The Bren Ten Curse

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Surprising no one has resurrected the Bren Ten, seems to me it would be fairly simple to do so-just don't use the customers' deposits as working capital. The AutoMag has been brought bac, though I don't anyone who has one.

 

[Ethang]

Wanna sell it?

hey now.. it's my thread.. I have first dibs...

 

[Ethang]

Interesting that such a short lived production pistol has such a cachet, a mystique. The 10MM Auto seems to be out of fashion at present.

It does? Seems to me there is more 10mm pistols than ever before..and ammo is all over too...

 

[bc1023]

I don't mind 10mm, I have a Glock 20. The the Bren Ten is, in my view, about the ugliest pistol ever produced. Or barely produced.

Wow, really? What’s ugly about it? I can think of some pretty damn ugly pistols and the Bren wouldn’t make the top 100.

 

[BB57]

This thread makes me want a WILDY...........

I read a few Mack Bolan novels as a kid. Consequently I’ve always wanted a .44 Automag.

It’s another pistol that was over hyped and under delivered with poor reliability and high production costs that quickly bankrupted the original company and then quickly got passed like a hot potato through half a dozen others before dying a merciful death.

Unlike the Bren Ten it made a zombie resurgence of sorts in 2015 but with similar lots of promises but little production issues that does the original justice. In 2024 the current company reported they would be catching up on back orders and accepting new orders (at like $3500 a pop) in mid 2024, which has of course passed.

 

[Apathesis]

If there was a demand for the Bren Ten, they would be on the market. There is no curse, the gun is just a lousy design.

While the design needs improvements, there is absolutely a curse.

How much do you know about the failure of the Vltor Fortis? Eric Kincel was ****** over on that, and it is precisely why he left VTLOR, the company he founded.

Do you know about Chuck Warner attempt to build them around 2019-2020 before he got pinched by the ATF?

Do you know about the latest addition to the curse involving a scam artist named Stuart Palmer--an investor in Chuck Warner's attempt--who is facing 20 years in the can for fraud surrounding a Bren Ten resurrection scam and a 40th Miami Vice anniversary event scam?

Hell, I was scammed out of an airsoft version a few months ago.

At this point, I would settle for stainless clone from Tisas.

That said, what aspects do you find lousy? I've never had hands on one.

The Bren Ten was like the Auto Mag. Introduced with a big splash, lots of publicity, then buyers found them next to impossible to get, interest faded rapidly.

I wonder how much of that was driven by Miami Vice vs advertising in gun magazines at the time?

 

[Patrick L]

Yeah, I was in college when all this went down. Definitely formative years, but in spite of it I never drank the Bren Ten kool-aid, nor the 10mm Hi C.

I always wondered what Cooper was thinking of when he got into that mess.

 

[45Smashemflat]

Definitely prettier than a Glock. Not sure I would spring for a Bren Ten remake, but I would at least go look.

 

[Rick Sanborn]

I have a thing for weird but iconic failures.

 

[Apathesis]

remember, miami beach in the early 1980s was called a "waiting room for heaven", miami vice documentaries admit it was a parkign lot of rocking chairs and senior citizens waiting to die in the sun.

The tv show producers shipped in alot of hot chicks in tiny bikinis and created the whole scenic background, and created the miami beach spring break scene.

Not sure what point you are trying to make. Yes. MIAMI VICE changed Miami forever, but that doesn't answer my question of what was the main driver of interest in the Bren Ten.

 

[petepeterson]

At this point, I would settle for stainless clone from Tisas.

I think you've hit on a great idea there.

 

[10mmauto]

1066 holster

I don't have a Bren Ten but do have a 10mm I won't get rid of, a S&W 1066 (bet you might have guessed that from my user name). Over the years I've managed to add an additional 7 genuine S&W 10mm mags for it. The one thing I've never been able to find, and if anyone has any recommendations please let me know, is a level 2 or even a level 3 duty holster. Before I retired we were allowed to chose the weapon we wished to carry but it had to be at least a level 2 holster and I could never find one so I carried either a 1911 45 or a 1911 Super 38 (both Colts of course). Retired now so can carry the 1066 any way I want but I'm more comfortable with level 2 carry. I understand I can use a holster for ether the S&W 1066 or 4566, but I can't find either. I currently use a Black Widow for personal carry. Curious what others use.

