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Bren gun: Difference between revisions

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The Bren has been seen in:
[[Image:Bren mk1-2.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Bren Mk1 - .303 British. This example is missing the folding metal butt strap on top of the stock: note the dovetail mount and screw hole on the side of the receiver under the magazine, which was for attaching a dial sight which does not seem to have ever been issued, and is only present on this version.]]
[[Image:Bren gun.JPG|thumb|right|400px|Bren Mk1 (M) - .303 British. Simplified version with no grip or butt strap on the stock and with dovetail mount on the left side of the receiver deleted, and a slightly different flash hider]]
[[Image:Bren_mk2.jpg‎|thumb|right|400px|Bren Mk2 - .303 British. Even more simplified wartime production variant: note the lack of the Mk1's expensive stainless steel flash hider, differently-shaped carry handle, non-adjustable bipod legs, and the simplified ladder rear sight without the adjustment drum of the Mk1. The Mk2 also has a distinctive lightening hole drilled in the middle of the magazine release catch, though this Mk2 part could end up on other variants as a replacement.]]
[[Image:Bren_l4a4.jpg‎|thumb|right|400px|Bren L4A4 - 7.62x51mm NATO. Note the almost straight magazine (due to the rimless 7.62 NATO rounds) of the same type used by the Canadian C2A1 heavy-barrel FAL, and the slotted flash hider.]]


*[[Scarface: The World is Yours]]
The '''Bren Gun''' was the main light machine gun used by British Commonwealth forces throughout the Second World War. A derivative of the Czech [[ZB26 Machine Gun]] (much like the Japanese [[Type 97 light machine gun]]) designed by Václav Holek, the name is a hybrid of those of the two manufacturers, [[Zbrojovka Brno|Brno]] and [[Royal Small Arms Factory|Enfield]]. During WW2, Brens were also manufactured by John Inglis and Company and Long Branch Arsenal in Canada, the Lithgow Small Arms Factory in Australia, and the Ishapore Rifle Factory in India.


*[[A Bridge too far]]
The Bren is a relatively slow-firing gas-operated machine gun (480-540rpm depending on variant) with an overhead-loading magazine, ejecting spent casings downwards. This forces the weapon's sights to be offset to the left side. It was known throughout its service life for its reliability and accuracy; while some claim that the earlier versions were actually ''too'' accurate to the point it impacted their usefulness as suppression weapons, these claims are largely unfounded.


*
The Mk1 Bren is the first production version, with a dovetail mount for a scope that does not seem to have actually been issued, a rear grip and a folding buttstrap. Canadian-produced variants lacked the dovetail mount, grip and buttstrap and had a slightly different flash hider, and were known as Mk1 (M). In 1941 a simplified version, the Mk2, was produced, primarily by Inglis in Canada: this featured extensive changes to reduce the amount of milling required to produce each gun: they also featured some concessions to lightening including a distinctive hole drilled in the magazine release catch, had a simplified flip-up ladder-type rear sight with an adjustment knob at the top rather than the large adjustment drum of earlier models that controlled an aperture sight, a simplified carry handle, a fixed charging handle rather than the folding one of previous versions, lacked the Mk1's expensive stainless steel barrel, had a sheet metal buttplate instead of a buffer, and guns made in England deleted the ability to mount the [[Vickers K]]-style 100 round pan magazine, which had rarely been used anyway. The Mk3 and Mk4 were light variants for paratroop use developed in 1944, with a slightly shortened barrel and various parts milled down further than a standard Bren to reduce weight: Mk3 was the term for a Mk1 modified in this fashion, while the Mk4 was the same done to a Mk2. After Britain joined NATO in 1954, the Bren was modified to fire standardised 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition using inch-pattern FAL magazines, with this variant becoming known as the L4.


