Holy mackerel..what a collection! It's almost 1% of all Bren Tens ever made.

Quote from: BEEMER! on December 03 2018 06:37:21 AM MST
There are no markings of any kind on the slide or frame other than the poorly stamped serial number.

Yikes...I didn't even notice that. $2500 is a lot of cash to take that kind of a chance.

The pictures weren't very good but it looked like the raven logo was missing. Did later Brens not have that?

Quote from: Canoe on October 17 2018 08:38:52 PM MDT
Good on you for shooting it.  Too often these gems sit unused.  Not that someone can't appreciate a dedicated collector that they only fondle while sitting on the couch, but it is not quite the same as getting them out.

I was wavering before purchasing it on whether I'd shoot it or not (it was—by a lot—the most expensive gun I'd ever purchased). But then I realized that I'm closer to the end of my shooting years than I am the start, and thought that I'd always regret never having shot an original Bren Ten. I'm glad I did—it's an awesome gun.

Quote from: Canoe on October 17 2018 05:26:07 PM MDT
Great write up and pics.  Too bad they are so rare these days as I would love to add one.  Wonder if the remake will ever materialize.

Thanks for the kind comments! I would likely get one of the remakes, too, if they're halfway affordable. It'd be nice to be able to get more magazines, plus not having to worry about causing irreparable damage to my original every time I take it out. It is one of my favourite pistols to shoot so having one I could shoot a ton worry-free would be nice.   

I just came across this website today—I don't know how I've missed it!. While much of the info here will be old news for most members here, I thought it might be a worthwhile post to have for folks looking for more information



I purchased my first handgun in late 1983, a Ruger Mk II .22, and the next year I was ready to pick up a centre-fire for club matches. I was an avid reader of Guns & Ammo magazine back, then and the August 1984 issue had an awesome-looking new pistol on the cover:



I was taken! It was a modern design (for the time) and fired a powerful new round offering magnum-level performance in a ten-round semi-auto. With then-current 9mm ammunition supposedly offering less than optimal performance this seemed like a great new development, and, of course, when it was soon featured on my new favourite TV show, I had to have one!

Well, of course that wasn't going to happen. As readers of this site likely know, Dornaus & Dixon ran into magazine supply issues, and other manufacturing and business issues resulted in them declaring bankruptcy in 1986. I ended up with a CZ75 instead, which, was rather fitting, I thought. There have been a few attempts at resurrection—the Peregrine Falcon in the early 1990s, and more recently, the VLTOR Fortis (which later was re-christened the "Bren Ten" as they obtained the rights to the name) in 2010. I was really excited—it seemed imminent! But, year after year dragged by with nothing but prototypes, and with the main driving force behind the pistol leaving VLTOR it seemed to me to be dead.

I actually owned one eight years ago, but the slide's bluing had turned distinctly purple and the slide-frame fit was not great. That, combined with a complete lack at the time of 10mm ammunition locally drove me to trade it to a dealer without ever firing it. I never gave up hope on finding another, although I was starting to lose hope until this one showed up for sale this Spring. I gave it some careful thought and decided that it might be the last one I ever find—I went for it!

My pistol came with some great extras—a Dornaus & Dixon booklet about the various Bren Ten Models, the classic Guns & Ammo magazine from 1984 (!), the original box (a little battered!), manual & other papers, and 20 rounds of the original classic Norma ammunition (just like the magazine cover!).





And this piece of paper too—I've been checking the mailbox every day but for some reason they haven't shown up.



And now, onto the pistol itself!

The "Bren" part of the name comes from the fact that its design is inspired by the CZ75, which was made at the Brno factory which made the Bren Gun LMG. You can see the family resemblance here:



The slide is made from stainless steel and the slide from carbon steel—I remember reading that this was to eliminate galling, which had been a problem with some all-stainless designs dating from the same time. The frame has polished sides with a matte finish elsewhere, and the blued slide also has polished sides and a matte finished top. I find it a very attractive look.



The pistol is double-action, and can be carried cocked and locked, like the CZ75. There is no decocker. You can see the Gunsite "Raven" logo here—Jeff Cooper worked with Dornaus and Dixon on the pistol's design. The magazine release is located in the usual spot. Unusually, there is a trigger stop, as well.



It's possible to reverse the safety—the frame is marked for it.



The grips are pebbled plastic. Interestingly, the small screw at the bottom of the right grip adjusts how the magazine ejects—mine is set to pop the magazine all the way out, but turn that screw a quarter turn and the magazine only pops partway out if you want to remove and retain it.



Front sight is a blade with a large dot:



Rear sight is an adjustable blade with smaller dots.



When viewed from a firing hold, the combination of large and small dots look to be the same size:



There is a removable barrel bushing at the front of the slide (although it does not need to be removed for field stripping):



Here's the manual cross-bolt firing pin safety. I always figured it was meant to be used to eliminate the risk of an accidental discharge when manually lowering the hammer. Here's it's normal position:



And when depressed:



The pistol disassembles just like a CZ75 (except you need to remove the recoil spring plug).



That little dealy that looks like a guide for the (stout) recoil spring is actually a recoil buffer with a compressible spring.



The barrel is reminiscent of a CZ75's, but there's only one locking lug, and it goes all the way around the barrel. The rifling looks quite shallow, but it was called "Power-Seal" rifling, which provided high muzzle velocities.






So—that's the details on the pistol. How does it shoot? I must admit that I was apprehensive—after waiting 34 years to shoot one would I be let down? I'd read the concerns about sudden failure of the slide as well, but thought that I'd rather shoot it and risk it, than not shoot it at all. I'm closer now to the end of my shooting days than the start so I want to experience as much as I can while I still ca, 

I had it out to the range a few weeks after I picked it up for a quick shakedown. At the time, I hadn't shot a handgun since last Fall, so I was out of practice for sure.

The pistol fits great in the hand—it's one of my most comfortable ones to hold, and even though it's 38 oz, the pistol's balance makes it feel much lighter. The single action trigger pull is my absolute favourite type of trigger: light, very smooth and with just a bit of movement. I'm not a fan of the "breaking glass rod" trigger...I like a bit of movement. The pull is wonderful—I'm very pleased! The recoil is more like a push than a snap—it's very manageable and pleasant (of course, modern ammunition is not as hot as the original Norma load).

Here's the pistol in action:



I don't think I could be happier with the pistol—it looks great, has awesome extras and feels wonderful to shoot. A great day at the range!