Bren gun

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
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.
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.
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: loaded (Mk1 & Mk2), (Mk3 & Mk4)
* Length: (Mk1 & Mk2), (Mk3 & Mk4)
* Barrel length: (Mk1 & Mk2), (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
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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
LOC Kargil 	Ajay Devgn 	Lt. Maroj Kumar Pandey 	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
Seven Years in Tibet 	 	British-Indian 	Mk 1 	1997
Les Misérables 	 	US Army soldiers 	 	1995
An Ungentlemanly Act 	 	British and Argentinian soldiers 	L4A4 Bren 	1992
Farewell To The King 	Nick Nolte 	Learoyd 	 	1989
Tumbledown 	 	Scots Guardsman 	L4A4 	1988
Naga Bonar 	 	Indonesian soldiers 	Mk 3 	1987
Naga Bonar 	 	Dutch soldiers 	Mk 3 	1987
Naga Bonar 	 	Japanese soldier 	Mk 3 	1987
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
Bukit Kepong 	 	Police Jungle Squad 	Mk I 	1982
Bukit Kepong 	 	Communist terrorists 	Mk I 	1982
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
A Hill in Korea 	Robert Shaw 	Lance Corporal Hodge 	Mk. 2 	1956
A Hill in Korea 	Barry Lowe 	Pte. Neill 	Mk. 2 	1956
A Hill in Korea 	Robert Brown 	Pte O'Brien 	Mk. 2 	1956
A Hill in Korea 	Charles Laurence 	Pte. Kim 	Mk. 2 	1956
A Hill in Korea 	David Morrell 	Pte. Henson 	Mk. 2 	1956
A Hill in Korea 	Harry Andrews 	Sgt. Payne 	Mk. 2 	1956
A Hill in Korea 	Ronald Lewis 	Private Wyatt 	Mk. 2 	1956
A Hill in Korea 	Stanley Baker 	Corporal Ryker 	Mk. 2 	1956
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
Gilligan's Island - Season 1	Dawn Wells 	Mary Ann Summers 	"So Sorry, My Island Now" (S1E15), "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?"(S1E31)	1965
Gilligan's Island - Season 1	Alan Hale Jr. 	The Skipper 	"Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?"(S1E31) 	1965
Gilligan's Island - Season 1	Vito Scotti 	Japanese soldier 	"Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?"(S1E31) 	1965
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 an M-32 Light repeating blaster rifle 	2019
Cowboy Bebop (2021) 	Josh Randall 	Pierrot Le Fou 	Episode 8 	2021
SAS Rogue Heroes - Season 1 	Various 	British soldiers 	 	2022
===Video Games===
Game Title 	Appears As 	Modifications 	Notes 	Release Date
Hidden & Dangerous 	 	 	Bren Mk2 	1999
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
Forgotten Hope 2 	"Bren Mk II" 	 	Added in v2.53 (2018), can appear mounted on light vehicles 	2007
The Royal Marines Commando 	 	 	Bren Mk2 	2008
Mare Nostrum 	"Bren Machine Gun"	 	 	2008
Sniper: Art of Victory 	 	 	 	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
Squad 44: Letters From The Front 	"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 Mk I" 	 	Bren Mk1 	2021
Enlisted 	"Bren Mk I 100" 	w/ 100 rounds drum mag and AA spider sight 	Bren Mk1 	2021
Enlisted 	"Bren Mk II" 	 	Bren Mk2 	2021
Enlisted 	"Bren Mk II" 	 	Bren Mk2 vehicle mounted 	2021
Call of Duty: Vanguard 	"Bren" 	 	Bren Mk2 	2021
Battlefield 2042 	"Bren LMG" 	 	Bren Mk2 	2021
Military Conflict: Vietnam 	 	 	 	2022
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
Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow 	Amelie Planchard 	Mk 1 (M) without bipod	2014-2015
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
Strike Witches: Road to Berlin 	Yoshika Miyafuji 	Mk 1 (M) without bipod	2020
==See Also==
* Royal Small Arms Factory - A list of weapons produced by RSAF Enfield
Category:Gun
Category:Machine Gun