Captured Brens were pressed into use by Nazi Germany under the designation ''7.7mm Leichtes MG 138(e)''.
A belt-fed Bren derivative, the Taden Gun, was produced in 1951 using the .280 British intermediate round, but was axed along with the [[Enfield EM-2]] due to the standardisation of the 7.62x51mm NATO round.
The Bren had an incredibly long service life: while it was partially supplanted by the [[FN MAG]] in British use, 7.62mm examples continued to serve and were used in combat by British forces in the Falklands War: they continued to be used to train British cadets until the introduction of the L98A1 Cadet Rifle in 1987. The Irish Reserve Defence Forces did not fully phase out the Bren until 2006, and the Indian Army not until 2012. It is still manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factories as the "Gun, Machine 7.62mm 1B."
==Specifications==
(1935 – 1971)
* '''Type:''' Light machine gun
* '''Caliber:''' .303 British, 8mm Mauser (China), 7.62x39mm (China) .30-06 (Italian police), 7.62x51mm NATO (L4 and later)
* '''Weight:''' {{convert|kg|11.25}} loaded (Mk1 & Mk2), {{convert|kg|9.75}} (Mk3 & Mk4)
* '''Length:''' {{convert|in|45.5}} (Mk1 & Mk2), {{convert|in|42.9}} (Mk3 & Mk4)
* '''Barrel length:''' {{convert|in|25}} (Mk1 & Mk2), {{convert|in|22.4}} (Mk3 & Mk4)
* '''Capacity:'''  30 round box (usually only loaded with 27-28 due to spring issues), 100-round pan (Mk1 only, rare), 20 / 30-round inch-pattern [[FN FAL]] magazine (L4)
* '''Fire Modes:''' Semi-Auto / Full-Auto
-----
'''The Bren gun and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:'''
===Film===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" border="1" style="border: 1px solid #D0E7FF; background-color:#ffffff; text-align:left; font-size: 95%"
|-bgcolor=#D0E7FF
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="220"|'''Title'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="170"|'''Actor'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="200"|'''Character'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="280"|'''Note'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="80"|'''Date'''
|-
| ''[[Do Not Wake Me Up (Ne budi menya)]]'' |||| ||  || 2017
|-
| ''[[Dunkirk (2017)|Dunkirk]]'' |||| British soldiers|| Mk1 || 2017
|-
| ''[[The Siege of Jadotville]]'' || || Irish soldiers|| || 2016
|-
| ''[[White Soldier]]'' || || A Black Commando member || Mk1 (M)  || 2014
|-
| ''[[Cockneys vs. Zombies]]'' || || ||  || 2012
|-
| ''[[Flowers of War, The|The Flowers of War]]'' || || Nationalist Chinese Soldiers || 7.92x57mm Mauser variant|| 2011
|-
| ''[[Shaolin_(2011)|Shaolin]]'' || [[Nicholas Tse]] || Cao Man || 7.92x57mm Mauser variant|| 2011
|-
| ''[[Shaolin_(2011)|Shaolin]]'' || ||  Cao Man's soldiers || 7.92x57mm Mauser variant|| 2011
|-
| ''[[New Kids Turbo]]'' ||[[Flip van der Kuil]] || Barry ||  || 2010
|-
| ''[[John Rabe]]'' || || Nationalist Chinese Soldiers || 7.92x57mm Mauser variant|| 2009
|-
| ''[[Red and White (Merah Putih)]]'' ||  || Dutch soldier ||  || 2009
|-
| ''[[Tobruk (2008)|Tobruk]]'' ||  || ||  || 2008
|-
| ''[[Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The]]'' || [[John Hannah]] || Jonathan ||  || 2008
|-
|''[[Frontier(s)]]'' || [[Samuel Le Bihan]] || Goetz || || 2007
|-
| ''[[Atonement]]'' || || British soldiers || Mk. I || 2007
|-
| ''[[Black Book]]'' || || ||  || 2006
|-
|''[[Kokoda (2006)]]''||[[Christopher Baker]]||Blue||||2006
|-
|''[[Kokoda (2006)]]''||[[Travis McMahon]]||Darko||||2006
|-
| ''The Last Drop'' || [[Nick Moran]] ||Pvt. Alan Ives || || 2006
|-
| ''[[Lakshya]]'' || || Indian and Pakistani soldiers || Indian 1B version  || 2004
|-
| rowspan=2| ''[[LOC Kargil]]'' || [[Sunil Shetty]] || Sepoy Sanjay Kumar || rowspan=2| Indian 1B version  || rowspan=2| 2003
|-
| [[Ajay Devgn]] || Lt. Maroj Kumar Pandey
