M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle

The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) was a family of American automatic rifles (or machine rifles) and light 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 U.S. Expeditionary Corps in Europe as a replacement for the French-made Chauchat and M1909 Benet-Mercie machine guns.

The BAR was designed to be carried by advancing infantrymen, slung over the shoulder and fired from the hip, a concept called "walking fire"—thought to be necessary for the individual soldier during trench warfare. However in practice, it was most often used as a light machine gun and fired from a bipod (introduced in later models). The original M1918 version was and remains the lightest machine gun to fire the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, though the limited capacity of its standard 20-round magazine tended to hamper its utility in that role.

Rifle, Caliber .30, Automatic, Browning, M1918
The M1918A2 BAR
Type	Automatic rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1918–1960s (U.S.)
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War I, World War II, Chinese Civil War, Korean War, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Vietnam War (limited),Thai–Laotian Border War,Palestinian Civil War
Production history
Designer	John Browning
Designed	1917
Manufacturer	Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company,Winchester Repeating Arms Company, Marlin-Rockwell Corporation, Royal McBee Typewriter Company, International Business Machines, Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori, FN Herstal, Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów
Produced	1917–1950s
Number built	100,000+ (M1918)
Specifications
Weight	7.25 kg (15.98 lb) (M1918) Approx. 11 kg (24 lb) (M1922) 8.4 kg (19 lb) (M1918A1) 8.8 kg (19 lb) (M1918A2) 9.0 kg (20 lb) (wz. 1928)
Length	1,194 mm (47 in) (M1918, M1922, M1918A1) 1,215 mm (47.8 in) (M1918A2) 1,110 mm (43.7 in) (wz. 1928)
Barrel length	610 mm (24.0 in) (M1918, M1922, M1918A1, M1918A2) 611 mm (24.1 in) (wz. 1928)
Cartridge	.30-06 Springfield (7.62x63mm)(M1918, M1922, M1918A1, M1918A2) 7.92x57mm Mauser (wz. 1928) 7.65x53mm Belgian Mauser (FN Mle 1930, FN Mle D) 7x57mm Mauser 6.5x55mm (Kg m/21, m/37) .303 British (7.7x56mmR) 7.62x51mm NATO
Action	Gas-operated, tilting breech block
Rate of fire	500–650 rounds/min (M1918, M1922, M1918A1) 300-450 or 500-650 rounds/min (M1918A2) 600 rounds/min (wz. 1928)
Muzzle velocity	860 m/s (2,822 ft/s) (M1918, M1922, M1918A1, M1918A2) 853 m/s (2,798.6 ft/s) (wz. 1928)
Effective range	100–1,500 yd sight adjustments
Maximum range	Approx. 4,500-5,000 yd
Feed system	20-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Rear leaf, front post 784 mm (30.9 in) sight radius (M1918, M1922, M1918A1) 782 mm (30.8 in) (M1918A2) 742 mm (29.2 in) (wz. 1928)

Variants

The primary U.S. M1918 variants

The early M1918 BAR

During its lengthy service life, the BAR underwent continuous development, receiving many improvements and modifications. The first major attempt at improving the M1918 resulted in the M1922 light machine gun, adopted by the United States Cavalry in 1922. The weapon used a new heavy profile ribbed barrel, an adjustable spiked bipod (mounted to a swiveling collar on the barrel) with a rear, stock-mounted monopod, a side-mounted sling swivel and a new rear endplate, fixed to the stock retaining sleeve. The handguard was changed, and in 1926, the BAR's sights were redesigned to accommodate the heavy-bullet 172-grain M1 .30-06 ball ammunition then coming into service for machine gun use.

The second significant modification of the M1918 was intended to increase the weapon's effectiveness and controllability firing in bursts and took place in 1937, which saw the introduction of the M1918A1 into U.S. Army inventories. Compared to the original M1918, the newer model includes a lightweight spiked bipod attached to the gas cylinder with a leg height adjustment feature and a new hinged steel butt plate. Relatively few M1918s were rebuilt to the new M1918A1 standard.

M1918A2

In 1938–1939, work was begun on what would become the new M1918A2, accepted into service in 1940. One of the most important aspects of this modification involved removal of the semi-automatic firing capabilities of the weapon and using a rate-reducing buffer mechanism, activated by engaging the "F" position on the selector toggle. Furthermore, a new skid-footed bipod was fitted to the muzzle end of the barrel, magazine guides were added to the front of the trigger guard, the handguard was shortened, a heat shield was added to help the cooling process, a small monopod was hinged from and folded into the butt, and the weapon's role was changed to that of a squad light machine gun. The BAR's rear sight scales were also modified to accommodate the newly-standardized M2 Ball ammunition with its lighter flat-base bullet. In 1942, a fiberglass buttstock replaced the wood version, and late in the war, a barrel-mounted carrying handle was added. Initially, M1918A2s were obtained by converting older M1918 rifles (remaining in surplus) and a limited number of M1922s and M1918A1s; later, their production was undertaken at the New England Small Arms Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. (a total of 168,000 new weapons were manufactured). During the Korean War, production was again launched, this time contracted to the Royal McBee Typewriter Co. responsible for a further 61,000 M1918A2 light machine guns.

The M1918A2 is an automatic weapon which uses a trigger and fire control mechanism that permits fully automatic fire only but with two variable rates of fire: a normal rate (500–650 rounds/min) and a reduced rate (300–450 rounds/min), achieved by engaging a device which reduces the weapon's cyclic rate of fire, installed inside the buttstock (together with the buffer). The safety and fire selector lever is placed on the left side of the trigger group and has three positions: "S" – weapon safe, "F" – automatic fire with a mechanically reduced rate and "A" – continuous fire at the normal cyclic rate. The weapon's barrel has a new slotted flash suppressor (introduced during the Korean War), an adjustable bipod, a fixed stock with a folding shoulder rest, carry handle and fully adjustable iron sights, with a post foresight and a leaf rear sight (can be adjusted with windage and elevation corrections) with an elevation ladder graduated from 100 to 1,600 yd and a notch for immediate firing up to 300 yd.