Original Item. Only One Available. This is an extremely scarce magazine transit chest for one of the rarest variants of the Bren, the Chinese Contracted 7.92mm. Anything regarding this scarce variant is heavily sought after by collectors, so don’t miss this rare opportunity.

The top and back of the chest is stenciled:

BOX, MAGAZINES, BREN 7.92MM M.G.

There is a small strip of khaki in the box. The top of the box has some heavy oxidation but the stenciling is still clear, the back of the box looks great. The box measures 14" x 7" x 4”. A great piece to display with your Chinese Bren. Comes ready for further research and display!

History of the Chinese ZB and Bren Machine Guns:
The ZB vz. 30 and ZB vz. 30J were the later versions of the famous Czechoslovakian machine gun, the ZB vz. 26. However, the ZB30 had some design differences, making it similar to the later ZGB-33, which was an early prototype of the Bren gun. Designed and manufactured in Pre-War Czechoslovakia these were some of the finest Light Machine Guns ever produced, and were exported to numerous countries across the world. The British were so impressed that they worked with the Zbrojovka Brno factory to develop the Bren machine gun, a portmanteau of Brno and Enfield, the two factories that worked together.

Large numbers were also made and exported to the Republic of China, who received 30,249 ZB series machine guns between 1927 and 1939. These included both the ZB-26 and the ZB-30. The government arsenals in China also started producing the machine gun under license, beginning at the Taku Naval Dockyard in 1927. These were later produced in Gongxian Arsenal, Hanyang Arsenal, and the 21st/51st Arsenals. These were used during the Sino-Japanese component of WWII, and many were captured by Japanese forces.

Additionally, the Republic of China also imported 43,000 Bren machine guns, produced in 7.92×57mm Mauser by Inglis in Canada. These were used National Revolutionary Army, and it is believed that they were partly reverse engineered from the Chinese ZB guns, so they used identical magazines, which definitely helped simplify the supply chain.