|-
| ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' || [[Huggy Leaver]] || Paul ||  || 1998
|-
| ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' || [[Suzy Ratner]] || Gloria ||  || 1998
|-
| ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' || [[Ronnie Fox]] || Mickey ||  || 1998
|-
| ''[[Seven Years in Tibet]]'' || || British-Indian || Mk 1|| 1997
|-
| ''[[An Ungentlemanly Act]]'' || || British and Argentinian soldiers || L4A4 Bren  || 1992
|-
| ''[[Farewell To The King]]''|| [[Nick Nolte]] || Learoyd || ||1989
|-
| ''[[Tumbledown]]'' || ||Scots Guardsman  || L4A4 || 1988
|-
| ''[[Empire of the Sun]]'' || || Imperial Japanese soldiers || || 1987
|-
| ''[[Les Morfalous]]'' || [[Jean-Paul Belmondo]] || Sergeant Pierre Augagneur||  || 1984
|-
| ''[[African, The|The Africain (L'Africain)]]'' || || The poacher || L4 || 1983
|-
| rowspan="3"|''[[Bukit Kepong]]''||  || Bukit Kepong police officers || rowspan="3"| Mk I || rowspan="3"| 1982
|-
| || Police Jungle Squad
|-
| || Communist terrorists
|-
| ''[[The Wild Geese]]'' || || Various mercenaries ||  || 1978
|-
| ''[[A Bridge Too Far]]'' || || British soldiers ||  || 1977
|-
| ''[[Paper Tiger]]'' || || British soldiers || || 1975
|-
| ''[[Mission in Kabul (Missiya v Kabule)]]'' || [[Algimantas Masiulis]] || Gerhard Epp || Without magazine; supposedly Mk.1 || 1971
|-
| ''[[Last Grenade, The|The Last Grenade]]'' ||||British soldier|| On Jeep mounted || 1970
|-
| ''[[Too Late the Hero]]'' || [[Sean MacDuff]] || Private Rogers  ||  || 1970
|-
| ''[[The Last Escape]]'' || || || L4, visually modified as [[Degtyaryov DT]]; top mounted on a Soviet tank || 1970
|-
| ''[[Overrun (Di Marsa Matruh)]]'' || [[Ivan Rassimov]] || Lt. Alan Crossland || || 1970
|-
| ''[[Kill Rommel!]]'' || [[Anton Diffring]] || Captain Richard Howell  ||  || 1969
|-
| ''[[Kill Rommel!]]'' || [[Carl Parker]] || Lieutenant George Morris  ||  || 1969
|-
| ''[[Kill Rommel!]]'' || [[Renato Romano]] || Sergeant Atwell  ||  || 1969
|-
| ''[[If...]]'' || [[Malcolm McDowell]] || Mick Travis ||  || 1968
|-
| ''[[How I Won the War]]'' || [[Michael Crawford]] || Lt. Goodbody ||  || 1967
|-
| ''[[How I Won the War]]'' || [[Lee Montague]] || Sgt. Transom ||  || 1967
|-
| ''[[How I Won the War]]'' || || Musketeers (British soldiers) || Mounted on Dodge M-37, Daimler Dingo, Ford F-60 || 1967
|-
| ''[[Cast a Giant Shadow]]''||[[Stathis Giallelis]]||Ram Oren|| ||1966
|-
| ''[[Judith]]'' || [[Peter Finch]] || Aaron Stein ||  || 1966
|-
| ''[[Judith]]'' || [[Shraga Friedman]] || Nathan ||  || 1966
|-
| ''[[Judith]]'' ||  || Haganah fighters ||  || 1966
|-
| ''[[So Darling So Deadly]]'' || || || Seen in Golden Dragon's lair || 1966
|-
| ''[[Death is Nimble, Death is Quick]]'' || Joe Abey || Inspector Khamar || || 1966
|-
| ''[[The Unvanquished (L'Insoumis)]]'' || || French legionnaires and Algerian insurgents || || 1964
|-
| ''[[The Longest Day]]'' ||  [[Sean Connery]] || Private Flanagan ||  || 1963
|-
| ''[[From Russia With Love]]'' || || ||  || 1963
|-
| ''[[Dr. No]]'' || || Crab Key guard ||  || 1962
|-
| ''[[Escape from Zahrain]]'' || || Police || || 1962
|-
| ''[[The Return of Doctor Mabuse]]'' || || German police || Mk 2 (?) || 1961
|-
| ''[[Konga]]'' || || British soldier ||  || 1961
|-
| ''[[The Guns of Navarone]]'' || [[James Darren]] || Private Spiros Pappadimos ||  || 1961
|-
| ''[[Gorgo]]'' || || British troops || Mounted on Centurion tank || 1961
|-
| ''[[Giant Behemoth, The|The Giant Behemoth]]'' || || British soldiers ||  || 1959
|-
| ''[[Yesterday's Enemy]]'' || || British soldiers || Mk 1 || 1959
|-
| ''[[Dunkirk (1958)|Dunkirk]]'' || || British soldiers || Mk 1 || 1958
|-
| ''[[Young Lions, The|The Young Lions]]'' || || British soldiers ||  || 1958
|-
| ''The Steel Bayonet'' || [[Leo Genn]] ||Maj. Alan Gerrard || || 1957
