Bren serial numbers.

[02maddog]

Enfield Mk 111, dated 1944
SN: EA 9656
Re-chambered South African 7.62mm

[Peter Laidler]

Strange..... All Mk3's were numbered LB xxxxx except the late ones which were what we called the informative number type. A picture would be useful

[Brit plumber]

Enfield Mk 111, dated 1944
SN: EA 9656
Re-chambered South African 7.62mm

EA 9656 is an odd number and most likely not the original unless it is LB9656 which would be marked Mk3 rather than MkIII

[02maddog]

I've taken the number from the barrel nut - it's the only number that's not been milled out. I'm presuming it would be the same as the SN? If it's not the same then all I've got are SADF numbers. Definitely marked as 'MK III'. I will take some pics and post just as soon as I've worked out how to post them on here.

[Peter Laidler]

I can understand why the barrel nut wasn't cleaned up. They were diamond hard and a real PITFA to number! Best done with a scratchy pen or diamond drag cutter. If you stamped them prepare to knacker your stamps OR if you hit the nut handle where it was hollow underneath, the buggers could just punch through.........

[Brit plumber]

If it's marked as MkIII then it has to be one of the first 8500 Mk3 guns.

[02maddog]

Photos attached as promised.

[Peter Laidler]

OUCH.............. I bet that made the number stamps sing when he whacked them like that! The barrel nuts (and the catches) are diamond hard........... You'd shoot out a barrel before you wore out a barrel nut, believe me. As a matter of interest, what backsight did they/SA use? Was it the bog standard Mk3 .303/yards backsight or a recalibrated 7.62mm sight.

It was said that the .303" backsight could be used on the 7.62mm guns if you read the yard range scale as metres. That might have been sort-of correct UP TO about 100 yards but thereafter, following a logarithmic scale of whitewash, it was a total farce. Or in official Army terminology heard in Armourers shops of the era, ' load of total bollo......' What's the word I am looking for now?

What the .303" gun was useful for was as the sub calibre aiming gun for the early big and beefy MOBAT and lightened CONBAT as both trajectories were a match. Sorry for wandering off course a bit

[02maddog]

This SADF 7.62 seems to have a recalibrated sight. I can stick a photo up later now that I know how

[Brit plumber]

I'm pretty sure all my SANDF guns have normal .303 sights to be read as Meters, the Mk1s are 100% bog standard.