Shooting the C2
- Thread starter Ganderite
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Vid way too long. Notice they had to sandbag in the bipod to try to maintain some stability. I was on a punishment detail once where we shot
hundreds of rounds out of 2 C2s. One of the lads misbehaved somehow and we all had to pay by firing the C2. Notice in at least one shoot the muzzle crept up. Our "safety' instructor would stand at our feet and if our burst was too long we would get kicked in the heel to release. The guns were so light that after the first shot you lost control and after one magazine the barrels were too hot to touch. I always heard from older gents that the Bren in .303 was much better. The C2 was also very prone to crack the receiver as the gun couldn't take sustained stress. John
hundreds of rounds out of 2 C2s. One of the lads misbehaved somehow and we all had to pay by firing the C2. Notice in at least one shoot the muzzle crept up. Our "safety' instructor would stand at our feet and if our burst was too long we would get kicked in the heel to release. The guns were so light that after the first shot you lost control and after one magazine the barrels were too hot to touch. I always heard from older gents that the Bren in .303 was much better. The C2 was also very prone to crack the receiver as the gun couldn't take sustained stress. John
I found the first shot hit the target, the second the dirt in front and the 3 rd over the top. 4th and 5th are still going....
I put a C1 handguard on mine and shot it as a heavy barrel C1.
Canadian Arsenals sold the C2 for $199. The C1 was $139
I put a C1 handguard on mine and shot it as a heavy barrel C1.
Canadian Arsenals sold the C2 for $199. The C1 was $139
The Canadian Army was lucky it never was in a war like Korea if equipped with the C2, as the PPCLI where at Kapyong , or the Brits at Imjin River , where these troops faced human wave tactic from the Communist troops , our troops were lucky then , they were equipped with the Bren gun, a solid dependable weapon with a quick change barrel, if they had been using the C2 , it would have no doubt being a another Ross Rifle fiasco, the C2 could never perform as reliably as the Bren,
It's a case of trying to making one thing into something it's not suited for. I haven't used a C2 but I have fired several full auto FALs. I thought they did ok in bursts but I also didn't ever run them very hard.
When I was a teen I had the distinct pleasure of shooting a C2 and a Bren 303 side by side....the bren was low in recoil and wonderfully accurate....the C2 was so inaccurate that the NCO's teaching the shooting lectures described how its inaccuracy in fact made it more effective because it produced a "cone of fire" instead of precision hits....FFS...though I guess shotgun patterns of SSG/OO buck are effective stoppers....also the barrel change feature on the bren was awesome....C2's got covered with 30w engine oil to cool them down...
BattleRife
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I have only known one person who owned a C2, but the tale he told me was quite different. He said he sent his to CAL for a rebuild because it was getting quite worn, and the engineers there estimated that based on the wear they saw the gun had fired half a million rounds. Not bad for a gun that can't take stress.
I was an armourer in the 60s and 70s. The C2 was way too light, it fell apart when shooting and on full auto, well best be close.I also used the BREN. Very different story.
One good thing the C2 was good for was a sort of sniper rifle. I cut down the bi pods, cut down the mag to 10 rounds and put the C1 scope on it. Way better than the C1 out to quite a long way. But, an unauthorized mod so back to original it went.
One good thing the C2 was good for was a sort of sniper rifle. I cut down the bi pods, cut down the mag to 10 rounds and put the C1 scope on it. Way better than the C1 out to quite a long way. But, an unauthorized mod so back to original it went.
All FN service rifles went to Diemaco in Kitchener, Ont. for repair. On the body Diemaco would stamp DM for company I.D. and often the year
the gun was repaired. The last of the C1A2s were 8L series made CAL 1968 I believe. The C2 IIRC was not general issue initially but could be obtained from stores easily by request. So your friend must have had his firearm concurrently with DND issue and after events in Quebec the DND were paranoid about civilians obtaining service weapons. Sounds improbable.
the gun was repaired. The last of the C1A2s were 8L series made CAL 1968 I believe. The C2 IIRC was not general issue initially but could be obtained from stores easily by request. So your friend must have had his firearm concurrently with DND issue and after events in Quebec the DND were paranoid about civilians obtaining service weapons. Sounds improbable.
stencollector
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Was that owner out of Edmonton? I bought a C2A1 which had been privately owned. Everything about the rifle looked good with the exception that it has a 1968 dated receiver. I was told by a friend of the deceased owner it had been sent back to CAL.
This C2A1 went onto the EE here on gunnutz. Knowing I would have to deactivate it to own it, I let it sit on the EE for a week in case any of the 12.2 guys wanted to jump in. When it went BTT I jumped on it. I had a local dealer take possession of it. We got to test fire it for a bunch of mags before having it deactivated. It was exactly how I remembered them....accurate on a single shot, but otherwise all over the place. I managed to get the slight bruise under the eye and the slight burn on the web of my hand when I tried to reposition the rifle. Exactly like the old days.....except this time it was nostalgic and felt good.
I think it would be highly unlikely that a C2A1 would last a week on the EE these days, even if obscenely priced. This one was not.
Canadian Arsenals sold 200 C1s and 200 C2s and 200 of the SMG to civilians. They came in a cardboard box with new mags sealed in plastic, plus a byao. The C2 came with 30 rounds mags. The SMG came with 30 rounders plus a little mag (10 rounds?)
I was told the 10 round mag was for vehicle crews , easier to handle in the confined turret or crew commander hatch , didn’t make much sense having a 10 rd mag in a SMG
That's what we were told too. Fitting a bayonet to the SMG was a real head-scratcher though.
Correct. I was with the RCDs and the smgs came with 10 and 30 rd mags. Not much room in the turret of a Centurion.(Does that date me?)
Maybe some Project Manager bought into that "logic" when the C1 SMG was coming into being. Maybe "back in the day" it made a slim degree of sense to some PM (who would never have to carry the C1 SMG, nor seldom leave his cushy office) but it truly was a totally impractical magazine for field use when all is said and done and was little more then an interesting idea, but of little merit. Please bear in mind that Canadian Armour troops had to make due with full length SMG magazines (Sten/Thompson) during the Second World War and seemed to make due. I spent my entire career in armour and outside of parades never had any use for the stupid ten round mag. Skip forward to "today" and a full length C8 and 30 round magazine are the issue carry for todays Crewmen.
I thought the 9 mm SMG was the ideal weapon for armoured crews , with the collapsing buttstock it was pretty handy ,much better than the Sten gun armoured crews used in WW2 , or earlier in the war each US tank was issued a Thompson SMG , with a 50 round drum mag , weighting almost 11 pounds empty, the 50 round drum weighed 4 and 3/4 pounds , so not a lightweight weapon , and no collapsing buttstock, I have seen photos of US Stuart tank crews with the Tommy gun on Guadalcanal, the Stuart is not a large tank, pretty cramped and tight crawling out of a hatch with a 15 pound Tommy gun in the stress of action
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