I had a holster made for my 1066 by Skip Ritchie at Ritchie Leather Co. (Ritchie Leather Co., Inc: Amherst, NY). Skip used to work for Lou Alessi at the original Alessi Holsters. I've been going to Ritchie's since Skip and his brother Bob took over from Lou when Lou passed away. They make several types of concealment holsters and they have a mold for the 1066. These are of the highest quality and I've been buying holsters from Alessi and now Skip for 35 (I can't believe it!) years now.

 

[Apathesis]

I had a holster made for my 1066 by Skip Ritchie at Ritchie Leather Co. (Ritchie Leather Co., Inc: Amherst, NY). Skip used to work for Lou Alessi at the original Alessi Holsters. I've been going to Ritchie's since Skip and his brother Bob took over from Lou when Lou passed away. They make several types of concealment holsters and they have a mold for the 1066. These are of the highest quality and I've been buying holsters from Alessi and now Skip for 35 (I can't believe it!) years now.

Ritchie's shoulder holster designs shame anything else out there with the retention method being far faster and more intuitive to overcome than when dealing the typical clumsy thumb break design of most. At least Galco and a few others use retention screws so you can opt to not use the thumb break if you you crank the tightness up to get a much faster and less clumsy draw.

Vintage Safariland level 3 1066 patrol holster on eBay. I have 3 of these for my 1076, 1006, and my 5906. They really are incredible holsters.

NEW Safariland 070 Duty Holster 1066 Belt Loop Level III Retention Black Right | eBay

 

[Bloodhound]

My Miami Vice Fan love was fulfilled with the S&W 645...it was my first semi-auto work gun agter the Sheriff made me swap from the revolver to the semi-auto.

The first 10mm I fell for was the Colt Delta Elate. But even they were too expensive for me. I worked with a Deputy who carried a S&W 1006 but he struggled to qualify with it every quarter and finally settled on the 4006. I don't need a Bren and its a good thing, because the divorrce would cost even more than the pistol

 

[stansdds]

My Miami Vice Fan love was fulfilled with the S&W 645...it was my first semi-auto work gun agter the Sheriff made me swap from the revolver to the semi-auto.

The first 10mm I fell for was the Colt Delta Elate. But even they were too expensive for me. I worked with a Deputy who carried a S&W 1006 but he struggled to qualify with it every quarter and finally settled on the 4006. I don't need a Bren and its a good thing, because the divorrce would cost even more than the pistol

I was never able to afford a Bren Ten. Saw just a few at gun shows, but the prices when new were very high. My only, so far, 10mm Auto is a Colt Delta Elite. I was not impressed with the plastic recoil spring guide rod, which also acts as a shock buffer, so it's life span is limited. The plastic guide rod also required a dual recoil spring, again, not impressed. Accuracy was typical of Colt in the 1980's, which is to say, pretty sloppy barrel lock up.


I do now own not one, but two S&W 645's. Also have a very good condition Galco Miami Classic shoulder holster for it too. Yep, I can get my Sonny Crockett going, just need a fake Ferrari 365 GTS/4.

 

[S&W Fan]

An old shop in Denver had one (it's now in a nearby city under different owners). The original place lost it in a burglary but amazingly was recovered. In 1985 I requested info from D&D, still have what I received:

 

[BigMuddy]

I’ve probably told this before, but being a big Miami Vice fan, and unable to afford a Bren Ten, I bought a M645 when they first came out. Closest gun I could get that looked kinda like the big Bren. The next season of Miami Vice and there’s Sonny with a 645. I always said he switched to be like me.

Dan

 

[BigMuddy]

And we all know the real reason for the change…. The 645 is one helluva gun!!!

Dan

 

[max]

Maybe the Turks will bring out a clone?

 

[petepeterson]

An old shop in Denver had one (it's now in a nearby city under different owners). The original place lost it in a burglary but amazingly was recovered. In 1985 I requested info from D&D, still have what I received:

Maybe they used the same company that made the pistol magazines to produce the catalogs.