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Thread: Bren MkI double dovetail question

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  1. #21
    Legacy Member Brit plumber's Avatar
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    As you say Peter, it's more the omission of superfluous machining rather than improvements however the overall simplification could be called an improvement.

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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

  3. #22
    Legacy Member forti-cinis's Avatar
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    I’ve not seen a lower like that before, Interesting.

    So as to my barrels. They are actually NOS mk2’s. So there

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  6. #23
    Legacy Member Brit plumber's Avatar
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    So they are, I can see they don't have the larger diameter seat behind the stainless flash sleeve. What finish have you used? Looks quite good.

  7. #24
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    Parkerized then Cerakote 50/50 Black/Sniper Grey.

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    Anyway, my Bren is a Mk1m, so it’s feasible that the lower is correct. It’s a transitional Bren, brobably one of 2000 made that have a DDT but no dimples, profiling around the mag catch, and no chamfers on the back end. Being that the grip is early and the complexity is reduce on the receiver, it’s likely that the lower is early but also reduced complexity.

  9. #26
    Legacy Member Brit plumber's Avatar
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    I'm intrigued now, what's the serial number of your Bren and is it marked Mk1m? A 'm' marking would indicate a Canadianicon gun. I'm assuming it's F8037 and not m marked. If it is (but still no m) your gun could be one that needed some remedial work carrying out during production as the last DD Enfield guns were in the E99xx range except for those remedial guns which have been observed into the K ranges (but very few).

    The last gun with an original early lower I have recorded was E2348 and the first was F3335.
    Last edited by Brit plumber; 11-17-2017 at 01:01 PM.

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  11. #27
    Legacy Member forti-cinis's Avatar
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    F8037.

    Marked “mk1.”

    Taken from the Ima-USA page when I bought it:

    The Britishicon Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk in late May and early June 1940 under severe pressure from the Germanicon Wehrmacht. They left most of their equipment, including the new Bren Gun, behind on the beaches; so that virtually all Brens in existence now are of post-Dunkirk manufacture. Not only that, but at the beginning of July, a directive was executed indicating that a number of time-saving changes were to be made in the design, and these resulted in the Mark I Modified (Mk I/M) on August 21 and the Mark II right after on September 4. In other words, the Mk I essentially ceased to exist right after Dunkirk, and much of what had been manufactured before Dunkirk was lost, making the Mk I receiver a genuine rarity.

    IMA has obtained a very small number of original Mk I receivers dated 1940 and has made them into parts sets. The Mk I is distinguished in several ways from all later receivers: the left side of the receiver has TWO vertical dovetail slots. The rear slot is for the drum sight, while the front slot is for an indirect-fire dial sight. The right side features a prominent reinforcing rib at the rear of the magazine well; the top front of the well normally has two oval lightening dimples. The top rear of the receiver was beveled to remove additional weight. These features were abandoned to simplify and speed manufacture. Lastly, the gas cylinder section of the receiver has complex lightening cuts, and the gas shield has a concave groove on the front to control exhaust gas direction.

    However, it would appear that the changes were not all done immediately. We have found an Enfield (E in D) logo marked receiver that has characteristics of both the true Mark I, and the Mark I* (modified). This receiver has the second sight dovetail, as well as the reinforcement on the other side of the magazine well. The gas tube is deeply fluted in the typical early MkI Style. However, the "dimples" at the front of the magazine well are absent, as is the beveling on the rear of the receiver. In all likelihood, this is a receiver that was in production as the changes were being made after Dunkirk, and the last lightening cuts were omitted. A fantastic bit of history for any Bren collector.

  12. #28
    Legacy Member Brit plumber's Avatar
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    It does sound like your gun has been back for remedial work and finished later so the Mk1* lower would be correct. Guns in that serial range only retain the fluted gas ports and have lost the Second Dovetail and right side reinforcing rib. This serial range I have observed to be F7492 to F9140 (Give or take a hundred or so) and is early 1941.

    The only other possibility is that the serial number section of the kit came from a later gun than the rest of it. Please don't think I'm picking fault, it would be nice to provide you the evidence that your gun is a oddity in regards to the model and serial range/date.

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  14. #29
    Legacy Member forti-cinis's Avatar
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    Hey no problem. So being that it does have the features that it does. Is it possible to look the way it does, or should it have more lightning features with the DD. If I was to make it more period correct, for interest sake at this point, what should it look like and what serial should it have?

    What it has:
    -Cupped shield
    -Fluted piston section
    -DDT
    -RH rib
    What it could have:
    -Dimples
    -Relieved mag catch
    -Chamfers on rear body

    ---------- Post added at 09:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------

    SOLD Bren Mk1 Double Dovetail Enfield 1940 - MJLmilitaria

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  16. #30
    Legacy Member Brit plumber's Avatar
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    With the serial it has, it could be a gun that's had remedial work and therefor what you have is pretty much correct. If you wanted to go with what would be correct for the majority of this variation then it would need the earlier lower, gas regulator and barrel handle.

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