LGS owner has a brand new unfired Bren Ten, which he values at between 15 and 20 grand. I had asked him about the most precious gun in his vast collection and he replied: "The Bren Ten in my safe." This guy owns hundreds of guns and that was his answer.
Mas Ayoob discussed what apparently was a big flop in the firearms industry:
Massad Ayoob: History of the Bren Ten
Anyone familiar with this gun?

Yes, familiar. Dornhaus and Dixon story, the 10mm, Jeff Cooper, etc. Is it worth $20,000? Not to me.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Not to me.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I didn't read the link, because like Elmer Keith, "Heck, I was there!".

Ask the people who received a gun but no magazine (because they couldn't make them work), or better yet the folks who put down a deposit and only received warm air what they think one's worth.

The Bren Ten was the gun carried by Sonny Crockett on the TV show Miami Vice back in the mid 80's...

That's probably the reason I remember the gun at all.

Never seen one in real life.

I'd like to hold one....

Count me as another who put down a deposit to never see it. Even if I had the money I wouldn't spend $20k on one today.

A friend had a shop and had one with a magazine in his personal collection. It was one of a bunch of guns that were stolen in a burglary. It was eventually recovered but really scratched up, funny side note-it was taken without the mag, not that the idiots realized it at first.

I've owned five of them - a Special Forces Light and Standard Model - both direct from the factory. Two Marksman's Specials bought second hand and a Standard model bought second hand. I wish I had any or all of them back.

Worth 20 grand? Nope.

I would offer him nothing. No way this gun is worth $20,000.00.
Keeping this gun running could cost a fortune as parts are not available and replacement part would have to be custom made.

Colt single Action Armies are a well established collectible with a grading and value system up to seven figures. A Bren Ten? I've never seen one, nor have I ever heard of someone wanting one, either in person in in this and similar forums.

I think your LGS throws this out as bait, hoping that eventually, somebody will be dumb enough to bite.

I see them occasionally at shows, usually from$1500-$3k, if memory serves. Obviously, having even one mag ups-the-ante, LOL.

They are certainly worth more now than the original price.

20K?

Not to me.

I know a Deputed Sheriff here in town.
He sent his money in and waited. He was transporting prisoners, so he set up a trip to Lost Angel City. He went out to the Bren co and they confirmed he was sure as hell was on that list. But it didn't speed up delivery!
So be waited some more. It finally came! Then he took it out to the range to qualify so be use it as a duty gun.
He was telling us this at a gunshow in uniform. He was wearing a gun rig with ammo loops in front.
I look down and say, are those 10mm, they look like 45s?
He replied, they are 45s. When I took the Bren out to the range, the slide split after I fired a few rounds.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Shoot, I thought you were talking about a WWII Bren gun. Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure I'd pay that much for one of those. (that's if I had 20K of course)

Worth every penny of 20,000.000-all one needs is another person that thinks the same thing and has $20,000.00 of disposable income lying around. Stranger things have happened.

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Forum consigliere

That more than anything else is what killed the Bren Ten. As I remember it the first full production batch of slides were investment cast with internal flaws so bad it's recommended that NO Bren Ten should be shot until AFTER the slide has been X Rayed. When word of the leaked out nobody wanted a Bren Ten at any price.

Interesting tidbit in that article by Mossad linked to. In that article he puts down the 40 S&W a bit as being an "also ran" when compared to the 10mm. Then he cites the ultimate manstopper for the 10mm as being a 135 grain bullet loaded to 1450 fps. I guess Mossad hasn't ever done any reloading. Because a quick glance in the Lee 2nd lists a 40 S&W load for a 135 grain jacketed bullet at 1434 fps using 11.5 grains of Longshot smokeless powder.

BTW, I load my practice ammo for my SD carry load using Longshot and while it's a miserable metering powder and nearly as loud as a full house 357 Magnum it does allow the 40 S&W to come quite close to the 10mm. BTW, that load is a 165 grain pill moving at a clocked 1150 fps which exactly duplicates the Speer Gold Dot I carry with.

$20K buys me a nice Registered Magnum and ammo.

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I'm with the banned ...

I would offer him the same Michael Corleone offered to the Nevada senator for his gaming license.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

Lets see now, a semi auto pistol with no magazine available, what's it worth? I'm feeling generous, I'd go two saltine crackers and a glass of water, even up trade.

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Stay safe people!

I guess they have become collectible. I had an early Bren Ten and wouldn't pay $2000.00 for another one, much less $20,000.00. I was acquainted with Tom Dornaus and Michael Dixon, worked SHOT show with them, went up to Gunsite with them one day to shoot the guns with the Colonel,etc. I always thought that to introduce a new pistol, in a new Metric caliber, was going to be real hard to make a success. Tom Dornaus mentioned something to me about frames cracking, and that he thought he'd designed enough beef into the frame to prevent that. That was when the only factory ammo was the Norma. I really like the caliber, and have owned most of the commonly available 10MM autos and revolvers, at one time or another, since the Bren Ten days but think that better, more durable, certainly more sustainable 10MMs came later.........ymmv

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NRA Life, COTEP 640

I'd go buy a Registered Magnum, an Automag, three Wilson Combat .45s, and maybe have a buck or two left over.......

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Even older, even crankier....

If you look this good with it, buy it.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

Sip ... You still have that mullet and white jacket?

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I'm with the banned ...

Whew!! I forgot about the Mullet! I liked him better in Nash Bridges.

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Forum consigliere

No, it isn't.

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S&WHF 366

EAA has a similar pistol in 10mm for a lot less.

As Col. Cooper used to say, "A gun is worth what an individual collector will pay for it."

For that kind of money I'd be real close to the price of a Thompson. If you're buying a firearm for the cool factor or the fun factor there is absolutely no comparison, IMHO.

I stuck with the 1911/45acp through the 9mm era with lots of fire power no stopping power, the super hype of the 40cal being the next best thing and the rise and fall of the not so popular 10mm it's as powerful as a 41magnum yet there frames are carcking. There is always a better, newer caliber yet they say this every time before it's been proven to be. Everyone builds a better bird house yet the old one still does its job. It's been the same, same in the gun market for decades. I love my 41 magnum too.

$20k on a bren 10 I'd buy more land in the mountains first.

Vektor CP-1 right side 30.jpg
NO!
HowEVER, I will trade even-up for my Vektor CP-1 (AS SEEN IN BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!), as-new, unmodified.
IF the Bren Ten shoots, that is. (My Vektor does.)

Hmmmm, Massad A Boob as he's known to any professional. And the name is proven again.

The 357mag using a 125GR JHP bullet flys @ 1597FPS so what's the diff?

My 44mag loaded 240gr JHP is 1450fps. 240gr?

Bren Ten for $20k? Not on my watch.

Steyr GBs are another pistol with magazines like hen's teeth. I have two and am considered greedy.

Not 20K worth but a Bren is my White Whale. I have wanted one since first seeing the Cooper Commemorative in Gun World wayyy back when. Those gold plated 10mm rounds.... Miami Vice as a teenager solidified it.

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Plastic has no soul

Well...did you buy it?
Kidding of course.

This Bren was the first gun I bought when I graduated the Academy in 1997. The $1200 price tag was awfully steep at the time...