BESAL
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Barrel
- 558 mm
- Weight, empty
- 9.80 kg
- Introduced
- 1940
About
What it is, and why it matters
The BESAL is a British .303 British light machine gun designed in 1940 by Harry Faulkner at the Birmingham Small Arms Company. Outwardly resembling the Bren, it was conceived as a simplified emergency-production weapon that could be manufactured in ordinary machine shops should German bombing cripple the main Bren factory at Enfield. The gas-operated, top-fed design used minimal machining and fed from the standard 30-round Bren box magazine. It never advanced beyond a handful of prototypes; the production contract was cancelled in June 1943 once the threat to Bren manufacturing had passed.
The BESAL was Britain's insurance policy against the Blitz: a stripped-down Bren substitute that could be churned out in any small workshop if the Enfield line was bombed out. The bombs never destroyed Bren production, and the simplified gun was quietly shelved.
Also referred to as the Besal or Faulkner gun. Some sources cite an empty weight closer to 9.7 kg and a loaded figure around 11 kg with magazine.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Birmingham Small Arms Company
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Status
- Prototype
- Produced
- 1940 to 1943
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 558 mm
- Overall length
- 1185 mm
- Weight, empty
- 9.80 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Gas operated
- Firing mechanism
- Open bolt
- Capacity
- 30
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 747 m/s
- Effective range
- 550 m
- Rate of fire
- 600 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Quick change barrel
Top mounted magazine
Bipod
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 261 machine guns | 9.80 kg | 10.50 kg | Lighter than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 260 machine guns | 1185 mm | 1156 mm | Longer than about 60% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 257 machine guns | 558 mm | 605 mm | Shorter than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 222 machine guns | 30 | 50 | Holds fewer rounds than about 60% |
Answers
Questions about the BESAL
How much does the BESAL weigh?
The BESAL weighs 9.80 kg (21.61 lb) empty.
What caliber is the BESAL?
The BESAL is chambered in .303 British.
How many rounds does the BESAL hold?
The BESAL holds 30 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
How long is the BESAL?
The BESAL is 1185 mm (46.7 in) long overall, with a 558 mm (22.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the BESAL?
The BESAL is made by Birmingham Small Arms Company (United Kingdom). It was designed by Harry Faulkner.
When was the BESAL introduced?
The BESAL was introduced in 1940 and discontinued in 1943.
How does the BESAL operate?
The BESAL uses a gas operated action, and its firing mechanism is open bolt.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- British Army
- United Kingdom
Provenance
Confidence in this record
78%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/besal' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "besal", "name": "BESAL", "manufacturer": { "id": "birmingham-small-arms", "name": "Birmingham Small Arms Company", "countryCode": "GB", "foundedYear": 1861, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-26 23:12:00", "updatedAt": "2026-04-26 23:12:00", "version": "ae6e88d593a8c089b8f2f2f6e564f2eef2056d641dd74def2ac44494b3a5930b" }, "category": { "id": "machine-gun", "name": "Machine Gun", "description": "Fully automatic firearms for sustained fire" }, "country_of_origin": "GB", "year_introduced": 1940, "barrel_length_mm": 558, "weight_empty_g": 9800, "action_type": "gas_operated"}