The Bren Ten

The one and only Bren Ten I ever saw in person was around 1998 at Planet Hollywood in Aspen, Colorado...as luck would have it I was seated in a booth that had what was supposedly Don Johnson's Bren Ten from the Miami Vice series in a small glass case right there on the wall. It was scratched all to heck, but still a thrill to see. I mean, was there ever any other Bren Ten on the planet of any real significance? :)
 
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That was an interesting time and those were interesting guns. I saw Col. Cooper's cased Bren Ten while visiting his armory at Gunsite years ago. Tom and Michael gave me a tour of the factory one time and I worked the Bren Ten booth at SHOT with them in Dallas, 1984 I believe it was. I sure thought at the time that they'd bitten off a lot attempting to successfully introduce a new gun, in a new metric caliber to boot. This, at a time when metric calibers were not accepted as readily as they might be now days. I still have my Bren Ten jacket, shirt, some of the advertising literature I was pictured in, etc. After D&D's demise, I still had a case of Bren Ten owners manuals. I thought, why do I need these things? I dumped them in the trash. Only later did I learn that people had started collecting all things Bren Ten. I got an early Bren Ten for dealer cost, but never did get a magazine;)
 
The ultimate Bren Ten, it had a magazine! Sad tale of a good idea gone bad. Thanks for sharing!
 
The Bren Ten displayed at Planet Hollywood was one of two blank firing guns built by Tom Dornaus especially for the show. A collector in the eastern US owns the other. It was mislabeled as a Detonics Combat Master in the display. Don Johnson owns another Bren Ten with a vanity serial number.

Bren Tens shipped without magazines which were never returned to the D&D plant never had their magazine wells machined to final dimensions because the production magazines hadn't been received from MEC-GAR yet. This is something to keep in mind if somebody should acquire a magazine and decide to shoot the gun (something I don't recommend for safety reasons).

Any Bren Ten jacket is a one of a kind item which is highly collectable. They were never offered for sale by the factory or from System Ten Associates. All System Ten items are highly collectible. I own the last of their old inventory including T-Shirts, jacket patches, brass belt buckles. tie tacs/lapel pins and wall posters. Their baseball caps are extremely rare. I've only actually seen two.

Jeff Cooper's Bren Ten is actually one of the limited edition Commemoratives; actually a prototype. They found that while shooting, the gold plating on the hammer would chip off. They then decided they would ship a standard hammer along with the plated one with all Commemorative models. Whether they actually followed thru I don't know.

Bruce
 
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Model39: Those grips are amazing; do you know who made them? I have never seen those before. They look like Tyler Tru-Fits. I know that Hogue allegedly made white grips for the Bren, but have never found a pair.
I bought mine in 1997, and grab spare parts and accessories when I can:


Even though the prices have really shot up, I'd still like to pick up an M&P Model.
 
Grips

Model39: Those grips are amazing; do you know who made them? I have never seen those before. They look like Tyler Tru-Fits. I know that Hogue allegedly made white grips for the Bren, but have never found a pair..
I bought mine in 1997, and grab spare parts and accessories when I can:


Even though the prices have really shot up, I'd still like to pick up an M&P Model.
The grips in the picture were made for me by a friend about 12 years ago. They are made of Ivory, and I had two blue and gold Bren Ten emblem pins which my friend inlaid in the grips to finish them off. I also had factory wood grips and the black plastic grips which originally came on the gun. I had three dual caliber magazines, and four designated 10MM magazines to go along with it. I NEVER shot the gun as I had read horror stories about slides cracking and was worried that something might go wrong and make the gun useless if I did. I chose to put the Ivories on the gun (for show only) since I was never going to fire it,and was not concerned about any damage that might be caused to the grips from the recoil of the gun. Sadly Ivory grips cannot be sold legally anymore. Thank You for your interest.
 
Even though the prices have really shot up, I'd still like to pick up an M&P Model.

A lot of folks are tempted by the all dark colored Military and Police Model but are then disappointed with the finish. The black finish on the Special Forces Dark and M&P frames have a very porous texture and show burnish marks quite easily. The types of dark finish available for stainless steel in 1983 was nowhere what is is now in terms of color, texture or durability.

Guy Hogue manufactured the original black fiberglass reinforced nylon grips and the white ones. I have only seen one pair of the latter and wasn't impressed. They are rare to the extreme. The mold for the grips could also produced the follower for the magazines. All OEM wood grips for the Bren Tens were manufactured by Herrett. A few years back a boatload of repro's were made so be aware that those are out there also if you are looking for the collectible variety.

I was talking about the ad for the Commemorative boxed set

That's interesting in that the Initial Commemorative magazine ad was an artist's rendition and not a photo. I personally don't care for engraved and inlayed guns but I'd like to have one of the twelve or so Commemoratives actually built complete with everything including the certificate signed by Mike Dixon, Tom Dornaus and Jeff Cooper.

Bruce
 
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There was a magazine article a few years back about modifying 1911 magazines to shoot in the Bren.
 
I have been a fan of the 10mm Auto and the Brens for years.

Here is a purchase I made in the last year. Two NIB Dual Masters, consecutive serial numbers.
 

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BruceM - I have heard of (and seen) the finish issues on the M&P frames. Too bad, it's a really cool variation. The white Hogues I have never seen in person. I'm still looking for a set of smooth Herrett's.
 
BEEMER1:

Did you buy those from a guy in Indiana? Serial Numbers 2xx and 3xx?

I'm still looking for a set of smooth Herrett's.

The smooth Herrett's are definitely nicer than the checkered version. I suspect the OEM's will set you back $200-$300.

Bruce
 
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Yah. He picked them up in 2011. He has (or had?) a thing for Bren Tens in consecutively serial numbered sets. Class III weapons also.

Bruce


Before he would really talk about selling he certainly questioned my intentions of keeping them together or not.

I think that was more important to him than the price. I believe that I have purchased 6 Brens form him.

He is a real gentleman to deal with.
 
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