Browning Automatic Rifle

The Browning Automatic Rifle (commonly known as the BAR; properly pronounced "bee ay are") is a family of automatic rifles (or machine rifles) and light machine guns used by the United States and other countries during the 20th century.

It was designed in 1917 by the weapons designer John Browning, primarily as a replacement for, and improvement on, the French-made Chauchat and Hotchkiss M1909. The BAR was originally intended as a light automatic rifle, but spent much of its career in various guises used as a light machine gun with a bipod. The original version was and remains the lightest service machine gun to fire the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, but its 20-round magazine tended to hamper its use as a light machine gun.

Design

The BAR is a gas-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed weapon. As built for the U.S. military, the BAR was chambered for the standard service round of that period, the .30-06 Springfield. It weighed from 16 to 19 pounds (7.3 to 8.6 kg) empty, depending upon the model. The magazine was detachable box-type with a capacity of 20 rounds.

The BAR M1918 was a selective fire weapon allowing the user to choose either semi or fully-automatic fire. First issued in February 1918, it was hoped the BAR might help break the stalemate of the trenches by the concept of "walking fire"; an automatic weapon accompanying advancing squads of riflemen rushing from trench to trench. BAR gunners were issued a belt that held magazine pouches along with a "cup" to support the stock of the rifle when held at the hip. This allowed the soldier to lay suppressive fire while walking forward, keeping the enemy's head down until it was too late. Eighty-five thousand of these were built by the war's end, though the gun saw little action in part due to the war's early end and the fact that the government was reluctant to have the BAR fall into enemy hands, its first action being in September of 1918.

In June 1937, a small number of the M1918s were modified to include a spiked bipod attached to the gas cylinder and a hinged buttplate. These weapons were designated M1918A1.

In 1940, the final BAR model — the M1918A2 — was introduced. This model did away with the semi-automatic option in favor of fully-automatic fire only. The rate of fire was adjustable, with a choice between "fast-auto" (500–650 round/min) and "slow-auto" (300–450 round/min). The (unspiked) bipod was now attached to the barrel and, being easily removable, was often discarded by troops when on the offensive to save weight. In 1942, a plastic buttstock replaced the walnut, and, in late World War II, a carrying handle that mounted to the barrel was issued.

While not without its design flaws (a fixed barrel that did not allow for quick replacement, limited magazine capacity and many small internal parts), the BAR proved itself to be rugged and reliable. It served as a frontline standard weapon from the latter days of World War I through World War II, and the Korean War as well. It soldiered on into the Vietnam War when the U.S. passed a quantity to the South Vietnamese. Many nations in NATO and recipients of U.S. foreign aid adopted the BAR and used it into the 1990s. Poland (Browning wz.1928), Belgium (FN M1930) and Sweden (Kulsprutegevär m/21 and m/37) developed and issued BAR variants during the 1930s which had pistol-type rear grips and quick-change barrels.

The BAR also has its place in civilian history. Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde fame was known to prefer the use of a shortened BAR (stolen from National Guard armories) during his spree in the 1930s, rather than the stereotypical Thompson submachine gun.

A modern manufacturer of firearms has produced a semi-automatic version of the Browning Automatic Rifle known as the 1918A3 SLR (self-loading rifle). See http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/slr/slr.htm for more info.

The BAR hunting rifle currently offered by Browning is unrelated in design to the earlier M1918 series.

Variants

United States

M1918

Initial model fielded during WWI and the "intra-war" period
The commercial version of the M1918 was a popular civilian firearm

M1918A1

Produced in 1937 by modifying existing M1918
Attached bipod

M1918A2

Produced from 1940 onwards
Detachable bipod
Fully-automatic, with "slow" (300–450 round/min) and "fast" (500–650 round/min) rates of fire
Late-war models switched to plastic stock

M1922

Bipod and stock-mounted rear monopod
Heavier barrel with small cooling fins
Light machine gun version

International

Browning wz.1928

A variant of the M1918 BAR produced by Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium to Polish requirements prior to WWII. License-produced in Poland.
Chambered for the 7.92 x 57 mm (8 mm Mauser).
Used a pistol grip rather than the conventional rifle stock grip.

FN M1930

Variant produced by FN for Belgian military, also chambered for the 7.92 x 57 mm cartridge. The M1930 also had a pistol grip.

Kulsprutegevär m/21 and m/37

Swedish variant of the M1918 BAR, rechambered for the 6,5 x 55 mm Schwedenmauserpatrone ("Swedish Mauser standard") round.
Pistol grip and spiked bipod; m/37 added a quick-change barrel.
Initially produced by Colt, and then under license by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

Commercial

Colt Automatic Machine Rifle

Commercial variant made by Colt in several versions between the 1920s and the beginning of WWII, for civilian and law enforcement markets.
One variant, the R80 Monitor, featured an 18-inch barrel, a lightweight receiver, and an ejection port cover along with a Cutts compensator.

Ohio Ordnance Works 1918A3 SLR

The 1918A3 SLR (self-loading rifle) is a modern semi-automatic commercial version of the BAR. The "1918A3" designation is not a military type-classification.

Civilian ownership

The BAR proved a popular civilian weapon in the U.S., although fully-automatic models were greatly restricted in the 1930s, which made them much harder to own and transfer. Importation of machine guns for U.S. civilian transfer was banned in 1968, and U.S. production of machine guns for civilian transfer was banned in 1986. Transferable civilian-owned BAR models remain, however.

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