|-
| ''The Steel Bayonet'' || || British Soldiers || || 1957
|-
| rowspan="9"|''[[A Hill in Korea]]'' || [[Harry Landis]] || Private Rabin || rowspan="9"| Mk. 2 || rowspan="9"| 1956
|-
| [[Robert Shaw]] || Lance Corporal Hodge
|-
| [[Barry Lowe]] || Pte. Neill
|-
| [[Robert Brown]] || Pte O'Brien
|-
| [[Charles Laurence]] || Pte. Kim
|-
| [[David Morrell]] || Pte. Henson
|-
| [[Harry Andrews]] || Sgt. Payne
|-
| [[Ronald Lewis]] || Private Wyatt
|-
| [[Stanley Baker]] || Corporal Ryker
|-
| ''[[Desert Rats, The]]'' || || Australian commandos ||  || 1953
|-
| ''[[Paratrooper]]'' || || British paratroopers || || 1953
|-
| ''[[Went the Day Well?]]'' || || German Paratroopers || || 1942
|-
|''[[Somewhere in France]]'' || || || || 1942
|-
|}
===Television===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" border="1" style="border: 1px solid #D0E7FF; background-color:#ffffff; text-align:left; font-size: 95%"
|-bgcolor=#D0E7FF
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="250"|'''Show Title / Episode'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="170"|'''Actor'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="200"|'''Character'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="250"|'''Note'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="80"|'''Air Date'''
|-
| rowspan=4| ''[[Gilligan's Island - Season 1]]'' || [[Bob Denver]] || Gilligan || rowspan=2| "So Sorry, My Island Now" (S1E15), "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?"(S1E31) || rowspan=4| 1965
|-
| [[Dawn Wells]] || Mary Ann Summers
|-
| [[Alan Hale Jr.]] || The Skipper || rowspan=2| "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?"(S1E31)
|-
| [[Vito Scotti]] || Japanese soldier
|-
| ''[[The Prisoner]]'' || [[Patrick McGoohan]] || No. 6 || || 1968
|-
| ''[[Blott on the Landscape]]'' || [[David Suchet]] || Blott || Mk.1 || 1985
|-
| ''[[Sahara (1995)]]'' || [[Alan David Lee]] || Bates || || 1995
|-
| ''[[Foyle's War - Season 1]]'' || || British soldiers || "The White Feather" (S1E2) || 2002
|-
| ''[[Foyle's War - Season 2]]'' || || British soldiers || "Fifty Ships" (S2E1) || 2003
|-
| ''[[Kokoda (2010)|Kokoda]]'' || || Australian soldiers ||  || 2010
|-
| ''[[Promise, The|The Promise]]'' || || British paratroopers || Mk1 || 2011
|-
| ''[[Parer's War]]'' || || Australian Commandos || || 2014
|-
| ''[[Endeavour - Season 2]]'' || || A reenactor of British Army of WW2 || Mk.1; "Trove" (S02E01) || 2014
|-
|''[[Arrow - Season 5]] || || || seen in gunstore; "Vigilante" (S5E07)||2016-2017
|-
|''[[Crown, The|The Crown]]''||||British military||episode: "Misadventure" (S02E01)||2017
|-
| ''[[Madiba]]'' || || South African Police || || 2017
|-
|''[[Mandalorian, The - Season 1|The Mandalorian]]||[[Gina Carano]]||Cara Dune||mocked up to resemble a blaster||2019
|-
|''[[Cowboy Bebop (2021)]]||[[Josh Randall]]||Pierrot Le Fou||Episode 8||2021
|-
|''[[SAS Rogue Heroes]]''||Various||British soldiers|| ||2022
|}
===Video Games===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" border="1" style="border: 1px solid #D0E7FF; background-color:#ffffff; text-align:left; font-size: 95%"
|-bgcolor=#D0E7FF
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="300"|'''Game Title'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="175"|'''Appears As'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="300"|'''Modifications'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="250"|'''Notes'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="100"|''' Release Date'''
|-
| ''[[Hidden & Dangerous]]''|| |||| Bren Mk2 ||  21999
|-
| ''[[World War II Online: Battleground Europe]]''|| |||| Bren Mk2 ||  2001
|-
| ''[[Battlefield: 1942]]''|| |||| Secret Weapons of WWII Expansion pack ||  2002
|-
