Browning Automatic Rifle

The Browning automatic rifle (BAR) was a family of American automatic rifles used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century.

The Browning automatic rifle (BAR) is a family of American automatic rifle 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 U.S. forces had previously been issued.

Quick Facts

Origin: United States
In service: 1918–1973 (United States)
Designer: John Browning
Designed: 1917
Unit cost: $319
Produced: 1917–1960 (original BAR Only) 2013–present (HCAR)
Length: 1,194 mm / 3 ft 11 in (M1918, M1922, M1918A1) / 1,215 mm / 4 ft (M1918A2)
Barrel length: 610 mm / 2 ft

Lore & Background

The BAR was designed to be carried by infantrymen during an assault 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. The BAR never entirely lived up to the original hopes of the War Department as either a rifle or a machine gun. The U.S. Army, in practice, used the BAR as a light machine gun, often fired from a bipod (introduced on models after 1938). Although the weapon did see action in late 1918 during World War I, the BAR did not become standard issue in the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. Army was without a portable light machine gun until the introduction of the M60 machine gun in 1957.

Reader's Guide

The M1918 is a selective-fire, air-cooled automatic rifle using a gas-operated, long-stroke piston rod actuated by propellant gases bled through a vent in the barrel. The bolt is locked by a rising bolt lock. The weapon fires from an open bolt. The spring-powered cartridge case extractor is contained in the bolt and a fixed ejector is installed in the trigger group. The BAR is striker-fired (the bolt carrier serves as the striker) and uses a trigger mechanism with a fire selector lever that enables operating in either semi-automatic or fully automatic firing modes. The selector lever is located on the left side of the receiver and is simultaneously the manual safety (selector lever in the 'S' position – weapon is safe, 'A' – automatic fire, 'F' – semi-automatic fire). The 'safe' setting blocks the trigger from operating. The A2 variant changed the function of the fire selector, leaving 'A' for automatic fire at the normal (full) cyclic rate, and changing 'F' to automatic fire at a reduced (and more controllable) cyclic rate. The weapon's barrel is screwed into the receiver and is not quickly detachable. The M1918 feeds using double-column 20-round box magazines, although 40-round magazines were also used in an anti-aircraft role; these were withdrawn from use in 1927.

Did You Know?

The first unit to receive the BAR was the U.S. Army's 36th Infantry Division, which took them into action in August 1918, earlier than the 79th Division.
The weapon was demonstrated in a training exercise by 2nd Lt. Val Allen Browning, the inventor's son, not in actual combat.
A variant of the original M1918 BAR, the Colt Monitor machine rifle, is not the lightest production automatic firearm chambered for the .30-06 Springfield cartridge; firearms like the Johnson M1941 are lighter.