The Bren Ten

[Model39]

Cleaning out some of the hundreds of photos stored on my computer I came across a picture of one of my favorite lost autos, the Bren Ten. I had the 45 conversion unit for this too, but due to the NYS Safe Act, I chose to sell it out of state rather than modify the 10 round magazines to only seven rounds. We all have regrets about selling a gun we should have kept, but this one was a tough loss. It was more of a novelty, and I never used it, but it was one of those interesting firearms with an interesting history, being the creation of the late Jeff Cooper.

 

[DWalt]

I always wanted a Bren Ten, but it's probably good I never found one that I could afford. About the closest thing to a Bren Ten you can find easily today is the steel frame EAA Witness, and I do have one of those, with both .45 ACP and .38 Super barrels and slides, plus a 9mm barrel (which can be used with the .38 Super slide). Never was tempted to buy the EAA 10mm slide and barrel.

 

[BruceM]

Model39:

Seems to me that Bren Ten magazines hold 10 rounds of 10mm ammunition-not 11.

Bruce

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Ex Brother in Law #2 is very fond of anything 10mm. As I acquire empty brass from shops and ranges, ALL 10mm brass is still forwarded to him!

Ivan

 

[bigwheelzip]

I've read in a CZ forum that there is factory interest in a 10mm version of the CZ 97 B, but current production is maxed out and new models are tough to bring out.

Might be a close cousin if it happens.

 

[Old Corp]

Always wondered how many Bren Tens were sold due to 'Sonny Crockett'.....

 

[03hemi]

Always wondered how many Bren Tens were sold due to 'Sonny Crockett'.....

A bunch no doubt!

 

[dsink]

Always wondered how many Bren Tens were sold due to 'Sonny Crockett'.....

And shoulder holsters.

 

[shottist]

Bren 10

Had one, total disaster, sights could not be adjusted to zero, initially no magazine, Cooper made a mistake in hyping that ***

 

[H Richard]

One of our club members was a very early purchaser, and when he received it it had no magazine. The magazines didn't arrive for over a month.

 

[DWalt]

There has been a great deal written about the poor business model used by D&D for the Bren Ten. Google is your friend.

 

[Goblin]

Always wondered how many Bren Tens were sold due to 'Sonny Crockett'.....

All of them is my guess. That's why I wanted one.

 

[Hair Trigger]

And shoulder holsters.

And I bought one of those, although it was three years after Miami Vice cancelled. I'd love to have bought a Bren Ten to go in it, but instead I got a Glock 20 for it.

 

[Ethang]

I wanted a Bren from the time I saw the Cooper Boxed in Shooting Times when I was a kid. Then Miami Vice came along and I really wanted one. Never found one I could afford. Got sucked into the Vltor debacle, still won't buy a single thing that company produces. One day I am going to cash out some savings and just buy one, even if I never shoot it.

 

[BruceM]

Got sucked into the Vltor debacle, still won't buy a single thing that company produces.

What Vltor did was a galactically larger Charley Foxtrot than anything Dornaus and Dixon EVER did. Don't get me started on that debacle.

All of them is my guess. That's why I wanted one.

Dornaus and Dixon had essentially shut down before the peak of Miami Vice's popularity. The show debuted in fall of 1984.

I wanted a Bren from the time I saw the Cooper Boxed in Shooting Times

I was unaware that Shooting Times ever did a feature article on the Bren Ten or that Jeff Cooper had a by-line in that gunzine. Maybe Guns & Ammo or Guns magazine?

Bruce

 

[BUFF]

Jeff Cooper was a man of honor if not a very shrewd businessman. I'm sure that the Bren Ten D&D shipped him had been gone through a dozen times at their factory/mom's basement and that he got several extra mags with it.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

I was unaware that Shooting Times ever did a feature article on the Bren Ten... Maybe Guns & Ammo or Guns magazine?

I don't think that Shooting Time did an article on any 10mm until 1987.

Guns & Ammo did one on the Bren Ten in 1984.

.

 

[Ethang]

Bruce I was talking about the ad for the Commemorative boxed set, not an article. There has always just been something about how Brens look that has done it for me. I've only handled a Bren one time and that was back in the early 90's at a gun show when I was freshly married and broke.

 

[DWalt]

The first Bren Ten I saw was at the Dallas SHOT Show in 1983 or 1984 (I don't remember which it was). Anyway, I still have all of the advertising propaganda items they were handing out there about it.

 

[BruceM]

Anyway, I still have all of the advertising propaganda items they were handing out there about it.

They gave out a lot of different items at the S.H.O.T. Show booths. These included catalogs, net back adjustable baseball caps in a couple of colors and owner's manuals. The owner's manuals were really something. They are about 70 pages and included a very large numbers of photo's and illustrations along with technical illustrations of all three models and complete parts lists. It's the best owner's manual I've ever seen and it, in fact, won an award. You see them for sale on eBay occasionally. However, you can always tell the "promotional" manuals from those issued with guns because the latter include three loose single sheet addenda.

Bruce