| ''[[Forgotten Hope]]''|| |||| Man-portable, mounted in machine gun nests and bunkers and on the Universal Carrier and M3A1 Halftrack || 2003
|-
| ''[[Call of Duty]]''|| || ||  ||  2003
|-
| ''[[Hidden & Dangerous 2]]'' || |||| ||2003
|-
| ''[[Call of Duty: Finest Hour]]'' || "Bren" || || || 2004
|-
| ''[[Call of Duty 2]]''|| || ||  ||  2005
|-
| ''[[Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45]] |||| With deployable bipod || Mounted on Bren Carrier || 2006
|-
| ''[[Call of Duty 3]]''|| || ||  ||  2006
|-
| ''[[Company of Heroes (2006)|Company of Heroes]]''|| || || Mk. II ||  2013
|-
| ''[[Far East War]]'' || "Bren Gun" || || Mk. I (M) || 2013
|-
|''[[Clive Barker's Jericho]]''|| ||w/ bayonet || unusable|| 2007
|-
| rowspan=2|''[[Forgotten Hope 2]]''|| "Bren Mk I" || rowspan=2| || Bren Mk1 (M), can appear mounted on AA tripods and light vehicles || rowspan=2|2007
|-
| "Bren Mk II" || Added in v2.53 (2018), can appear mounted on light vehicles
|-
| ''[[The Royal Marines Commando]]''|| |||| Bren Mk2 ||  2008
|-
| ''[[Mare Nostrum]]'' ||  || || ||  2008
|-
| ''[[Karma Online]]'' || || ||||2011
|-
| ''[[Company of Heroes 2]]''|| || || Mk. II ||  2006
|-
| ''[[World of Guns: Gun Disassembly]]'' || Bren MKII || ||Bren Mk2  || 2014
|-
| ''[[Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades]]'' |||| || Bren Mk2 || 2016
|-
| ''[[Ghost Recon: Wildlands]]'' || ||Heavily customized, fitted with a wooden vertical grip || Bren Mk2 || 2017
|-
| ''[[Call of Duty: WWII]]'' ||Bren || ||Bren Mk1 (M) || 2017
|-
| ''[[Post Scriptum]]'' || "Bren Mk. III" || || Mk3 lightened variant, has tripod and Universal Carrier mounts that feed from drum magazines || 2018
|-
| ''[[Battlefield V]]'' ||Bren Gun || ||Bren Mk1 || 2018
|-
| ''[[Gun Club VR]]'' ||  || || || 2018
|-
| rowspan=3|''[[Enlisted]]'' || || ||Bren Mk1 || rowspan=3| 2021
|-
||| || Bren Mk2
|-
||| || Bren Mk2 vehicle mounted
|-
| ''[[Call of Duty: Vanguard]]'' ||Bren || ||Bren Mk2 || 2021
|-
|''[[Battlefield 2042]]'' || Bren LMG || || Bren Mk2 || 2021
|-
| ''[[Marauders (video game)|Marauders]]'' ||"Bren Mk2"|| Straight 7.62 NATO mag, .303 curved mag, Drum mag, AA spider sights || Bren Mk2; Incorrectly chambered in "7.62mm" || 2022
|-
|}
=== Anime ===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" border="1" style="border: 1px solid #D0E7FF; background-color:#ffffff; text-align:left; font-size: 95%"
|-bgcolor=#D0E7FF
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="300"|'''Film Title'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="300"|'''Character'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="300"|'''Note'''
!align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF width="50"|'''Date'''
|-
| ''[[Strike Witches]]'' || Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann || Mk 1 (M) without bipod || 2008
|-
| ''[[Strike Witches 2]]'' || Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann || Mk 1 (M) without bipod || 2010
|-
| ''[[Strike Witches: The Movie]]'' || Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann || Mk 1 (M) without bipod || 2012
|-
| ''[[Girls und Panzer: This is the Real Anzio Battle!]]'' ||  || Mounting on an APC || 2014
|-
| rowspan=2 | ''[[Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow]]'' || Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann || rowspan=2 | Mk 1 (M) without bipod || rowspan=2 | 2014-2015
|-
| Amelie Planchard
|-
| ''[[Brave Witches]]'' || Nora Taylor || Mk 1 (M) without bipod || 2016-2017
|-
| rowspan=2 | ''[[Strike Witches: Road to Berlin]]'' || Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann || rowspan=2 | Mk 1 (M) without bipod || rowspan=2 | 2020
|-
| Yoshika Miyafuji
|-
|}
==See Also==
* [[Royal Small Arms Factory]] - A list of weapons produced by RSAF Enfield
[[Category:Gun]]
[[Category:Gun]]
[[Category:Machine Gun]]

