Other Definitions
bren (dict)
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Bren - Bren is also a commune of the Drme dpartement in France.''
The Bren Gun was Britain's primary light machine gun in WWII. The British Army adopted it in 1935 to replace the ageing Lewis Gun. The name is a contraction of "Brno Enfield", signaling the gun's manufacture by the Royal Enfield armoury, based on the Czech ZB vz.26 light machine gun which was manufactured in Brno. A gas operated weapon, it fired the same .303 British rounds as the standard Lee Enfield rifle at a rate between 480 and 540 rpm, depending on the model. Each gun came with a spare barrel that could be quickly changed when the barrel became hot during sustained firing, although later guns featured a chrome-lined barrel which made the spare unnecessary. A disadvantage of the weapon was that the rate of fire was much slower than that of its German counterparts. Also, it only accepted magazines, and so demanded more frequent reloading than belt-fed machine guns. The Bren was typically used with a 30 round magazine that in practice was filled to 28 rounds to prevent jamming. There was also a 100 round drum available for Bren used in an anti-aircraft role. Some considered the Bren too accurate because its cone of fire was extremely concentrated. Its weight also stretched the definition of "light" machine gun; it was often partially disassembled and its parts carried by two soldiers when on long marches. Others consider it the best light machine gun ever made. Despite these seeming shortcomings, it was popular with British troops who respected the Bren for its high reliability and combat effectiveness and few would have swapped it for anything else. Re-worked to take the NATO standard 7.62mm round, it was redesignated as the L4 series of light machine guns and continued in British Army service into the '80s. The change from rimmed to rimless cartridge meant the distinctive curved magazine could be replaced by an easy-to-use straight magazine. The conical flash hider was also lost in the transition. The completion of the move to a 5.56 mm cartridge for all infantry firearms should see the end of the Bren in British service. External link
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