SARCO is celebrating Thanksgiving with some deals, but also has dug back into the warehouse and found some Bren Gun kits. These have not been on the market much lately. The good news is that two of these old torch demils include original barrels:
SARCO Bren Mk.1 kit. Included mags not shown.
They also include some magazines and accessories, which vary by mark. For example, the Mk. I illustrated above includes five .303 magazines, and an original barrel SARCO calls “good.” On the Mk.3 kit, they rate the included barrel (a Mk. 2 and not the shorter Mk.3) “very good” and include it and five magazines (which are not shown in the kit picture).
Sarco Bren Mk.3 Kit. Included Mk.2 barrel (which does fit) and mags not shown.
The bad news? Those torch-cut receivers are almost certainly not rebuildable, at least, not economically so. If the cuts fall in critical areas of the receiver, or if there’s too much material removed, there are no easy fixes.
And any rewelded receiver must be heat-treated.
Finally, they have a true rarity, although it is barrel-less at the moment: the L4A3 7.62 NATO version. This comes with just one mag, and they’re working on having a new-production barrel which will be offered at additional cost as soon as they are available.
Bren L4A3 kit. Included magazine (1) not shown.
The reweld cautions with the other kits need to be observed here, too. In our judgment, building these guns is possible (if you’re lucky about where the cuts are) but extremely challenging and time-consuming.
Kevin was a former Special Forces weapons man (MOS 18B, before the 18 series, 11B with Skill Qualification Indicator of S). His focus was on weapons: their history, effects and employment. He started WeaponsMan.com in 2011 and operated it until he passed away in 2017. His work is being preserved here at the request of his family.
10 thoughts on “SARCO has Bren Gun Kits!”
L4A3…just the thing to mount in the turret of your Ferret Mk3. If you had a Ferret Mk3.
Santa, I’ve been a very good boy.
Actually, a MKI…but He’ll get the idea. 🙂
I have many fond memories of schlepping the L4A3 over hill and dale. It was a helluva lot lighter and handier than the pig. Beautiful machines made by people who cared.
Sarco also has a Ferret Mark 2/3 for sale. 20 grand or thereabouts, as I recall….
A travesty to see such beauty destroyed to make progressives feel good about themselves.
That law will fall. It might take another 40 years.
The biggest problem is if one of the cuts on the receiver is through the trunnion area. We(Class III license) have several FA and a couple of semi guns. The old Weaponeer site had a source of jigs for rebuilding the receiver to a legal semi version as well as how to do the bolt and trigger pac.
But you’re right, no matter how you do it, it’s a lot of work.
But it is fun to hear one of those going FA next to an MG-42 doing the same; ~400rpm vs ~1200…
There have been jigs on GB lately but I think they were one-offs by someone not doing Brens any more. Indeed, it might have been Stan from Project Guns. There is an example page on the Project Guns website of what is rebuildable and what is not in a Bren receiver and it’s a toss of the dice when you order a kit.
ETA: Here is a guy selling Bren jigs. His user name is Cal Country Arms.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=519666141
Here is Project Guns’ page on Bren Demills including a video:
http://projectguns.com/brendemills.html
And they too make a Bren jig they may still sell (scroll down on this link). Definitely disregard the rebuild prices; Stan’s out of the Bren business at least for now, because they have a shop full of RPDs that are taking up full time for the next several months at least. I hate to put words in his mouth but if he hasn’t got a jig ready to sell he probably won’t break RPD work to make one, unless it’s a straight CNC job.
http://projectguns.com/bren.html
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You get the same effect from a BAR (on low rate, if the selectable model) vs an MG34 or especially 42 (with the AA bolt or buffer). One goes whomp, whomp, whomp and the other goes bzzzzzzzzzzzt! Allied and German troops never had trouble telling each other’s locations from the sound of weapons.
Indeed, one of the Easy Company paratrooper memoirs mentioned picking up a German MG and hastily throwing it away after the first burst brought every American in Normandy out of the woodwork to shoot at him based on the sound.
***Finally, they have a true rarity, although it is barrel-less at the moment: the L4A3 7.62 NATO version. This comes with just one mag, and they’re working on having a new-production barrel which will be offered at additional cost as soon as they are available.***
I would want TWO barrels, if you please. BTW, if anyone really needs a Bren spare barrel bag, I have a source. Not real pricey, and still usable nearly 75 years later.