Latest revision as of 10:12, 15 December 2023

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Bren Mk1 - .303 British. This example is missing the folding metal butt strap on top of the stock: note the dovetail mount and screw hole on the side of the receiver under the magazine, which was for attaching a dial sight which does not seem to have ever been issued, and is only present on this version.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Bren Mk1 (M) - .303 British. Simplified version with no grip or butt strap on the stock and with dovetail mount on the left side of the receiver deleted, and a slightly different flash hider
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Bren Mk2 - .303 British. Even more simplified wartime production variant: note the lack of the Mk1's expensive stainless steel flash hider, differently-shaped carry handle, non-adjustable bipod legs, and the simplified ladder rear sight without the adjustment drum of the Mk1. The Mk2 also has a distinctive lightening hole drilled in the middle of the magazine release catch, though this Mk2 part could end up on other variants as a replacement.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Bren L4A4 - 7.62x51mm NATO. Note the almost straight magazine (due to the rimless 7.62 NATO rounds) of the same type used by the Canadian C2A1 heavy-barrel FAL, and the slotted flash hider.

The Bren Gun was the main light machine gun used by British Commonwealth forces throughout the Second World War. A derivative of the Czech ZB26 Machine Gun (much like the Japanese Type 97 light machine gun) designed by Václav Holek, the name is a hybrid of those of the two manufacturers, Brno and Enfield. During WW2, Brens were also manufactured by John Inglis and Company and Long Branch Arsenal in Canada, the Lithgow Small Arms Factory in Australia, and the Ishapore Rifle Factory in India.

The Bren is a relatively slow-firing gas-operated machine gun (480-540rpm depending on variant) with an overhead-loading magazine, ejecting spent casings downwards. This forces the weapon's sights to be offset to the left side. It was known throughout its service life for its reliability and accuracy; while some claim that the earlier versions were actually too accurate to the point it impacted their usefulness as suppression weapons, these claims are largely unfounded.

The Mk1 Bren is the first production version, with a dovetail mount for a scope that does not seem to have actually been issued, a rear grip and a folding buttstrap. Canadian-produced variants lacked the dovetail mount, grip and buttstrap and had a slightly different flash hider, and were known as Mk1 (M). In 1941 a simplified version, the Mk2, was produced, primarily by Inglis in Canada: this featured extensive changes to reduce the amount of milling required to produce each gun: they also featured some concessions to lightening including a distinctive hole drilled in the magazine release catch, had a simplified flip-up ladder-type rear sight with an adjustment knob at the top rather than the large adjustment drum of earlier models that controlled an aperture sight, a simplified carry handle, a fixed charging handle rather than the folding one of previous versions, lacked the Mk1's expensive stainless steel barrel, had a sheet metal buttplate instead of a buffer, and guns made in England deleted the ability to mount the Vickers K-style 100 round pan magazine, which had rarely been used anyway. The Mk3 and Mk4 were light variants for paratroop use developed in 1944, with a slightly shortened barrel and various parts milled down further than a standard Bren to reduce weight: Mk3 was the term for a Mk1 modified in this fashion, while the Mk4 was the same done to a Mk2. After Britain joined NATO in 1954, the Bren was modified to fire standardised 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition using inch-pattern FAL magazines, with this variant becoming known as the L4.

Captured Brens were pressed into use by Nazi Germany under the designation 7.7mm Leichtes MG 138(e).

A belt-fed Bren derivative, the Taden Gun, was produced in 1951 using the .280 British intermediate round, but was axed along with the Enfield EM-2 due to the standardisation of the 7.62x51mm NATO round.

The Bren had an incredibly long service life: while it was partially supplanted by the FN MAG in British use, 7.62mm examples continued to serve and were used in combat by British forces in the Falklands War: they continued to be used to train British cadets until the introduction of the L98A1 Cadet Rifle in 1987. The Irish Reserve Defence Forces did not fully phase out the Bren until 2006, and the Indian Army not until 2012. It is still manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factories as the "Gun, Machine 7.62mm 1B."

Specifications

(1935 – 1971)

  • Type: Light machine gun
  • Caliber: .303 British, 8mm Mauser (China), 7.62x39mm (China) .30-06 (Italian police), 7.62x51mm NATO (L4 and later)
  • Weight: 24.8 lbs (11.3 kg) loaded (Mk1 & Mk2), 21.5 lbs (9.8 kg) (Mk3 & Mk4)
  • Length: 45.5 in (115.6 cm) (Mk1 & Mk2), 42.9 in (109 cm) (Mk3 & Mk4)
  • Barrel length: 25 in (63.5 cm) (Mk1 & Mk2), 22.4 in (56.9 cm) (Mk3 & Mk4)
  • Capacity: 30 round box (usually only loaded with 27-28 due to spring issues), 100-round pan (Mk1 only, rare), 20 / 30-round inch-pattern FN FAL magazine (L4)
  • Fire Modes: Semi-Auto / Full-Auto

