US M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle [Machine Gun]:

Introduced at the end of World War I, the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) was developed as the US Army's replacement of M1909 Hotchkiss and the French Chauchat rifles. Even though 85,000 were produced by War's end, they only saw limited use due to the Armistice and concerns about the weapon falling into the enemy's hands.

Various models of the weapon were produced, some models without a semi-automatic mode but instead having a "slow" fully automatic mode of fire and a "rapid" mode of automatic fire.

The Browning Automatic Rifle was used by the United States military from the end of World War I through World War II. It was pressed into service in the Korean War and was even used to a limited extent during the Vietnam War. Numbers of these weapons could be found in National Guard armories until the middle of the 1970s. It was finally replaced by the M60.

The BAR was adopted by many nations which Received foreign aid from the United States as well as NATO nations. It remained in service in some of those nations until the 1990s. Belgium and Sweden developed their own versions of the M1918 during the 1930s which had pistol grips and quick-change barrels.

The BAR carried by Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and Clyde fame) was stolen from a Nation Guard Armory. Still, the weapon is quite popular as a civilian weapon. It was also popular during the 1930s for law enforcement. Fully automatic versions are available as collector's items and can no longer be produced. One company presently produces a semi-automatic version of the BAR. The "BAR" produced by Browning is a completely different weapon.

The BAR fires a 30-06 Springfield Round. Firing from an open bolt, the BAR is gas operated and air cooled. It has long been prized for its reliability as well its accuracy, the weapon has a certain ruggedness about it. The weapon is not without its flaws including that it uses only a 20 round magazine and that the weapon is complex and prone to overheating.

Weight:	19 lbs (8.8 kg) empty.
Caliber:	.30-06 Springfield.
Barrel Length:	24 inches (61.0 cm)
Overall Length:	47.8 inches (121.4 cm).
Action:	Gas operated, open bolt.
Mode of Fire:	Fully Automatic & Semi-Automatic (Some Models are Fully Automatic Only.)
Rate of Fire:	300 to 650 rounds per minute. Some models are Semi-Automatic.
Range:	1800 feet (548 meters).
Feed:	20 Round detachable box magazine.
Cost:	Semi-Auto: $3,500. Fully Automatic: $9000 to $30,000
Made in:	United States, Belgium, Sweden, and others.
Special:	Reliable and Rugged. Operated by a large number of nations.

[ M1918, M60, Browning, and Springfield are copyright of their respective owners. ]

Initial writeup by Wolfgang (vashna@nerdshack.com).

Revised and Formatted by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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