BREN LMG Light Machine Gun

This week for Firearm Friday we are having a look at another Commonwealth service machine gun, the famous Bren LMG (Light Machine Gun)

The name BREN is a reference to the firearms manufacturers, BRNO & Enfield. Merging the two names together hence the BR for BRNO and EN for Enfield. Leaves us with BREN.

The Bren gun is a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the United Kingdom in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used in the Korean War and saw service throughout the latter half of the 20th century, including the 1982 Falklands War.

All BREN guns are fitted with a bipod, however they could also be mounted on a tripod or be vehicle-mounted.

The BREN gun was a licensed version of the Czechoslovak ZGB 33 light machine gun which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The designer was Václav Holek, a gun inventor and design engineer. The later Bren gun featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine, conical flash hider, and quick change barrel.

At the close of World War I, the British Army was equipped with two main automatic weapons; the Vickers and the Lewis. The Vickers was heavy and required a supply of water to keep it in operation, which tended to relegate it to static defense and indirect fire support. The Lewis, although lighter, was still heavy and was prone to frequent stoppages: its barrel could not be changed in the field, which meant that sustained firing resulted in overheating until it stopped altogether.

In 1922, to find a replacement for the Lewis, the Small Arms Committee of the British Army ran competitive trials. Although the BAR was recommended, the sheer number of Lewis guns available and the difficult financial conditions meant that nothing was done. Various new models of light machine gun were tested as they became available, and in 1930, a further set of extensive trials commenced. This time the weapons tested included the SIG Neuhausen KE7, the Vickers–Berthier and the Czechoslovak ZB vz. 27. The last did not meet high requirements for durability and reliability, mainly because gunpowder residue from British cordite was obstructing the gas tube. The Vickers–Berthier was later adopted by the Indian Army because it could be manufactured at once, rather than wait for the British Lewis production run to finish; it saw extensive service in World War II.

The BREN was a gas-operated weapon using the same .303 ammunition as the standard British bolt-action rifle, the Lee–Enfield, firing at a rate between 480 and 540 rounds per minute, depending on the model. Propellant gases vented from a port towards the muzzle end of the barrel through a regulator with four quick-adjustment apertures of different sizes, intended to tailor the gas volume to different ambient temperatures (smallest flow at high temperature, e.g. summer desert, largest at low temperature, e.g. winter Arctic). The vented gas drove a piston which in turn actuated the breech block. Each gun came with a spare barrel that could be quickly changed when the barrel became hot during sustained fire, though later guns featured a chrome-lined barrel, which reduced the need for a spare. To change barrels, the release catch in front of the magazine was rotated to unlock the barrel. The carrying handle above the barrel was used to grip and remove the hot barrel without burning the hands.

The Bren was magazine-fed, which slowed its rate of fire and required more frequent reloading than British belt-fed machine guns such as the larger .303 Vickers machine gun. The slower rate of fire prevented more rapid overheating of the Bren's air-cooled barrel, and the Bren was much lighter than belt-fed machine guns, which typically had cooling jackets, often liquid filled. The magazines also prevented the ammunition from getting dirty, which was more of a problem with the Vickers with its 250-round canvas belts. The sights were offset to the left, to avoid the magazine on the top of the weapon. The position of the sights meant that the Bren could be fired only from the right shoulder.

During World War II the BREN was generally issued on a scale of one per rifle section. An infantry battalion also had a "carrier" platoon, equipped with Universal Carriers, each of which carried a Bren gun. Parachute battalions from 1944 had an extra Bren in the Anti-tank platoon. The Bren was operated by a two-man crew, sometimes commanded by a Lance Corporal as an infantry section's "gun group", the remainder of the section forming the "rifle group". The gunner or "Number 1" carried and fired the Bren, and a loader or "Number 2" carried extra magazines, a spare barrel and a tool kit. Number 2 helped reload the gun and replace the barrel when it overheated, and spotted targets for Number 1.

Generally, the Bren was fired from the prone position using the attached bipod. On occasion, a Bren gunner would use his weapon on the move supported by a sling, much like an automatic rifle, and from standing or kneeling positions. Using the sling, Australian soldiers regularly fired the Bren from the hip, for instance in the marching fire tactic, a form of suppressive fire moving forward in assault. A Victoria Cross was awarded to Private Bruce Kingsbury for such use at Isurava, New Guinea, in 1942, during the Australians' fighting retreat from Kokoda.

Each British soldier's equipment normally included two magazines for his section's Bren gun. The large ammunition pouches on the 1937 pattern web equipment were designed around the Bren magazine. The Bren was regarded as the principal weapon of an infantry section, providing the majority of its firepower. 

The Bren had an effective range of around 550 meters when fired from a prone position with a bipod. It could deliver a beaten ground of 105 m by 12 m at 910 meters on the bipod. A 'rapid' fire rate of 120 rounds per minute (four magazines a minute) was sustainable with a barrel change after ten magazines.

A tripod mount with 42 degrees of traverse was available to allow the Bren to be used on "fixed lines" of fire for defensive shooting at predetermined areas in the dark or if obscured by fog or smoke. The Bren was also used on many vehicles, the Universal Carrier also known as the "Bren Gun Carrier", and on tanks and armoured cars. The Bren was also employed in the anti-aircraft role with the tripod reconfigured for high angle fire. There were also several designs of less-portable mountings, including the Gallows and Mottley mounts. A 100-round pan magazine was available for the Bren for use in the anti-aircraft role. 

We have two BREN LMG in our museum with two tripods to sit on, they are one of the most recognizable firearms in our collection, one of them has an interesting post war history and would be an interesting story to hear on one of Jason’s walkthroughs.