There are locking shoulders (a piece) that screws in behind where the bolt comes in to lock. They come in differing sizes and short of grinding them down, they are NOT adjustable to all sizes, so it IS a bit of a crap shoot to narrow it down.
And what's more, I had a 54r barrel from the builder (supposedly matched etc) and it STILL blew up occasionally. Then stopped for a bit and then all of a sudden did it again, damaging the bolt and bolt carrier. I gave up and am trying to switch to .308. (still OTHER problems with that).
mine's semi (and built by one of the pre-eminent builders of Brens. (He recently told me he won't do 54r builds on Brens anymore because of the problems of the sort I was talking about. the problem with the locking shoulder part is that they are not made anymore, so you are left with surplus WWII parts etc. (for .303) and possibly some .308. Since the rifle was never chambered in 54R there are NO parts for it in that caliber. They all have to be custom made or fashioned from original parts not meant for that caliber. And unlike a 1919 that has head spacing gauge and endless head spacing possibilities, it's not the same with the Bren. You put in your best estimate for the locking shoulders, try it and see. If it goes BOOM and launches your mag into space (as mine had done multiple times before I gave up on 54r), you get another head spacing shoulder or grind down yours by eye and try again. And AGAIN. THEN the builder says as the barrel wears, the head spacing can change and... cause another BOOM. At least that's what we think happened to be to cause me to change to .308.
I LOVE Troy and use his 54R kit with my 1919 and have never had a problem with it. BUT... Troy doesn't build Brens. He can ream your barrel for you, but he's not fitting it to the gun. You're back to best guess when you install it.
Congrats Rory that is a nice addition to the stable. I have heard nothing but issues with the 54r builds so I personally would avoid it. I have not looked in to the 308 build yet so I can't comment on that. My MkI is still in 303
Yeah, all but that terrible paki 303 has been outside of the general machine gunners budget for 10 years plus. that paki stuff should never be used. 30+ second hang fires are unsafe for any use
At $1.00 a round even before this years price spikes, is outside of my budget for auto guns. I have a decent volume of 54r which was one of the main reasons I got the Bren. And also, it’s a freaking Bren!
Yeah, all but that terrible paki 303 has been outside of the general machine gunners budget for 10 years plus. that paki stuff should never be used. 30+ second hang fires are unsafe for any use
At $1.00 a round even before this years price spikes, is outside of my budget for auto guns. I have a decent volume of 54r which was one of the main reasons I got the Bren. And also, it’s a freaking Bren!
Totally with you. That's why I tried 54r. When it worked, it was great! When it doesn't... well..... stock up on mags just in case. They tend to get launched into the air during a blow out. (at least mine did)
I heard read favorable reports about firing WOLF .303 in the BREN.
Not sure of todays prices, but before the world changed it was priced in line with other new made WOLF ammo.
BTW, the BREN barrel nuts are another adjustment.
They come with different threads, to mate the barrel to the receiver.
I have seen where you couldn't lock the barrel in, and had to exchange the barrel nut to correct that.
I was also going to ask about wolf ammo. I have a couple thousand round of men German 303 that I feed my Lewis, but after that runs out I was wondering about wolf, normally $.45 per round. I shoot lots of wolf .223, 7.62x39, and it always goes bang.
Wolf 303 is a bit thinner at the head of the case and it causes problems in guns that dont fully support the case head. This is from a SA bren and has blown out at the extractor. This is the only incident I know of.
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