Bren
Dari Wikipedia bahasa Melayu
Bren Gun merupakan mesingan ringan utama United Kingdom dalam Perang Dunia II. Tentera British menggunakannya pada tahun 1935 bagi menggantikan Lewis Gun yang telah lama digunakan. Nama itu adalah kependekan dari "Brno Enfield", menandakan senjata itu dihasilkan oleh pembuat senjata Enfield, berasaskan pengubahsuaian reka bentuk Czech.
Senjata beroperasi menggunakan gas, ia menggunakan peluru .303 inci (7.7 mm) (rimmed) yang sama dengan standard Lee Enfield
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rifle at a rate between 480 and 540 rpm, depending on the model. A disadvantage of the weapon was that its rate of fire was much slower than that of its Jerman counterparts. Also, it only accepted magazines, and so demanded more frequent reloading than did belt fed machine guns. The Bren was typically used with a 30 round magazine that in practice was filled to 28 rounds to prevent jamming. There was also a 100 round drum available for Brens in an anti-aircraft role.
Some considered the Bren too accurate because its cone of fire was extremely concentrated. Its weight also stretched the definition of "light" machine gun, because it was often partially disassembled and its parts carried by two soldiers when on long marches.
Despite these seeming shortcomings, it was popular with British troops who respected the Bren for its high reliability and combat effectiveness. Re-barrelled to NATO 7.62 mm and renamed the LMG, was used by the British Army until the late 1970s.
