Bren gun butt slides.....

[csmarcher]

Peter

Have you or anyone got any further on just why we number the butt slide to the gun? Everyone can understand barrels, barrel nuts but why butt slides?

Been wondering about this.....

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[Peter Laidler]

That's a good and timely question CSM! Have been assembling some recently using a couple of slave bodies to test them on afterwards. The only thing I can think of or which is apparent is that some are a bit tight in one body but not in others. But this in itself shouldn't cause concerns because a few deft strokes with a smooth file along the slide runners cures that! The only other reason that I did come across that MIGHT be a sticking point might be the alignment of the cocking handle slide recess in the butt slide matching exactly with the cocking handle slide in the body. But once again, if that was a problem, it wouldn't be one for long with an Armourer armed with a half decent file! After all, assembling the gun was a hand fitting operation in any case

Nope......., still a complete mystery to me. Especially as you allude, there was no requirement to number the piston and breech block assembly to the .303" guns. There was with the L4's and most Armourers working with mixed fleets of L4's and Brens would number as a matter of course. We persisted in numbering right to the end and even the L4 butt slides and operation were geometrically identical with the .303 guns

What about you Tankie? Skippy? Bruce in Oz?

[TactAdv]

Peter, it may actually be a bit more esoteric. Often times, things like that that seemingly have no viable justification at first glance are for purposes not readily apparent, here in the USA at one point we were obsessed with stamping all kinds of information that were encoded only to make sense to the MANUFACTURING realm, for instance, such things as "heat lots" of the underlying alloy batches used in various parts. Also coded were things like source origin, by contractor or location, for various reasons. Also common were codes resolving to various specific pieces of tooling, like stamping dies, that tied with known dates of production could provide known data points to specific production times, or places.......all in case of problems developing later. At which point they could figure out where/when/which tooling the last known good parts came from, or where/when/how it started to go south......that saved a LOT of time/money/hassles of they could then "bracket" the good and bad stuff and zero in on only where the bad parts started showing up in the process.

Serializing the lowers, specifically, may have been done for no other visible reason than to identify, by pairing with the same serial number upper receiver, where/when it was made such that if problems occurred, those lowers could be focused on. Also potentially, it may have been for no other reason than a lingering requirement from the license, or other purely regulatory reason/source origin.

As you know, that was not always the case.

-TomH

[tankhunter]

Pete, It would seem to my mind. That Brens were manufactured & assembled in a 'Tradtional' Way as all Firearms of the period, & preceding it. IE: Craftsman like skills & quality! It has always been done this Way, etc, etc.
Numbering was common as you know, on critical & hand fitted/ gauged components. The Germans were fanatic about numbering their stuff. Luger's Etc, being just a small example. (There are indeed, a LOT of hand fitted parts in a Luger!)
We didn't go as Mad as they did though. IE: Numbering sling bands with the last two digets on rifles, Etc!.......

We just carried it on that way. 'Because it has always been done'. Etc.........The cynical part of Me (& you will know what I mean here Pete) is that it kept the Engraving Shop Busy. Where the Civvies worked, & time was money to them. In Bonus work!.............. LOL

Just my random thoughts from Expirience!