Mk1 Magazine

[peregrinvs]

I hereby register the latest known example of an unmodified Mk1 Bren magazine. Brought in from the wild at the War & Peace show on Wednesday and the dealer concerned was blissfully unaware of its status.
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I'm currently half way through cleaning it up. This is the third one that has passed through my hands and they've all had paint on them. A coincidence?

Information

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[Brit plumber]

Does it happen to have any N^Z markings? Good spot by the way, the rest of the Bren lovers including myself must have been asleep!

I picked up some wreck recovered Boys AT rounds (Sans Projectiles) and a very early M1 marked M1A1 ammo can for the 1917A1 machine gun recently used by the German Army for 7.62 belted.

Also put a deposit down on a Bren IMG 16GA.

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[Woodsy]

Well spotted! All the Mk I mags we have found here in NZ were all prominently stamped N^Z. The NZ painted mags are usually a straw colour for desert camo.

[peregrinvs]

Does it happen to have any N^Z markings? Good spot by the way, the rest of the Bren lovers including myself must have been asleep!

I picked up some wreck recovered Boys AT rounds (Sans Projectiles) and a very early M1 marked M1A1 ammo can for the 1917A1 machine gun recently used by the German Army for 7.62 belted.

Also put a deposit down on a Bren IMG 16GA.

Having scraped most of the paint off, there only seem to be Enfield markings on the exterior. Some of the internals are also Enfield marked. It cost £10 as the dealer claimed in was ex-Chindit. A likely tale, but I didn't quibble as I had my eyes on the greater prize...

Were the Boys cartridge cases the ones covered in grot that were £10 for 5 with a charger? I bought a rusty WWI Mills No.36 drill grenade as a 'have fun restoring it' project.

[Brit plumber]

Having scraped most of the paint off, there only seem to be Enfield markings on the exterior. Some of the internals are also Enfield marked. It cost £10 as the dealer claimed in was ex-Chindit. A likely tale, but I didn't quibble as I had my eyes on the greater prize...

Were the Boys cartridge cases the ones covered in grot that were £10 for 5 with a charger? I bought a rusty WWI Mills No.36 drill grenade as a 'have fun restoring it' project.

They were 5 on a clip for £17 and were grotty but I've put one on a .55" bar and placed it in my lathe chuck, spun it on a low speed and carefully scrapped the crud off with a broken parting tool. It's come out very well and by the time I've machined up a dummy projectile out of stainless I doubt the laymen would ever know it spent 30 years at the bottom of the sea.

[peregrinvs]

They were 5 on a clip for £17 and were grotty but I've put one on a .55" bar and placed it in my lathe chuck, spun it on a low speed and carefully scrapped the crud off with a broken parting tool. It's come out very well and by the time I've machined up a dummy projectile out of stainless I doubt the laymen would ever know it spent 30 years at the bottom of the sea.

I've also had good results using diluted citric acid to clean dirty/tarnished brass. The trick is not to leave it in too long as it will start to attack the metal.

I found a dealer online a few months back that had .55 Boys projectiles listed for sale with the AP cores removed as I have an empty case. Unfortunately when I enquired further he said he couldn't find them.

[nzl1a1collector]

Woodsy, there's a Mk. 1 Bren Mag coming up in Teds next Auction in October, and there is a box of 11 standard mags (Mk. 2, Mk2*, Mk.3) as well

I didn't see any N/|\Z markings on the mag, just the Enfield markings.

[Peter Laidler]

They say that a lot of this stuff is coming from the wreckage of the Lancastria that was ambushed on its way back from France supposedly in secret, bringing the last possible stocks of heavy equipment back. That'd be a wreck to see, full of heavy artillery and anti-tank stuff - so said - to defent the UK from the forthcoming invasion

[browningautorifle]

RMS Lancastria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This one?

[Peter Laidler]

That's the one. It is said that the shortage of support artillery and other major stores during the retreat to Dunkirk and Calais was because it was all(?) being moved away to be recovered instead of the inevitable loss at Dunkirk. History ain't my forte I have to say.........