Bren "Commando" Foregrip Fit Problem

[tj214]

Anybody figured out how to mount the aftermarket "British WWII Bren Gun Commando Foregrip" sold by ima-usa and a ton of other places? On my Inglis Mk II the Pin, Mounting, Front and Rear (#3 [BE 9470] on Plate D2 in Skennerton's book) will not slide through the hole bored in the foregrip attaching handle. There is no way I can see to line it up so the pin will slide through.

Attachment 101309

Has anybody else had this problem? Solutions welcome!

Information

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[AmEngRifles]

Anybody figured out how to mount the aftermarket "British WWII Bren Gun Commando Foregrip" sold by ima-usa and a ton of other places? On my Inglis Mk II the Pin, Mounting, Front and Rear (#3 [BE 9470] on Plate D2 in Skennerton's book) will not slide through the hole bored in the foregrip attaching handle. There is no way I can see to line it up so the pin will slide through.

Attachment 101309

Has anybody else had this problem? Solutions welcome!

Hate to make it this simple, but have you backed the “adjustment screw” out? I recall that when it is in the “tightened all the way down” position, it will indeed not allow you to fit pin thru mounting hole. And I recall the mounting flange being tight but with some persuasion, will fit n place. If yours is extremely tight, you may want to file the sides of the mounting flange just a bit to narrow it...

Good luck.

[tj214]

Well, maybe not "never" . . .

Attachment 101328

I was hoping I missed some sort of simple trick (yes, I did remove the tightening screw before starting the fitting process, but thanks for pointing out this must be done).

My problem/solution may apply only to an Inglis Mk II, but to get the foregrip mount to fit I had to remove 3/64" of metal from the radius at the top of the mount directly over the mounting hole. Once I ground that part down the pin was able to slide through the grip mounting hole without a problem and all was cool. The area I ground down is not visible once the grip is in place.

Perhaps not an issue with the Mk III/IV?

[tj214]

The fit problem has been discussed here before? Hmmm. I used the site search box to ensure I wasn't covering ground already tilled, but nothing related to fit came up.

Since the photo I uploaded earlier clearly shows a foregrip in combat use, do you mean the man in the pic made it himself (or his unit had them locally fabricated, etc.)?

[Peter Laidler]

That was nothing like we ever fitted. There has been info on the Forum and the pictures differ slightly to the official instructions, known to us at the time as FEMOD 1 (or whatever number it was!) Our fore-grips were a locally made on an adapted copy lathe sort-of variation of the rear grip that bolted upwards into the trough over which slides the ejection opening cover with a small anti-rotation stud to the rear(?) of the through bolt. If my memory serves me correctly, the retaining bolt was a Mk2 rear grip bolt, through the new shorter type of front grip So in effect, the grip was mounted 2.5 to 3" rearwardsof the front mounting hole. That was for a very good reason. The short Gurkhas and Malay troops wouldn't be able to reach the front grip if it was too far forward so it was where the modification instructions say it should be. Best to carry it across the chest, with the REAR grip resting on the top of your right hand pouch, elbow at the rear and tucked in. Much less strain on your left elbow and shoulder. Another thing was that when the guns were wet, in the monsoons or river tracks - which was pretty well all of the time, after one or two short bursts the water would turn to steam. So you couldn't actually aim as such. The guns as we modified them for the Infantry Battalions all had to retain the facility to close up the rear folding bipods.

To be honest, while the Brens were good, at the fighting/engagement ranges, shotguns and SMG's were better. The heavy firepower would come from the section rifle-power

[Flying10uk]

I used the site search box to ensure I wasn't covering ground already tilled, but nothing related to fit came up.

http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=53680

[Peter Laidler]

That's how I remember them.

[tj214]

BAR, once again you've misread a good-faith request on this site.

The article linked by F10 is very interesting and generally helpful, but as I'm certain F10 knows, wholly irrelevant to my question since it addresses a completely different grip. You'll recall I originally asked specifically about the fitment of the aftermarket grip in the pic I provided. The one described in that article is nothing like the one sold by IMA-USA and others and therefore does not answer my original question, which I asked in good faith.

Your snipes have not been relevant or at all helpful or educational, but in fairness I have to admit you're not picking exclusively on me--you misread quite a few requests and answer in the vein you've shown here. As an Advisory Panel member I would have expected considerably more professionalism from you.

[Flying10uk]

I believe that I am correct in stating that this item is "non military issue" that someone has come up/produced so that people don't have to drill holes in their lower slides/receivers. This "grip attachment", pictured, has probably been produced in a workshop with "fairly flexible tolerances", so it is little surprise that it may, in some instances, need some slight adjustment in order to make it to fit properly.

In general terms if a hole is too small for a pin to fit through properly, the normal thing to do is to ream the hole out a fraction so that it does fit or, if necessary, reduce a pin diameter a fraction.

Why not post some photos, of the issue, so people can better understand the problem that you are having?

I assume that you have fully unscrewed/removed the small machine screw (second pic) before trying to fit the grip attachment? I would assume that the purpose of this screw is to "lock" the grip in position once fitted? Obviously if it is screwed in too far to start with, there is no way that the grip will fit.

[Peter Laidler]

The best method of identifying something that's not military is to ask yourself '.....would this last 10 minutes on a good day in the hands of a crunchie'? Or '.....would this last less that 5 minutes in the hands of a crunchie on a BAD day, say, under incoming fire?' If the answer is NO, as in the case of these 'things', then that's your answer. Or as your average plain speaking digger would say '...a load of crap.....'.

TJ24, listen in, the item isn't real, it's the figment of someones wild imagination out to make a quick buck. Me AND BAR say it like it is