douggie Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Hi I have just purchased a Bren Mk1 enfield made dated 1941. It has a serial number P508. Is it possible to find out more about the bren from the serial number? i.e month of manufacture? Having searched the web there does not seem to be many with a P prefix. The numbers are all matching (action, barrel nut etc) apart from the barrel which is a Mk11. Any help/info much appreciated. Cheers Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Hi Mick, I've been collating Bren serial numbers for years now and your gun is the very last P serial for 1941 on my list. The first for 1942 I have listed as P2047 and I do have the numbers below which I don't have a year for so these will fall into either 41 or 42. I think its fair to say that your gun is from the last fortnight of the 1941 production. There may be a date on the body where the barrel nut lever sits which is the acceptance date and will be either '41 or '42 (More likely '42 as the body would have been marked 1941 during machining rather than assembly which occurred days/weeks later).[TABLE=width: 48] [TR] [TD=class: xl63, width: 64, bgcolor: yellow]P610[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: xl63, bgcolor: yellow]P784[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: xl63, bgcolor: yellow]P790[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: xl63, bgcolor: yellow]P1290[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: xl63, bgcolor: yellow]P1860[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douggie Posted December 4, 2013 Author Share Posted December 4, 2013 Hi - this is fantastic information! You are right it has an acceptance mark which I thought was a proof mark of 1942. This tends to confirm what you have stated that it was a late - possibly december 41 - in service in 1942. All matching numbers apart from the barrel which is mk2 and dated 1943. Possibly changed at some stage in its early life. The action has very faint stencil marks of 508 on the side and I guess this was put on by the armourer? Have you seen this done before? Thanks for your info - I love researching these things as much as I do owning them! Regards Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 When you say action, do you mean on the breech block/bolt? If you do then yes it quite common but I've no idea why because head space has no baring on a STEN gun and therefor the blocks are completely interchangeable unlike the BREN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douggie Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 When you say action, do you mean on the breech block/bolt? If you do then yes it quite common but I've no idea why because head space has no baring on a STEN gun and therefor the blocks are completely interchangeable unlike the BREN. Hi Chris - Its on the breech of the Bren in faint old stencilled numbering - I guess they could ascertain at a glance which gun was coming and going from the armoury? Just wondered if it was common to do it as I haven't seen it on other deacs. The finish all appears original and not re-blued as well. Cheers Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I'm still a little confused, the breech is the section where the barrel is in the body. Is it a marking on the body you refer to? If so, it's not normal to mark the body with an extra identical serial number, I have seen unit numbers applied for simple accounting purposes. Have you a photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douggie Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 I'm still a little confused, the breech is the section where the barrel is in the body. Is it a marking on the body you refer to? If so, it's not normal to mark the body with an extra identical serial number, I have seen unit numbers applied for simple accounting purposes. Have you a photo? Hi its on the side of the gun - the left hand flat side where the dover tail is on the earlier MK1s and its in feint paint markings - it reads 508 i.e the numbers of the serial number. it looks to have been written on many years ago as its feint against the blueing. Not sure how to add a pic or how well it would come out. Just wondered if it was something that was common during the war? Cheers Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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