Bren (Light machine gun)

[Bootie]

Bren

The Bren Gun was Britain's primary light machine gun of WWII. It was adopted by the British army in 1935 to replace the aging Lewis Gun. It fired .30 caliber rounds at a rate of 500rpm. The disadvantages of the weapon were that it fired much slower than its German counterparts, and it only accepted box or drum magazines, which meant more frequent reloading than belt fed machine guns.
Its weight also stretched the definition of "light" machine gun, often requiring it to be partially disassembled and its parts carried by two soldiers when on long march. Despite these shortcomings, it was popular with British troops, and respected for its high reliability and combat effectivenes. It was manufactured by the Enfield armory, and is still in use in modified forms by the British military today.

 

[Louis]

A british Bren gun crew keep watch in a trench at Anzio, 1944.

 

[Nathangun]

When I was in the reserve army as a teenager we trained with Bren's.
I could strip the weapon blind-folded in under a minute.
Great fun to fire.

 

[mTk]

Did that clip get in the way of sighting a bit?

 

[Bootie]

Did that clip get in the way of sighting a bit?

The sight was slightly offset.... left handed shooters couldnt position their head correctly to use the gun.

 

[Nathangun]

Did that clip get in the way of sighting a bit?

No, like Bootie said, the sights where at the side of the barrel.

 

[rocketman]

I saw a documentary on WWII and they mentioned that some considered the Bren to be too accurate. So that when putting down suppressive fire the bullits were not spread over enough space to have the desired effect. The first time I've heard of a weapon being too accurate.

 

[Richtig]

I saw a documentary on WWII and they mentioned that some considered the Bren to be too accurate. So that when putting down suppressive fire the bullits were not spread over enough space to have the desired effect. The first time I've heard of a weapon being too accurate.

Sort of reminds me of the issue the delta guys had in the operation highlighted by the film Black Hawk Down, they were using (someone will correct me here -) titanium rounds that went straight through their targets and left neat little holes - didn't drop the target as well as I am sure they would have wished...

 

[Louis]

Troops of 15th Scottish Division fire a Bren gun in the town of Kranenburg, 10 Feb 1945.

 

[Louis]

Aussie with Bren

 

[Louis]

Indian troops man a Bren gun on an anti-aircraft tripod, Western Desert, April 1941.

 

[Villiamza]

I saw a documentary on WWII and they mentioned that some considered the Bren to be too accurate. So that when putting down suppressive fire the rounds were not spread over enough space to have the desired effect. The first time I've heard of a weapon being too accurate.

Yup thats correct, its desirable in a support weapon that it spreads its fall of shot over an area, this is termed as a "beaten zone" it's more about suppressing the enemy than killing them although of course that too is desirable but not the main intent.

The L86A2 also suffered from being too accurate for its role & this was one of the reasons of its replacement with the Minimi L110A2.

 

[Rico]

That's missing in CM2 - the ability to have MG do area fire on a designated sector like an open field or stretch of road as an area denial weapon.

 

[Louis]

Colorized pic of Sikh troops with a Bren gun in Italy, 1944.

 

[Louis]

Cleaning and / or replacement of broken images.

 

[Louis]

A British soldier finalizing details of a Bren machine gun in Northern Africa.

 

[Louis]

"Ronnie, the Bren Gun Girl", really is Veronica Foster (1922/2000), a Canadian icon representing nearly one million Canadian women who worked in the manufacturing plants that produced arms during the WW2.

 

[Louis]

Mounted on a Canadian sidecar, circa 1940.

 

[Bootie]

Dont think it would be very effective when bouncing along a road.

 

[mTk]

Neither am I.