Bren Gun Carrier Track Straining Bar

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all
You would have thought I was asking people to rebuild the Pyramids. All I wanted was to replicate this bar. After several days of visiting foundries, spring shops and metal workers, I finally came up with a solution, albeit expensive. The result is a reproduction bar that has the same tensile strength and weight as the original. I have tested it on the Museum Carrier and it passed with flying colours. I will only reproduce on request as the upfront costs are too great to speculate with. If interested send me a PM. The bar will be unpainted and the square handle section will need to be slightly rounded off.
The picture shows the original (top) with the replica underneath.
Bob

[Tony Smith]

Well done, Bob! The finished product looks great. And just in time for those people preparing to take carriers to Corowa next year!

For those people who don't recognise this rare piece of Carrier toolkit (It's usually missing), that's because Bob posted his picture upside down! The following pic is from the Aussie Carrier instruction book:

I've never seen one of those contraptions before, we just used a track cam and a Tommy Bar.

[rob love]

I just used one yesterday. I like them better than the cam style.
They were stowed on the early Cdn carriers (first couple thousand only) on the front hull plate. Although they were meant more for the early "spring-and-ratchet" style of front idler adjuster, they work great on the simplified version as well. I suspect it didn't take long to realize that putting exposed springs on the front of a cross country armoured vehicle wasn't a recipe for long term success.
I've made them out of 1" squre bar and never had a problem other than the excessive weight.

[jeff davis]

someone have some dimensions so i can make my own pls
or how about the later version what works best