Discovered a slight issue before test fire.
Racking the slide by hand and making sure everything slides smooth with no drag or binding I discovered one area that needs minor fitting.
When I test snapped the primed case I lightly squeezed the trigger until the striker let go and lit it up. Cycling by hand and getting a feel for the trigger operation I noticed my striker was dragging on the disconnect. It was more noticeable when I applied a full and firm trigger squeeze. The added trigger squeeze put more pressure on the disconnector and the edge of it was sticking up higher and really slowing the striker down.
It was an easy fix by taking some material off the leading edge of the disconnector and polishing its contact surface. I will test fire it but the weather is total crap today and do not feel like lugging the Bren out in the rain. I might take some more material off the disconnector to reduce more drag.
You just need enough surface to reset the sear as the striker passes over the top.
At least it looks good on the tripod~
Looking very nice.
What process did you use to refinish the butt plate and tab?
I have a new butt stock on the way and want to refinish my original finish butt plate, et al. stock metal. I am considering a gunmetal cerakoting.
The rest of the gun is parkerized and in great shape.
Last edited by AmEngRifles; 02-15-2022 at 01:13 PM.
I am claiming victory after battling with minor issues that makes the difference between a working gun and a paperweight.
I have learned a LOT about Bren's and the MKI during my build which will help me moving forward.
The fit , alignment and everything on my MKI go together smooth as silk yet I was having problems getting more than 5 shots out of it consistently.
That started with it being a single shot that when I made changes and thinking I solved the problem/s only to discover something was still not right.
My MKI has the original gas cylinder , piston and carrier that measure and fit as new. I know about the gas loss with the MKI and the change to the MKII gas cylinder but that was not any of my problem/s.
My biggest issue was getting the disconnector to reset consistently and not making a huge drag on my striker movement forward or aft.
I put a relief radius on the disconnector with reduced surface contact / drag that helped but still did not fix my problem.
What I learned from looking at the stock Bren carrier and lower frame is the original designed gun used a flat pad on the piston post bottom to trip / reset the disconnector for semi auto fire. When a striker block is added behind the carrier you are now eliminating that piston post resetting the disconnector and that role is now done by the striker block.
On my gun it took a fair amount or force to reset the disconnector which put drag on the striker / not good.
I isolated that function and extended the bottom of the piston post by the length of the striker block. I also slotted the bottom of the striker block to clear the disconnector.
This removed drag and any returned the reset function to the recoil cycle of the carrier and piston post , like the original gun.
BIG difference on my gun and function.
I used key 3/16" key stock and made the height the same as the stock piston post reset area~
Stock Bren disconnector reset function~
Stock with striker block added~
Extended reset area on piston post bottom~
Slotted Striker Bottom to clear disconnector~
NOT working~
After Mods....it.....is .....alive.
Now it's working nice...very nice. Well done.
Regards, Jim