Browning Automatic Rifle M1918A2
Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company · Machine Gun · Discontinued · 1940
Also known as: BAR, Browning Automatic Rifle, M1918A2 LMG, Rifle, Caliber .30, Automatic, M1918A2
Overview
The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) M1918A2 is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, selective-fire automatic rifle designed by legendary American firearms inventor John Moses Browning in 1917. Originally conceived as a 'walking fire' weapon for advancing infantry in the trenches of World War I, the BAR arrived too late to influence that conflict but went on to become the standard squad automatic weapon of the United States military through World War II, the Korean War, and early Vietnam. The M1918A2, adopted in 1940, represented the definitive wartime evolution of the platform: it eliminated the original semi-automatic fire mode in favor of a dual-rate full-automatic selector (approximately 300-450 rpm 'slow' and 500-650 rpm 'fast') governed by a Springfield Armory rate-reducing buffer housed in the buttstock. The A2 added a skid-footed bipod clamped to the gas cylinder, a stock-mounted monopod, a shortened forearm with metal heat shield, a hinged shoulder-plate, and an aperture rear sight adjustable for windage. Chambered in the powerful .30-06 Springfield cartridge and fed from 20-round detachable box magazines, the BAR delivered heavy fire at rifle range with impressive accuracy and reliability. Despite weighing nearly nine kilograms empty and being criticized for its limited magazine capacity and fixed barrel, the weapon was deeply trusted by the infantrymen who carried it. Produced in huge numbers by Colt, Winchester, Marlin-Rockwell, New England Small Arms, IBM and Royal McBee Typewriter Company, and licensed abroad as the FN Mle 1930 (Belgium), Browning wz.28 (Poland), and Kulsprutegevar m/21 (Sweden), the BAR equipped dozens of militaries from the 1920s into the 1980s.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 8800 g (310.4 oz) |
| Weight (loaded) | 9530 g (336.2 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1214 mm (47.80") |
| Barrel Length | 610 mm (24.02") |
| Sight Radius | 791 mm (31.14") |
| Action Type | Gas Operated Long Stroke |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Trigger Pull | 36 N (8.1 lbf) |
| Magazine Capacity | 20 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 860 m/s (2822 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 3594 J (2651 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 500 m (547 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 3200 m (3500 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 600 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 254 mm (10.00") |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Parkerized |
Calibers
- .30-06 Springfield · primary — also known as 7.62x63mm, .30 Gov't '06, Cartridge, Caliber .30, M1906
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety Lever, Open Bolt Firing
- Features: Open Bolt Operation, Selective Fire, Dual Rate Fire Selector, Rate Reducer Buffer, Skid Foot Bipod, Carrying Handle, Adjustable Rear Aperture Sight, Flash Hider, Shoulder Stock Monopod, Hinged Butt Plate, Quick Detach Magazine
Variants
- M1918 — Original Wwi
- M1918A1 — Bipod Upgrade
- M1918A2 — Wwii Standard
- Colt Monitor R75 — Law Enforcement Carbine
- Colt Model 1925 — Commercial Export
- FN Mle 1930 — Belgian License
- FN BAR Type D — Quick Change Barrel
- Browning wz.28 — Polish License
- Kulsprutegevar m/21 — Swedish License
- Kulsprutegevar m/37 — Swedish 6-5mm
Service history
Operators
- United States Armed Forces · adopted 1918 · as M1918A2
- Belgian Armed Forces · adopted 1930 · as FN Mle 1930
- Polish Armed Forces · adopted 1928 · as Rkm wz.28
- Swedish Armed Forces · adopted 1921 · as Kg m/21
- British Home Guard · adopted 1940 · as BAR
- French Armed Forces · adopted 1944 · as M1918A2
- Netherlands Armed Forces · adopted 1943 · as M1918A2
- Republic of Korea Armed Forces · adopted 1950 · as M1918A2
- Army of the Republic of Vietnam · adopted 1955 · as M1918A2
- Philippine Armed Forces · adopted 1945 · as M1918A2
- Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional · adopted 1932 · as BAR
- Cuban Armed Forces · as BAR
- Israel Defense Forces · adopted 1948 · as BAR
- Turkish Armed Forces · as BAR
- Federal Bureau of Investigation · adopted 1931 · as Colt Monitor R80
Conflicts
- World War I (1918)
- Banana Wars (1920-1934)
- Chaco War (1932-1935)
- Polish-Soviet War aftermath / Invasion of Poland (1939)
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Chinese Civil War (1945-1949)
- First Indochina War (1946-1954)
- Korean War (1950-1953)
- Cuban Revolution (1953-1959)
- Algerian War (1954-1962)
- Vietnam War (1955-1975)
- Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)
- Nicaraguan Revolution (1978-1979)
Production
Estimated total produced: 351,554 · Production years: 1918-1960
US production totals: approximately 102,174 original M1918 units built 1918-1919 by Colt (~16,000), Winchester (~47,123), and Marlin-Rockwell (~39,002). Approximately 168,000 M1918A2s were built during WWII by New England Small Arms Corporation and IBM; an additional 61,000 were produced during the Korean War by Royal McBee Typewriter Company. Substantial additional licensed production occurred abroad, including FN Mle 1930 (Belgium), Browning wz.28 (Poland, ~15,000+), Kulsprutegevar m/21 and m/37 (Sweden), and Colt commercial export models in multiple calibers.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: John Moses Browning
Discontinued: 1960
Notes
The M1918A2 differs from earlier variants primarily in its lack of a semi-automatic setting; the selector on the A2 toggles between 'slow' and 'fast' full-auto cyclic rates rather than semi vs. auto. The rate-reducing buffer adds weight and length to the stock, which is why A2 overall length grew slightly over the original. BAR gunners typically carried a heavy Browning belt with 12 magazine pouches in addition to their service rifle side arm. US Army and Marine Corps doctrine assigned one BAR per squad until later WWII, when Marine squads added a second and eventually a third BAR. The weapon was officially replaced in US service by the M14A1 and M60 GPMG, but National Guard units retained M1918A2s into the 1970s and foreign aid recipients kept them in service well into the 1980s and 1990s. The Colt Monitor R80 variant, with shortened 18-inch barrel, pistol grip and Cutts compensator, was famously issued to FBI agents in the 1930s to counter Depression-era outlaws.
Background
Clyde Barrow of the notorious Bonnie and Clyde gang favored the BAR above all other weapons, stealing examples from National Guard armories and using them to outgun the underpowered service revolvers of Depression-era police; his partner Bonnie Parker reportedly became proficient with the rifle. In response to such outlaws the FBI adopted the shortened Colt Monitor R80 variant in 1931. John Browning originally demonstrated the weapon in a famous February 1917 press event at Congress Heights, DC, firing it from the hip in 'walking fire' to astonish military observers and secure the Army contract.