L4A1 mag on the L1A1 Rifle?

[Charlie303]

Was the L4A1 (Bren Gun) mag ever used on the SLR?
I’ve heard (anecdotally) that it was used in the Radfan, rubber sorbo being used to prevent the mag banging on rocks. Another acquaintance reports that it was tried but that in practice they didn’t work as well as the 20 rnd because the L4A1 magazine is designed to feed downwards rather than upwards and therefore, the spring couldn’t cope.
Shooting prone would place the mag on the ground. This could be an advantage in steadying the aim, but I’ve also heard that it’s bad practice as it alters the POA and leads to wear on the rifle/mag attachments.

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[browningautorifle]

In the Canadian army we traded with the BATUS people in Suffield for the 7.62 Bren mags. That way a soldier could "own" a 30 rd magazine and not have it taken by the CQ. I tell you for a fact they worked flawlessly, as I used them for years. They were in high demand within our troops wish lists.

[Charlie303]

Jim,

Many thanks.

How about shooting from the prone position? The mag resting on the ground steadies the rifle, but again, I've been told that this is bad practice. What do you think?

Regards

Charlie

[browningautorifle]

We didn't make a habit of resting mags, though the rifle team made it a practice. The book said no. I don't recall having issues with it resting on the ground. I didn't get that snake like. It never seemed to give me ANY trouble...

[Peter Laidler]

They were made to be fully interchangeable and work flawlessly as stated by BAR.

You could rest it on the ground if you were being silly but you'll chew up the base after the first detail! If you're going to rest an L1A1 it must be in the palm of the hand with the hand resting on a sandbag or something similar. There will be a distinct change of MPI if you use the magazine. Not a lot of people know that

[tankhunter]

A small but significent question from me, open to all who may be able to contribute.

The L4 used a slightly curved Mag. However, the South African conversion on any mark of their Brens used a stright one. The aussie & Canadian heavy barrelled Rifle/Light MG also used a straight Mag.

I am aware that the Brit L4 Series was curved to prevent misfeeds. Why was the straight mag a sucess over the curved versions? Anyone know the answer?

PETER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!................ ...........

[browningautorifle]

I think it was a success by chance. The reason I see them using a straight mag in Canada was to use the same forming machines for the mags. A curved or "arctuate" mag(as Colt called theirs) would require a different set of machines and we tend to be a bit cheap there. And they DID work for the most part.

[Peter Laidler]

There were patent issues with the curved, supposedly more reliable UK made L4 magazines and we wouldn't allow Australia or Canada to manuafcture them without royalty payments. This also applied to Australia when she wanted to convert her own Brens to L4 spec (Canada didn't bother!) So as they were already producing the internal parts for the 20 round rifle magazines it was a simple matter to just make the rifle magazine longer.

Nothing more to it than that. Next question...........

[DOD 7.62]

There were patent issues with the curved, supposedly more reliable UK made L4 magazines and we wouldn't allow Australia or Canada to manuafcture them without royalty payments. This also applied to Australia when she wanted to convert her own Brens to L4 spec (Canada didn't bother!) So as they were already producing the internal parts for the 20 round rifle magazines it was a simple matter to just make the rifle magazine longer.

Nothing more to it than that. Next question...........

So the next question Peter is; Lithgow had been manufacturing straight 30rd magazines for the L2 since its introduction in 1962, why then (especially if they had to pay mum for the privilege) did they start manufacturing L4 patten curved 30 rd mags in the early seventies for the L4's? I have several MA L4 30 round mags date stamped 72 and 73? I agree both mags work fine in both, so why did they bother?

[Peter Laidler]

I NEVER saw a 30 round curved L4 Bren magazine in all my time in Oz and NZ with the L2's and L4's only the straight ones. In Malaya there were both curved pommy and straight Aust types but the Ordnance stocks were pooled in any case. Why Lithgow reverted to making curved ones after the early 70's is unknown to me. Maybe, and it's just a maybe here, but like her home produced L4 barrels, when Lithgow looked into the matter, they found out that any supposed intellectual property rights as were pertaining to the 7.62mm barrels, were unenforceable* so like the barrels, just went ahead and replaced old worn out stocks of straight 30 round magazines with curved ones. The only IPR that could be enforced was the gun body presumably.

Clive Connors RAEME the Brigade Armourer was responsible for bringing the L4 into service, albeit limited service and made all this palava known to us during our Friday tea-time unwinding down sessions in the bar. Kindly Clive insisted that all us singlies (the single lads) had to be back in our billets by midnight, bless him. I wonder where he is now! Sorry for going off at a tangent but I still remember them all fondly

* How do you control the property rights when Lithgow already has authority to make Bren barrels in .303". And to make then with a different bore/chamber size which is already out of patent and call that a breech of IPR is a nonsense