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Bren gun

From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
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Bren Mk1 - .303 British. This example is missing the folding metal butt strap on top of the stock.
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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
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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 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
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Bren L4A4 - 7.62x51mm NATO. Note the straight magazine (due to the rimless 7.62 NATO rounds) 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), the name is a hybrid of those of the two manufacturers, Brno and Enfield.

The Bren is a relatively slow-firing 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.

After Britain joined NATO in 1954, the Bren was modified to fire standardised 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition, with this variant becoming known as the L4.

The Bren had an incredibly long service life, with 7.62mm examples being used in combat by British forces in the Falklands War, and the Irish Reserve Defence Forces only phasing out the Bren for the FN MAG in 2006. It is still manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factories as the "Gun, Machine 7.62mm 1B."

Specifications

(In service 1938 - 2006, still manufactured by third parties)

  • Type: Light machine gun
  • Caliber: .303 British, 8mm Mauser (China), 7.62x39 (China) .30-06 (Italian police), 7.62x51mm NATO (L4 and later)
  • Weight: 24.8 lbs (11.3 kg) loaded (Mk1 & Mk2)
  • Length: 42.9 in (109 cm) (Mk4)
  • Barrel length: 25 in (63.5 cm)
  • Capacity: 30 round box (usually only loaded with 27-28 due to spring issues), 100-round pan (Mk1 only, rare), 20-round L1A1 SLR magazine (L4)
  • Fire Modes: Semi-Auto / Full-Auto

The Bren has been used in the following films

Film

Title Actor Character Note Date
Dunkirk British soldiers Mk1 2017
The Siege of Jadotville Irish soldiers 2016
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
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
Black Book 2006
Lakshya Indian and Pakistani soldiers Indian 1B version 2004
LOC Kargil Suniel Shetty Sepoy Sanjay Kumar Indian 1B version 2003
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
An Ungentlemanly Act British and Argentinian soldiers L4A4 Bren 1992
Hell Raiders (1985) Dutch Soldiers 1985
Death Raiders 1984
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
The Last Grenade British soldier On Jeep mounted 1970
Too Late the Hero Sean MacDuff Private Rogers 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
Konga British soldier 1961
The Guns of Navarone James Darren Private Spiros Pappadimos 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
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
The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan No. 6 1968
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
Atonement British soldiers Mk1 2007
Kokoda Australian soldiers 2010
The Promise British paratroopers Mk1 2011
Parer's War Australian Commandos 2014

Videogames

Game Title Modifications Notes Release Date
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 2 2005
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 With deployable bipod Mounted on Bren Carrier 2006
Call of Duty 3 2006
Clive Barker's Jericho w/ bayonet unusable 2007
The Royal Marines Commando Bren Mk2 2008
Mare Nostrum 2008
Karma Online 2011
Ghost Recon: Wildlands Veteran Bren Bren Mk2, heavily customized, fitted with a wooden vertical grip 2017

Anime

Film Title Character Note Date
Strike Witches Perrine Clostermann 2008-present
Girl Und Panzer Mounting on a APC 2012

See Also