I have never seen that film before. Obviously made at Hythe, at the Small Arms School hence SASC on the shoulder titles there (SAS on the rear of the 15cwt truck). If my friend Maurice Fogwell was still alive, he could have identified the identities of the men in the film,. Sadly, he's gone. Anyone get the serial number of the early original Mk1 gun. Notice the 'safety stop' on the early barrel nut.
added later..... Ruptured cartridges requiring the use of the clearing plug wasn't a big problem with the .303 or 762 Brens because the case wasn't snatched from the chamber. Rather, as the breech block tilted upwards it levered the case from its locked taper. Primary extraction in operation so extraction was a gentle tweak followed by a violent ejection. So violent that if it wasn't for the hefty oval punch that sealed the primer into the case and (on the .303 gun), the stake mark by the ejector that reinforced the punched and expanded primer, the Bren would suffer from stoppages caused by detached primer caps clogging up the mechanism
Last edited by Peter Laidler; 06-10-2019 at 12:45 PM.
Always interesting to see these videos. They focus so much on WW1 experience.
As for the serial number I would say A5023. Think prefix A and 23 as last two numbers are easy to spot. First number has top heavy reflections on the receiver and a round bottom reflection on the butt slide with a round top reflection around the middle high of the whole number. Thats why I would guess a 5 or perhaps a 6 but 5 would match the receiver reflection better. The second number has a round bottom and round top reflection on the buttslide with a very even colored middle section. So I guess a 0. Would also match the receiver reflection.
Don't know if these number would even match with the produced double dovetail MK1 brens. That's not my expertise
I checked my list as I thought the SASC may still have held that gun but alas, nothing ending in 23.
A5024 exists in the UK as a deac sold a few years back
A1180 is held by SASC at Warminster, close to Tiriaqs suggestion but probably just a coincidence.
PM
