Bren MkI and MkII in Gun's World

Bren Gun MkI-II

Bren .303in Mark I Light Machine Gun

Bren .303in Mark IV Light Machine Gun

*Operation*	Air cooled, gas operated, magazine fed	Selective fire, Automatic or single shot
*Caliber*	.303 (7.696 mm)
*Muzzle velocity*	2440 fps
*Capacity*	30 round box (MkI could also take 100 round drum )
*Weight*	22.12 lbs (10.15 kg) unloaded 19.14 lbs for Mk IV
*Overall length*	45.5 in. (42.9 in for Mk IV)
*Rate of fire*	500-520 rounds per minute
*Effective range*	550m (600 yds)
*Ammunition*	(1) Ball Mk6; 215 gr bullet, 33 gr charge (1970 fps) (2) Ball Mk7; 174 gr bullet, 36.5 gr charge (2400 fps)

During the first year of the Korean War, some CCF units used the Bren Mark I. These weapons were probably captured from the Japanese, having originally been captured by the Japanese from British forces at Singapore and Hong Kong.

Properly designated as a Light Machine gun, and considered one of the finest such weapons developed in WWII, the Chinese used the Bren much as US forces used our BAR, in support of squad-sized assaults and defense. The Mark I had an aperture rear sight controlled by a radial drum, with a shoulder support, and early models had a pistol grip beneath the butt for the non-firing hand. These augmentations went away quickly.

The Mark IV was standard United Kingdom issue during the KW, with a simplified butt design, leaf rear sight, shorter barrel, and was also lighter.

Here is a short history on the BREN as it pertains to the Chinese.

The British government purchased 189 Czech Zbv30 LMGs in 7.92 X 57 mm for 50 pounds sterling each for an engineering benchmarking study in Canada. These LMGs were copied and the initial production was some 13 000 units in 7.92 X 57 ( 8 MM Mauser) for the Nationalist Chinese government. In all approx 43 000 7.92 mm BRENs were manufactured for the Chinese contract by John Inglis of Canada.

Mass production began in 1944 and ended in 1945 using the MKII Bren as a base to work by. Along with the LMG's , there were 20 000 spare barrels and 169 000 magazines produced as well. The magazines were of exact copies of the Czech 20 rd magazine for the Zbv30 ( the standard magazine held 32. 100 rd drums were also to be made, but were found obsolete in the early part of WW2. The 100 rd drum was only used when the BREN was in its anti aircraft role. The regular sights cannot be used with the 100 rd drum and it is extremely unlikely that ANY were used in the Korean War)