54R Bren Issues

[Joe H]

Djandj,

No matter how you slice it or dice it your Bren is not working properly on 54r ammo, either steel or brass cased. Since you had a steel case blow out on rd 3 I doubt the problem was caused by tight HS and heat.

The only other issue I can think of is the cycling problem. Possibly the bolt is opening prematurely because the carrier is not fully forward when the gun is fired allowing extraction before the pressure has dropped. Pretty easy to check but an issue that may be happening sporadically. Could be caused by a weak return spring or something else that causes drag on the carrier return. Before you pull the trigger turn the gun over, muzzle pointed safely downrange of course, and see if the carrier is in the correct position "A" relative to the bolt (see attached pic). You could also hand cycle with dummy ammo. The carrier should end up in Position "A" EVERY time the gun cycles. I found when building my semi that this was a problem to solve before any test firing was done. I think you mentioned in one of your early posts that you did have some recoil spring problems.

It is very difficult to diagnose a problem like this without actually getting your hands on the gun. You might try the gunsmith that Wally G recommended.

Other than that get a .303 barrel and if that works be content with .303 British

Joe