L4: The Bren in 7.62mm NATO

Ian: "Not that you can actually fit a .303 magazine in" Average Squaddie: "Are you challenging me?"

I was re-issued an L4 in 1989 when our SA80 LSWs had to go back to the shop for modifications. Still in widespread service with Engineers and Artillery into 1994.

It's official, March is Bren Fest Month

The Indian 7.62 mm Bren is still in use. As an NCC cadet about a decade ago in college, we were taught extensively how to field strip and re assemble this beauty. Never got to fire one sadly.

If the U.S. Army's automatic rifle in WWII was the BAR, then shouldn't the British automatic rifle be called the PUB and not the Bren?

The L4A4 was famously used in the Battle of Grytviken, when a detachment of Royal Marines beat off an attack by a corvette. There haven’t been many battles in which a small infantry force have beaten a ship, but this was one of the most extraordinary.

Fascinating stuff, really goes to show "just convert the old stuff to a new caliber" being highly involved in some cases.

This conversion was still used during the Falklands War beside the FN-MAG.

Not to forget the L4 continued in service after the FN MAG was introduced. Apparently the Paras preferred the Bren as it was lighter, there are pictures of the paras using them during the Falklands conflict

I have a feeling this will lead up to the legendary collab with Brandon Hererra talking about the Kalashnabren

Wonderful machine. Bren story. It was about 1991 and the L4 was finally going out of service. There was a range day that we all knew would be the last chance to fire it. Everyone was getting to fire it, so all the cooks and bottlewashers and paper pushers were out there with the rest of us. WO2 Sherrington made the serious error of putting me in charge of ammunition distribution. Everyone was to get 3 full magazines. I handed out 3 mags each to countless details throughout the day. Myself and some of the officers would form the last detail. So there I was, lying down behind my favourite weapon for the last time: make it memorable! One mag. Two mags. Three mags. "Everybody finished?" "No Sir!" as I change to the fourth mag. "Finished?" Cock gun, mag off, mag on. "No Sir!" By the time I got to the sixth magazine, this had now become a popular show and everyone was crowding round to see just how many mags this could go on for. The Sergeant Major didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I kept going until I had fired nine full magazines into the tattered remains of the targets. Memorable.

Carried one for about 6 years as the section gunner. Superbly accurate. The Germans laughed when they saw it, until I put a single shot through the target at 600m.

I think indian army too used bren 7.62mm nato for long term and we even had it in national cadet corps for stripping and assembly

As a former L4 gunner, the magazine spring on the 30 round mag was too weak to enable full compatibility with the L1A1. Remember, it’s a gravity fed mag! Edit! We used to pack the base plate with card from the 7.62 boxes to make it feed properly by adding additional tension to the spring.

British army used these extensively as a light support weapon as well as the GPMG. I used these in my time in the British army and they were replaced by the lsw in the mid nineties. I served with lads who used these in the falklands conflict and they swore by them. So the bren really saw active service from mid thirties to mid nineties not bad service for a military weapon.

Can't wait for the April 1 crossover with Brandon Herrera's Kalashnibren. Please make this happen.

Small curiosity about the bren in the Italian army: we greatly appreciated this weapon so much that we decided to convert from .303 to 7.62 NATO which remained in service in the 60s, while it was replaced by the MG-42/59 also in 7, 62 NATO

I was trained on the Bren in the South African Defence Force in 1980, and the weapons we had were very tired. I recall most were 1942 versions converted to 7.62 and we only seemed to use the 20 round mag which were interchangeable with our FN/R4 assault rifles. I recall the folding cocking handle and the dial type sight, but most of all I recall the horror that trained us and to this day whenever I see a Bren I shudder in dismay. The irony is that when we deployed to South West Africa we were issued with the FN-MAG.

The best LMG ever imho. I found it reliable, accurate, light(ish) and liked having no belts trailing to catch on vegetation. Even better than the .303 version.

Ian the Bren was also extensively used by the SADF, (the South African Defence Force) as the section automatic/light machine gun, in the infantry bats. Until larger numbers of the FN MAG became more available. These were also conversions of mainly Mk 2 guns and some Mk1* guns. The gunners used to carry all their ammo in 20 round FN R1 mags. Until they got tooling from the Rhodesians for the 30 round mags. 500 rounds in 20 round mags is quite a load, so that why most of the gunners selected were beefy farm boys. The Bren was popular with its two man crews, and a lot of the gunners readily became the section sharpshooter, as the Bren is the most accurate of all light machine guns, and can fire selective single shots.