The Bren gun and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Film

Title Actor Character Note Date
Do Not Wake Me Up (Ne budi menya) 2017
Dunkirk British soldiers Mk1 2017
The Siege of Jadotville Irish soldiers 2016
White Soldier A Black Commando member Mk1 (M) 2014
Cockneys vs. Zombies 2012
The Flowers of War Nationalist Chinese Soldiers 7.92x57mm Mauser variant 2011
Shaolin Nicholas Tse Cao Man 7.92x57mm Mauser variant 2011
Shaolin Cao Man's soldiers 7.92x57mm Mauser variant 2011
New Kids Turbo Flip van der Kuil Barry 2010
John Rabe Nationalist Chinese Soldiers 7.92x57mm Mauser variant 2009
Red and White (Merah Putih) Dutch soldier 2009
Tobruk 2008
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The John Hannah Jonathan 2008
Frontier(s) Samuel Le Bihan Goetz 2007
Atonement British soldiers Mk. I 2007
Black Book 2006
Kokoda (2006) Christopher Baker Blue 2006
Kokoda (2006) Travis McMahon Darko 2006
The Last Drop Nick Moran Pvt. Alan Ives 2006
Lakshya Indian and Pakistani soldiers Indian 1B version 2004
LOC Kargil Sunil Shetty Sepoy Sanjay Kumar Indian 1B version 2003
Ajay Devgn Lt. Maroj Kumar Pandey
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Huggy Leaver Paul 1998
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Suzy Ratner Gloria 1998
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Ronnie Fox Mickey 1998
Seven Years in Tibet British-Indian Mk 1 1997
An Ungentlemanly Act British and Argentinian soldiers L4A4 Bren 1992
Farewell To The King Nick Nolte Learoyd 1989
Tumbledown Scots Guardsman L4A4 1988
Empire of the Sun Imperial Japanese soldiers 1987
Les Morfalous Jean-Paul Belmondo Sergeant Pierre Augagneur 1984
The Africain (L'Africain) The poacher L4 1983
Bukit Kepong Bukit Kepong police officers Mk I 1982
Police Jungle Squad
Communist terrorists
The Wild Geese Various mercenaries 1978
A Bridge Too Far British soldiers 1977
Paper Tiger British soldiers 1975
Mission in Kabul (Missiya v Kabule) Algimantas Masiulis Gerhard Epp Without magazine; supposedly Mk.1 1971
The Last Grenade British soldier On Jeep mounted 1970
Too Late the Hero Sean MacDuff Private Rogers 1970
The Last Escape L4, visually modified as Degtyaryov DT; top mounted on a Soviet tank 1970
Overrun (Di Marsa Matruh) Ivan Rassimov Lt. Alan Crossland 1970
Kill Rommel! Anton Diffring Captain Richard Howell 1969
Kill Rommel! Carl Parker Lieutenant George Morris 1969
Kill Rommel! Renato Romano Sergeant Atwell 1969
If... Malcolm McDowell Mick Travis 1968
How I Won the War Michael Crawford Lt. Goodbody 1967
How I Won the War Lee Montague Sgt. Transom 1967
How I Won the War Musketeers (British soldiers) Mounted on Dodge M-37, Daimler Dingo, Ford F-60 1967
Cast a Giant Shadow Stathis Giallelis Ram Oren 1966
Judith Peter Finch Aaron Stein 1966
Judith Shraga Friedman Nathan 1966
Judith Haganah fighters 1966
So Darling So Deadly Seen in Golden Dragon's lair 1966
Death is Nimble, Death is Quick Joe Abey Inspector Khamar 1966
The Unvanquished (L'Insoumis) French legionnaires and Algerian insurgents 1964
The Longest Day Sean Connery Private Flanagan 1963
From Russia With Love 1963
Dr. No Crab Key guard 1962
Escape from Zahrain Police 1962
The Return of Doctor Mabuse German police Mk 2 (?) 1961
Konga British soldier 1961
The Guns of Navarone James Darren Private Spiros Pappadimos 1961
Gorgo British troops Mounted on Centurion tank 1961
The Giant Behemoth British soldiers 1959
Yesterday's Enemy British soldiers Mk 1 1959
Dunkirk British soldiers Mk 1 1958
The Young Lions British soldiers 1958
The Steel Bayonet Leo Genn Maj. Alan Gerrard 1957
The Steel Bayonet British Soldiers 1957
A Hill in Korea Harry Landis Private Rabin Mk. 2 1956
Robert Shaw Lance Corporal Hodge
Barry Lowe Pte. Neill
Robert Brown Pte O'Brien
Charles Laurence Pte. Kim
David Morrell Pte. Henson
Harry Andrews Sgt. Payne
Ronald Lewis Private Wyatt
Stanley Baker Corporal Ryker
Desert Rats, The Australian commandos 1953
Paratrooper British paratroopers 1953
Went the Day Well? German Paratroopers 1942
Somewhere in France 1942

