Bren Ten
Dornaus & Dixon Enterprises · Pistol · Discontinued · 1983
Also known as: Dornaus & Dixon Bren Ten, D&D Bren Ten
Overview
The Bren Ten is a semi-automatic pistol designed by firearms authority Colonel Jeff Cooper and engineered by Tom Dornaus and Mike Dixon of Dornaus & Dixon Enterprises, Inc., introduced in 1983 as the flagship platform for Cooper's purpose-built 10mm Auto cartridge. Conceived as Cooper's ideal defensive handgun, the Bren Ten fused the proven Czech CZ-75 action with an enlarged, reinforced stainless steel frame capable of handling the high-pressure 10mm Auto round, paired with an 11-round staggered-column magazine that gave it unprecedented firepower for a full-power service pistol. The pistol featured a traditional double-action/single-action trigger, frame-mounted manual safety, exposed hammer, walnut grip panels, and a distinctive two-tone finish on the Standard Model with a blued carbon-steel slide over a stainless frame. Despite enormous enthusiasm, groundbreaking ballistics, and iconic on-screen exposure as Sonny Crockett's signature sidearm in Miami Vice, the Bren Ten became one of firearms history's most notorious commercial failures: chronic manufacturing problems, quality control issues, and-most infamously-a critical shortage of magazines meant many customers received pistols shipped without working magazines, and Dornaus & Dixon collapsed into bankruptcy in 1986 after producing only an estimated 1,500 to 1,700 units.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 1077 g (38.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 222 mm (8.74") |
| Barrel Length | 127 mm (5.00") |
| Height | 140 mm (5.51") |
| Width | 38 mm (1.50") |
| Sight Radius | 175 mm (6.89") |
| Action Type | Short Recoil |
| Firing Mechanism | Double Action Single Action |
| Trigger Type | Double Action Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 11 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 396 m/s (1299 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 915 J (675 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 50 m (55 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 406 mm (15.98") |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Stainless Steel |
| Slide Material | Carbon Steel |
| Barrel Material | Stainless Steel |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Two Tone Blued Slide Stainless Frame |
Calibers
- 10mm Auto · primary — also known as 10mm, 10x25mm, 10mm Norma
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Frame Mounted Manual Safety, Firing Pin Block, Half Cock Notch
- Features: Cz 75 Derived Design, Modified Browning Short Recoil, Staggered Column Magazine, Exposed Hammer, Steel Construction, Walnut Grip Panels, Cooper Designed Cartridge, High Capacity 10mm
Variants
- Bren Ten Standard Model — Two Tone Production
- Bren Ten Special Forces Model — All Stainless
- Bren Ten Initial Production — Early Production Run
- Bren Ten Pocket Model — 45 Acp Prototype Unreleased
- Vltor Bren Ten — 2000s Revival Unreleased
Service history
Operators
- FBI Hostage Rescue Team (limited issue) · adopted 1984
- U.S. Civilian Collectors · adopted 1983
Production
Estimated total produced: 1,600 · Production years: 1983-1986
Estimated 1,500-1,700 total units produced before Dornaus & Dixon bankruptcy in 1986. Many units shipped without functional magazines due to Italian subcontractor supply failures. Vltor Weapon Systems announced a revival in 2008 that was never produced.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Jeff Cooper (concept and cartridge), Tom Dornaus and Mike Dixon (engineering)
Discontinued: 1986
Notes
The Bren Ten's name combined 'Bren' (an homage to the famed Bren light machine gun) with 'Ten' (for its 10mm chambering). The pistol's locking system is a modified Browning short-recoil design adapted from the CZ-75, with a tilting barrel rather than the rotating-barrel systems sometimes attributed to it in popular accounts. The magazine crisis is the defining story of the Bren Ten: the Italian subcontractor supplying magazines could not keep pace with orders, so many pistols were shipped either without magazines, with a single magazine, or with coupons redeemable for future magazines that never arrived. Vltor Weapon Systems announced a Bren Ten revival in 2008 with updated tooling and a promise of modern manufacturing quality, but the project was repeatedly delayed and ultimately abandoned-a second failed attempt at reviving Cooper's dream pistol. Original Bren Tens are now highly collectible, with Standard Model examples in excellent condition regularly commanding $5,000 to $15,000 or more at auction. The 10mm Auto cartridge that Cooper designed for the Bren Ten outlived its host pistol and was briefly adopted by the FBI after the 1986 Miami FBI shootout, but the Bureau soon downloaded it to the 'FBI Lite' loading, which Smith & Wesson engineers then packaged into a shorter case to create the .40 S&W cartridge in 1990.
Background
Colonel Jeff Cooper's dream of a 'perfect' combat pistol became a legend through catastrophe: customers who ordered Bren Tens often received pistols with no magazines because the Italian subcontractor couldn't deliver, and Dornaus & Dixon went bankrupt in 1986 after fewer than 1,700 units left the factory. The pistol survived in pop culture as Sonny Crockett's sidearm in Miami Vice-the white suit, the pastel Ferrari, and the stainless Bren Ten-and today surviving examples trade hands at $5,000 to $15,000, often worth more than the car they were designed to be drawn from.