Besal

The Besal, properly named "Gun, Light, Machine, Faulkner, .303-inch", was a light machine gun of British origin. The weapon was intended as an alternative to the Bren gun as it was lighter, simpler, cheaper and easier to manufacture and therefore was not dependent on the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield which was within range of German bombers. As the threat to the supply of Brens receded, it was eventually deemed unnecessary and never went into mass production.[1]

Besal Mk2
Type	Light machine gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
Used by	standby design
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	H. Faulkner
Designed	1940
Specifications
Cartridge	.303 British
Action	Gas
Rate of fire	600 rpm
Feed system	30-round Bren-compatible magazines
Sights	Iron sights

The design was by Henry Faulkner of the Birmingham Small Arms Company, which also manufactured the larger Besa machine gun which like the Bren was a product of the pre-war Czech arms manufacturer. That weapon's name was a nickname for Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) and the Besal was to be a lighter version; a Besa-light. This was however not an official designation.

References

Modern Small Arms” by Major Frederick Myatt, Salamander Books, 1978

External links

British Commonwealth small arms of World War II and Korea
Sidearms	Webley Mk IV & Mk VI Revolvers Enfield No. 2 Mk I Revolver Browning P-35 "High Power" Pistol M1911/M1911A1 pistol Smith & Wesson "Victory" Revolver Welrod
Rifles & submachine guns	SMLE No.1 Mk III* & Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk.I Pattern 1914 Enfield Lee–Enfield No.5 Mk.I "Jungle Carbine" Ross Rifle Mk.III De Lisle Commando Carbine Sten Lanchester Sterling Austen Kokoda Owen gun Welgun M1921/M1928/M1 Thompson
Bayonets	Pattern 1907 bayonet Pattern 1913 bayonet
Machine-guns & other larger weapons	Besa machine gun Bren Gun Charlton Automatic Rifle Lewis gun Vickers MG Vickers-Berthier LMG Vickers K gun PIAT Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55 in, Boys 29 mm Spigot Mortar "Blacker Bombard" SBML 2inch Mortar Projector, 2½-inch Mk. II "Northover" ML 3-inch mortar ML 4.2-inch mortar 3-inch Mk. I OSB Gun "Smith Gun" No.2 "Lifebuoy" Flamethrower
Grenades	British grenades of WWI and WW2 Mills Bomb
Small arms cartridges	.303 British 9 mm Parabellum .45 ACP .455 Webley .38/200 .38 Special .50 BMG .55 Boys 15×104 mm Brno

Weapons of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations 1722–1965
Handguns	Beaumont–Adams revolver Enfield revolver Webley revolver Mk. I–VI Enfield No. 2 revolver Browning Hi-Power
Rifles and carbines	Brown Bess musket Ferguson rifle Nock gun Baker rifle Brunswick rifle Enfield 1853 rifle-musket Snider–Enfield Martini–Henry Martini–Enfield Lee–Metford Lee–Enfield Ross rifle Lee–Enfield No.5 Mk.I "Jungle Carbine" Howell Automatic Rifle Huot Automatic Rifle Rieder Automatic Rifle De Lisle Commando carbine L1A1 SLR
Submachine guns	Lanchester Sten Owen gun Sterling L2 F1 submachine gun Thompson submachine gun
Rapid-fire weapons	Nordenfelt gun Gatling gun Gardner gun Maxim gun QF 2 pdr "Pom-Pom" Vickers gun Lewis gun Vickers–Berthier Vickers K machine gun Charlton Automatic Rifle Besa Besal Bren gun L7 (machine gun)
Anti-tank weapons	Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55 in, Boys PIAT 2 pdr anti-tank gun 6 pdr anti-tank gun 17 pdr anti-tank gun L6 Wombat
Field guns and other weapons	25 pdr field gun Congreve rocket SBML 2-inch mortar Ordnance ML 3 inch mortar No.2 "Lifebuoy" flamethrower Stokes mortar OTO Melara Mod 56

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