand. I didn't even need aspirin tablets to bring up the markings like Dolf, my eyes aren't THAT old yet!

And, Yes, I do know what "new" really looks like- when that whack of unopened Sterling Mk IV's popped up here for sale again a year or so ago, as soon as one came in we immediately emailed a ton pictures directly to David Howroyd, who confirmed the pedigree of all the wrapping paper, taping, and packaging just as he remembered doing it. He even joked his fingerprints were probably all over it! So, yeah, I'm not mistaking "new" here with this Bren, just looking for some input based upon the pictures I supplied. Until I get the gun here, that's all I have to go on..... ;-) )

-TomH