Hello all,
I'm new here and I'm starting on a Bren L4 build and have some questions that I couldn't find answers to while reading and searching through the forum. So here goes nothing....

The kit: a Bren L4a4 that started its life as a MkIII with a 1945 date stamped on the side. It now sits in 4 torch cut pieces on my work bench. I actually ordered a MkIII parts kit and received this L4 by mistake from the company I ordered from. It actually turned out to be not such a bad thing as I mostly shoot 7.62 nato in my rifles, so one less caliber to shop for I guess.

The worst cut is in the barrel sleeve section of the receiver. It's not THAT bad and I've seen kits with much worse cuts in much worse places. It's mostly cosmetic and will be built back with weld (which I've already started. I'll get to that in a bit). There's about 80% of the original barrel shoulder/face left so I have an actual location to go off of.

My first question is more of a curiosity because I've never seen this type of thing come up in any Bren build that I've read or watched online. As I was welding the front of the mag well/barrel face/shoulder section, I noticed that there was some sort of separation in the barrel sleeve of the receiver. It looks as though there is some sort of "ring" sleeve on the front ≈1/4" of the barrel sleeve of the receiver. I never noticed this while preparing the kit for reweld. But when I was building up weld in this area, I noticed separation and movement of the "ring". Looking at Bren parts diagrams, exploded views, and blueprints, I can't find a name for this part or even proof of its existence anywhere. Being fairly familiar with most weapon systems, the only conclusion I could come up with is that, because this is a L4 and is modified from a previously mkIII Bren, it had a partial sleeve inserted into the bore to possibly fit a different barrel profile or tolerance for the 7.62 nato barrels? Can anybody confirm this? I haven't read anything about this anywhere.

I will attempt to post pictures of what I am talking about.
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