MG30 and the Bren

[TimC]

I read a book about the SAS in Aden and they used the Bren as a sharpshooting
(not quite sniping) weapon. This was in the early 80's so it had quite a long useful lifespan. That war was quite interesting in that the UK won against an intrenched insurgency that had lots of outside support from the communist chinese and veitnam but did it with a few SAS "advisors.

Aden was in the 60's when Inf Bns still were scaled for the Vickers gun so .303 and 7.62mm were available. It was reissued as a support arm/vehicle weapon in 7.62mm NATO. It was found to be so accurate that it was reissued to troops going to NI! I was one of them and very glad about it. I know a little about Aden but thats another story!

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

This might come across as a silly question, but WHY would they have the magazine sitting out the top?

Gravity helps the feed process. There is an Australian SMG with a top mounted magazine. Somebody else mentioned the awkwardness of a large bottom mounted magazine in the prone position.

It is hard to really know why those crazy Czechs decided to do it the way they did. Perhaps they considered the gas and operating system first, and then decided on the feed mechanism.

 

[John Sukey]

Word of warning, when your shooting a Bren DONT grab it from the barrel it will leave a mark on you for over half a century.

Dimitri

That very thing happened when I took mine to the range. One friend was firing it. When it was the other friends turn, he grabbed it by the barrel! OUCH

Anyway, the 7.62 version was used in the 1st Gulf war.
Another note on that, the then new SA-80 was issued to the front line troops while the L1A1 was issued to rear echelon types. What happened very quickly was that the rear areas got the SA-80 and the people at the sharp end got their L1A1's Guess which rifle WORKS in the sand!