Irish Army Bren Mag Tin

[Flying10uk]

Does any-one know if the Irish Army used the British metal 12mag tin for the 30rnd Bren mag and if so does any-one have an example which they know to be ex Irish Army? I am speculating that they did use them and if so did they purchase 2nd hand U.K. examples or did they have brand new ones made when they purchased their Brens in the 1950s? I am especially interested to see how they marked their tins. Thanks for any info.

Information

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[skiprat]

I have an early 6 magazine and mag loader/tool kit box that came from the Irish Army. I believe these were issued alongside the 12 mag boxes.

[ZGB]

I have a few here to look at, that 100% came over with the shipment from Ireland. There seems to be 3 types.
1. ZB made half box that contains 6 mags
2. ZB made full 12 mag box
3. Post war made britisth 12 mag boxes, bronze green colour, standard makings on the front.
Makers marks. LSL/57 on the front of the box. PMD 1955 BE6094 on the lid with large
broad arrow. These are the most common makers.
No other special markings, they are off the shelf so to speak,except you can find some
marked up to platoons/companies.
There is another possability which is british WW2 made boxes which went over with the early MK1 ENFIELD BRENS, but i have seen a lot of tins from this Irish batch and there does not seem to be any that have turned up in any number. Well done SKIPRAT they are a bit rare those 6 mag half boxes.

[Peter Laidler]

Has anyone seen Canadian 7.92 boxes that seem to have been converted from the standard .303" magazine box BUT with a steel separator plate across the length to retain the shorter 7.92 mags. The separator part seems to allow the wallet to be rolled up and fitted in the space behind it. Too well done and thought out to be some mickey mouse one-off thing and seeing two several years apart makes me think that it can't be a one-off effort by someone

[Flying10uk]

Is ZB that has been mentioned as manufacturing the 6 and 12 mag tin for the Irish Army an Irish company or located within Ireland or is ZB located elsewhere? Peter, is the separator plate you mention on the 7.92 converted tin attached to the front part of the tin and not the lid? Thanks for the information on the mag tins and it is surprising how much there is to it just on the subject of the Bren mag tin. Does any-one know if Australia made the Bren mag tin; it would seem logical that they did but I have not seen an example. I have a tin with a Canadian acceptance marking and could be of Canadian manufacture but this has not been confirmed.

[Peter Laidler]

Separator thinggy in the base, across from L to R and the rolled up wallet does fit in. And it's the wallet that the gun crew need to carry in action and not the barrel bag - that's never (?) carried. The second barrel is usually carried across the No2's chest, tucked under the yoke straps above the pouches

[Flying10uk]

A slightly different to the norm Bren mag tin which I acquired recently has the stencilled identification markings on the back of the tin and not on the front as is usual. The tin has a dispersal code of M/202 with Broad Arrow acceptance markings stamped on the front of the tin and so is of British wartime origin. The black stencilled markings reads thus: A500-00-06094 with just BOX BREN below. This tin takes the standard .303 mag and I'm guessing that the number is a Nato number but I am not sure?

[Sentryduty]

A500-00-06094 with just BOX BREN below. This tin takes the standard .303 mag and I'm guessing that the number is a Nato number but I am not sure?

That isn't quite the right format for Nato Stock Numbers, might be one of the older stocking systems though.

[Peter Laidler]

Did Eire adopt the NSN accounting system? Are they even part of NATO?

[Peter Laidler]

As a matter of little interest, the price of Bren box in 1965 was £2:50p and a magazine £2:10p. A tripod £25, blank firing barrel £11:25p And a simple bipod, £12.