Television

Show Title / Episode Actor Character Note Air Date
Gilligan's Island - Season 1 Bob Denver Gilligan "So Sorry, My Island Now" (S1E15), "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?"(S1E31) 1965
Dawn Wells Mary Ann Summers
Alan Hale Jr. The Skipper "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?"(S1E31)
Vito Scotti Japanese soldier
The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan No. 6 1968
Blott on the Landscape David Suchet Blott Mk.1 1985
Sahara (1995) Alan David Lee Bates 1995
Foyle's War - Season 1 British soldiers "The White Feather" (S1E2) 2002
Foyle's War - Season 2 British soldiers "Fifty Ships" (S2E1) 2003
Kokoda Australian soldiers 2010
The Promise British paratroopers Mk1 2011
Parer's War Australian Commandos 2014
Endeavour - Season 2 A reenactor of British Army of WW2 Mk.1; "Trove" (S02E01) 2014
Arrow - Season 5 seen in gunstore; "Vigilante" (S5E07) 2016-2017
The Crown British military episode: "Misadventure" (S02E01) 2017
Madiba South African Police 2017
The Mandalorian Gina Carano Cara Dune mocked up to resemble a blaster 2019
Cowboy Bebop (2021) Josh Randall Pierrot Le Fou Episode 8 2021
SAS Rogue Heroes Various British soldiers 2022

Video Games

Game Title Appears As Modifications Notes Release Date
Hidden & Dangerous Bren Mk2 21999
World War II Online: Battleground Europe Bren Mk2 2001
Battlefield: 1942 Secret Weapons of WWII Expansion pack 2002
Forgotten Hope Man-portable, mounted in machine gun nests and bunkers and on the Universal Carrier and M3A1 Halftrack 2003
Call of Duty 2003
Hidden & Dangerous 2 2003
Call of Duty: Finest Hour "Bren" 2004
Call of Duty 2 2005
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 With deployable bipod Mounted on Bren Carrier 2006
Call of Duty 3 2006
Company of Heroes Mk. II 2013
Far East War "Bren Gun" Mk. I (M) 2013
Clive Barker's Jericho w/ bayonet unusable 2007
Forgotten Hope 2 "Bren Mk I" Bren Mk1 (M), can appear mounted on AA tripods and light vehicles 2007
"Bren Mk II" Added in v2.53 (2018), can appear mounted on light vehicles
The Royal Marines Commando Bren Mk2 2008
Mare Nostrum 2008
Karma Online 2011
Company of Heroes 2 Mk. II 2006
World of Guns: Gun Disassembly Bren MKII Bren Mk2 2014
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Bren Mk2 2016
Ghost Recon: Wildlands Heavily customized, fitted with a wooden vertical grip Bren Mk2 2017
Call of Duty: WWII Bren Bren Mk1 (M) 2017
Post Scriptum "Bren Mk. III" Mk3 lightened variant, has tripod and Universal Carrier mounts that feed from drum magazines 2018
Battlefield V Bren Gun Bren Mk1 2018
Gun Club VR 2018
Enlisted Bren Mk1 2021
Bren Mk2
Bren Mk2 vehicle mounted
Call of Duty: Vanguard Bren Bren Mk2 2021
Battlefield 2042 Bren LMG Bren Mk2 2021
Marauders "Bren Mk2" Straight 7.62 NATO mag, .303 curved mag, Drum mag, AA spider sights Bren Mk2; Incorrectly chambered in "7.62mm" 2022

Anime

Film Title Character Note Date
Strike Witches Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann Mk 1 (M) without bipod 2008
Strike Witches 2 Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann Mk 1 (M) without bipod 2010
Strike Witches: The Movie Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann Mk 1 (M) without bipod 2012
Girls und Panzer: This is the Real Anzio Battle! Mounting on an APC 2014
Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann Mk 1 (M) without bipod 2014-2015
Amelie Planchard
Brave Witches Nora Taylor Mk 1 (M) without bipod 2016-2017
Strike Witches: Road to Berlin Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann Mk 1 (M) without bipod 2020
Yoshika Miyafuji

See Also

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