De-act parts

[ojw123]

Hey, I just picked up my first bren from www.cobbatoncombat.co.uk/ (fantastic museum and shop btw) and I had a couple of questions. Its a 1943 Inglis Mk2 SN 8T2152 and was deactivated in 2006 according to the cert, and from looking at various online photos, it looks like quite a few of the internals have either been removed during the deactivation or lost along the way, so I was wondering how much is legal to have in its deactivated state in the UK. Comparing to the photos on www.quarterbore.com/weapons/bren_mk1.htm it seems like my bolt is missing all of the attached parts and springs, and the carrier assembly is missing the whole piston.

Secondly, with the piston carrier, it looked to me like the bolt at the rear would push out to split the carrier into its seperate parts, but it doesn't seem to want to, should it do this or is it a fixed part?

Thanks,
Ollie

[erikthecat]

hi, welcome to the forum.

would you have any images of your Bren, showing your problems.
on the certificate of deactivation does it say what year it was deactivated?

the De-milled example you quote, i believe is an American phenomena. all the firing mechanism parts do look to be almost complete, this would NOT be the case in your typical UK deactivation:(

i'm sure my sectionalised Mk I 1943 Enfield Y3966 , deactivation certificate is dated 04/2003?, there's NOT much welded up and seems quite complete. bolt face cut away etc, but don't know if the sectioned examples require less in the way of deactivation. i hear that some examples are deactivated first ans sectioned later to improve saleability. a nice idea if you like that kind of thing? the rear 'take down' pin comes out easily to expose the innards.

'cuts and slots'!


the same 'cuts and slots'!


dummy round 'pegged' into barrel!


let's face it and with the best 'will in the world' this Bren ain't firing anything in a hurry, is it?! :)

did i read somewhere that post 1995 light machine guns didn't have to be welded up in the breech area?

i'm no expert, but am sure someone here will be able to MORE FULLY answer all of your newbie type questions.

GaRy:)

[ojw123]

Thanks for the reply, heres a couple pics of how the internals look at the moment:





Thats how both parts (excuse my lack of correct part naming, I didn't want to call anything by its wrong names) were as they arrived with the Bren. I was wondering if it was legal to add a few more bits back to them as per the photos in the link in my first post or whether its like this because the missing bits were removed as part of the deactivation.
The red arrow in the second picture shows the 'bolt' I was talking about before, it feels pretty stiff in its location and I tried a little tapping to see if I could get it to move, but I didnt want to try too hard in case it wasn't supposed to come out!
According to the Deactivation Cert, it was done 28/06/2006 if that helps.

Thanks again,
Ollie

[erikthecat]

hi,

the item marked with the arrow DOES come out, i can't remember how, but why would you want to do that?
if you look at my images, all there is inside is a very strong spring and a metal piston type thing (YAY i still can't remember the correct terms either:). the whole assembly functions like a kind of shock absorber for the hammer, the bit sticks out the side, that is all. as my example is sectioned, i can see what's in there. is yours welded up?

YES it is possible to add items back to your deact, but you will ONLY be able to get UN-PROHIBITED items. No firing pins etc you may get one with the top ground off though.

KEV , on this group has supplied some parts to me in the past, no regrets here, just tell him i sent you, so i can claim my DISCOUNT on future orders! :)

GaRy:)

[ojw123]

I was only interested in getting the marked bolt out just to be nosey really and see what's inside there! I can't see any obvious marks of it being welded up, so may it just needs a good wack to get the bolt out, so I might well leave it for the time being to avoid damaging it.

Thats cool about adding parts back, I guess its pretty obvious things like the firing pin aren't allowed to replace so I'll see if I can get a piston and see what other parts are avaliable in the UK, thanks for your help!

Ollie

[britplumber]

You can get some parts to add to your bolt, like extractor and spring etc. may be evn a deac firing pin (many deacts have them left in place). Its unlikely you will get a piston as these are chopped or removed for the certification process. You can strip the piston post ass'y by pushing the piston post forward and pushing the locating pin out. Its purely the spring pressure on the piston post that stops the pin coming out. If the pin won't budge, its because the springs not compressed enough. If you do get it apart, it can be a mare to re-assemble and you must make sure the pin goes in the correct way as it also acts as the interface beween the cocking handle and the bolt assembly, if its assembled incorectly it won't work.

p.s. Theres every possibility your gun is one of Mike Priest's guns, should say on the cert.

[erikthecat]

britplumber said:

p.s. Theres every possibility your gun is one of Mike Priest's guns, should say on the cert.

sorry, this may be a bit of a newbie type question,
who is the infamous Mike Priest?
what does he do?

thanks for your time.

GaRy:)

ps i wonder why mine had a piston?

[privatefjordy]

Gary.

Mike Priest is a Section 5 RFD, that mostly does work for the trade. i.e He supplies dealers with many of the deactivated weapons that they then supply to us, the collector.

Mike has a stall at Beltring each year, and I believe also Detling. He supplies a very limited amount of items directly to collectors that are known to him, but like I say, most of his work is for the trade.

I suspect that not all his deact work will have his name on the certificate, as it is sometimes the case in the trade that RFDs doing the deact work will have the end dealers name on the certificate when it is issued by the proof house.

[Tim]

Hi guys,

The parts as shown are deactivated fine. You will be unlikly to find a piston, as has been mentioned they are normally choped and removed. "some" very early deacts have them still in but even then the face of the piston is chopped or slotted to prevent any gas sealing.

The piston post can be removed, wrap the deact end in a rag,
find yourself a handy lip with some clearance to one side and place the tip of the rear part of the post on the flat upper surface. Apply a hefty amount of body weight and you should get some compression on the buffer spring.You then have to wip the cross pin out. The post can then be persuaded to come out but the spring is very robust and has been know to be a pig to get back in. If you dont have to i would not bother.

Some minor parts are out thier in bits boxes but beware of buying pressure bearing items as they are the bits they do not want you to have.

PS Erik the cat...........mail in the post Tim

[ojw123]

Thats a shame about not being able to find a piston easily, but nevermind, I can always keep my eyes open for a modified or chopped up one to get a hands on look at one.
I just checked the cert and it is indeed a 'Mr M Priest' submitted gun.
Also, from a parts pdf I recently received (big thanks to erik!) I worked out how to take the piston post out, you're not wrong about it being hard to get back in!

Ollie

[erikthecat]

ojw123 said:

Also, from a parts PD I recently received (big thanks to Erik!) I worked out how to take the piston post out, you're not wrong about it being hard to get back in! Ollie

no problem, and i hope it was worth the effort.
it's a funny thing that curiosity, just thank the maker your NOT a cat!

oh for the record, my Bren was submitted by a R.J.Hancox 04/04/03.

regards, GaRy