SHAH ALAM: Tender for Bren LMG parts. RMAF has issued request for bids (published June 11 and ends July 2) for parts of various small arms which include the H&K P9S pistol and MP5 submachinegun, Remington 870 shotguns and surprisingly Bren 303 Light Machine guns. Also being sought are parts from Pindad P2 and Sphinx 3000 pistols, and FN 240 (MAG) machineguns.
While the small arms inventory in RMAF are small- mostly used by its Special Forces units – Paskal and its base defence – and are not as extensive as the Army, the inclusion of the Bren 303 LMGs was indeed surprising. Previously, back in 2015, RMAF itself revealed that it still had a number of serviceable heavy barrel SLR in its arsenal, I had no idea it still have the Bren LMGs in its stock, however.
The RFB stated that it was looking from Bren 303 LMG which means its likely they are chambered for the 303 cartridge, the one used up to late 50 and early 60s before being replaced (they change the barrel and other parts) even in the Army with the 7.62mm cartridge.
As the specifications for the RFB stated that it was looking for extractors and other parts it is likely that the intention was to use to put these LMGs back into service. I guess it will be cheaper than buying new guns as probably they have a tons of 303 cartridges stored somewhere.
As seen from the picture above, a Bren LMG chambered with the 303 cartridge is readily identifiable as it is fitted with a curve magazine which aids in the chambering of the weapon. I have no idea whether the parts for Bren 303 are readily available though it is likely a sizeable number of the 7.62 version are likely to be in limited usage in India. I am not saying having the Bren in service is a bad thing, on the contrary, I find it most interesting. It will be great if they invite me to shoot them once the parts are delivered.
— Malaysian Defence
View Comments (32)
Still waiting the tender result of the 24 units 4x4 ATGM weapons carrier for the army. Any news regarding this?
And how about 40+ units 4x4 vehicle for army UNIFIL that fund by UN? Still ongoing?
Reply
Nothing on both for the moment.
from the tender seems that it is for 20 units of bren gun.
to be used to defend our gate guard aircrafts maybe🤣🤣🤣🤣
http://www.airforce.mil.my/berita/berita-dari-pangkalan/6242-pemasangan-pesawat-alouette-mk-iii-dan-pc-7-mk-i-di-muzium-pangkalan-udara-gong-kedak
jokes aside, in all actually a very interesting news.
Did we have people oil up the weapons regularly and what condition are the .303 rounds in, even if kept in the best conditions? I wouldn’t want to fire them.
Reply
No idea
Any chance these Brens have actually been rechambered to 7.62 NATO?
We are not known for using the correct terminology, especially terms of a historical nature. There’s even a repeated spelling error in the tenders.
Reply
I have no idea really, so I have to go with the tender documents that's available. If only they could post pictures of them it will be easy to spot them as I mentioned in the post, curve magazine its 303, if its straight is 7.62.
The Bren is a solidly very accurate weapon.. Very steady n extremely solid. The gun can work forever.
Only some small draw back. Too accurate for a LMG. If held steadily the chain of bullet will hit the same place . The bullets will not form a beaten area
The shooter must learn small burst of 3 to 4 bullets per shot. Can only use magazine feed. So require a separate loader.
Other than that its a beautiful n tough weapon
If our Armed Forces have to bring museum relics back into service, that tells alot about the state of finance for our Forces.
Reply
Not really, it is likely the weapon has been in the inventory of RMAF since the 1960s. The air force has not much use for small arms though I admit they could have ordered new guns to replace the old ones
FN 240 Machine Gun ?. What is suppose to mean. All i know is FN M249 SAW and FN Minimi Mk.3
Reply
Also known as the FN MAG, which replaced the Bren in most countries including Malaysia. The FN 240 is US designation for the machine gun
Wow and I thought PGA inventories are ancient
This isn't private properties tho, there are times where sourcing parts is going to be prohibitively expensive and they might as well get a new gun. This is taxpayers' money after all
@Marhalim
High time for replacement regardless. It doesn't have to be a full on SAW but a full auto SCAR-H would be perfect replacement.
@Safran
FN 240 - GMPG
FN M249 - Minimi
Actually all the Malaysian army Brens were modified with new barrels n carriers for the 7.62mm bullet. However the ori .303 can still be found in the Army inventory especially the Wataniah . Both 7.62mm n .303 versions are superb. Not so the SLR heavy barrel. Very loud. Great kick and need to really hold it tightly. The firing pin is prone to breaking . The firing pin is not field replaceable. Its also prone to stoppages. The ori plan was to replace the Bren with the SLRHB but due to to the bad performance of the SLRHB , the Bren was brought back.
Thereafter the HK LMG was bought n later the Minimi