| Rifle, caliber .30, automatic, Browning, M1918 | |
|---|---|
 The M1918A2 BAR | |
| Type | |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1918–1973 (United States) |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars |
|
| Production history | |
| Designer | John Browning |
| Designed | 1917 |
| Manufacturer | |
| Unit cost | $319 |
| Produced | 1917–1945 |
| No. built | 351,679
|
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Mass |
approx. 11 kg (24 lb) (M1922)
|
| Length |
|
| Barrel length |
|
| Cartridge |
|
| Action | Gas-operated, rising bolt lock |
| Rate of fire |
|
| Muzzle velocity |
|
| Effective firing range | 100–1,500 yards (91–1,372 m) sight adjustments (maximum effective range) |
| Maximum firing range | approx. 4,500–5,000 yards (4,100–4,600 m) |
| Feed system |
|
| Sights |
|
The Browning automatic rifle (BAR) is a family of American automatic rifles and machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The primary variant of the BAR series was the M1918, chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge and designed by John Browning in 1917 for the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe as a replacement for the French-made Chauchat and M1909 Benét–Mercié machine guns that US forces had previously been issued.
The BAR was designed to be carried by infantrymen during an assault[3] advance while supported by the sling over the shoulder, or to be fired from the hip. This is a concept called "walking fire"—thought to be necessary for the individual soldier during trench warfare.[4] The BAR never entirely lived up to the original hopes of the War Department as either a rifle or a machine gun.[5]
The US Army, in practice, used the BAR as a light machine gun, often fired from a bipod (introduced on models after 1938).[6] A variant of the original M1918 BAR, the Colt Monitor machine rifle, remains the lightest production automatic firearm chambered for the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, though the limited capacity of its standard 20-round magazine tended to hamper its utility in that role.[6]
Although the weapon did see action in late 1918 during World War I, the BAR did not become standard issue in the US Army until 1938, when it was issued to squads as a portable light machine gun. The BAR saw extensive service in both World War II and the Korean War and saw limited service in the Vietnam War. The US Army began phasing out the BAR in the 1950s, when it was intended to be replaced by a squad automatic weapon (SAW) variant of the M14, and as a result the US Army was without a portable light machine gun until the introduction of the M60 machine gun in 1957.
- ^ Macaulay, Neill (February 1998). The Sandino Affair. Chicago: Quadrangle Books. p. 183.
- ^ Jowett, Phillip, Latin American Wars 1900-1941: Osprey Publishing (2018)
- ^ "Modern Firearms - Assault Rifles". Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-09. Article by Maxim Popenker, 2014.
- ^ Chinn 1951, p. 175
- ^ Hogg & Weeks 2000, p. 285
- ^ a b Bishop, Chris: The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, p. 239. Sterling Publishing, 2002.