The M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, often simply referred to as the BAR, is a gas-operated, air-cooled, open bolt automatic rifle designed by famed American weapons pioneer John Moses Browning. It is one of the most famous American firearms of the early 20th century, seeing usage in both World Wars (particularly the latter), as well as during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. While not originally intended as such, it would serve as America's primary light machine gun up until the introduction of the M60 machine gun in 1957.[1]
Browning began design work on what would eventually become the BAR back in 1910, and showed off these early prototypes to US military officials. However, at the time the US military did not see an immediate need for the weapon, instead focusing on Browning's other project at the time, the M1911 handgun. This opinion would change in 1917 with America's entry into the First World War. The US entered World War I with an inadequate, small, and obsolete assortment of domestic and foreign machine gun designs, due primarily to bureaucratic indecision and the lack of an established military doctrine for their deployment. Browning had seen this situation coming, and prior to the US's official declaration of war, he personally brought to Washington, D.C. two types of automatic weapons for the purposes of demonstration: a water-cooled tripod-mounted machine gun, and a shoulder-fired automatic rifle known then as the Browning Machine Rifle or BMR, both chambered for the standard US .30-06 Springfield (7.62×63mm) cartridge. Colt and the Ordnance Department arranged for a public demonstration of both weapons at a location in southern Washington, D.C. where, in front of a crowd of 300 people (including high-ranking military officials, congressmen, senators, foreign dignitaries and the press), the Army staged a live-fire demonstration which so impressed the gathered crowd that Browning was immediately awarded a contract for the weapon, and it was hastily adopted into service (the water-cooled machine gun underwent further testing and was eventually adopted as the M1917 Browning machine gun). Despite both weapons being adopted in 1917, the BAR was given the designation of M1918 in order to avoid getting it confused with the belt-fed M1917 machine gun. In July of 1917, 12,000 BARs were ordered from Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, which had secured an exclusive concession to manufacture the BAR under Browning's patents. However, Colt was already producing at peak capacity, having already been contracted to manufacture the Vickers machine gun for the British Army, and requested a delay in production while they expanded their manufacturing output with a new facility. Due to the urgent need for the weapon, the request was denied and the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (WRAC) was instead designated as the prime contractor. Winchester gave valuable assistance in refining the BAR's final design, correcting the drawings in preparation for mass production.
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, and fires from an open-bolt position. The spring-powered 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 the weapon to be operated 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, "F" – fire, "A" – automatic fire). The "safe" setting blocks the trigger. The weapon's barrel is screwed directly into the receiver, and is not quickly detachable. The M1918 feeds using double-column 20-round box magazines.
At its inception, the M1918 was intended not to be used as a stationary emplacement weapon, but as a shoulder-fired rifle meant to be operated by a single individual while on the move. This was based on the concept of "walking fire", a French practice in use since 1916 where an advancing squad of riflemen would fire 2 to 3 shots as a time while walking across no man's land towards enemy trenches, as a way of laying down suppressing fire for allied forces. To this end, BAR gunners were issued with a belt-mounted "cup" to support the stock of the rifle when held at the hip. In theory, this allowed the soldier to lay accurate suppressive fire while walking forward, keeping the enemy's head down.
By July 1918, the BAR had begun to arrive in France, and the first unit to receive them was the US Army's 79th Infantry Division, which took them into action for the first time in September of 1918. The weapon was personally demonstrated against the enemy by 2nd Lt. Val Allen Browning, the son of the weapon's inventor. Despite being introduced very late in the war, the BAR made an impact disproportionate to its numbers, being used extensively during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and leaving a significant impression on the Allies (France alone requested 15,000 automatic rifles to replace their Chauchat machine rifles). The BAR only saw minor use in France during World War I, being brought into action less than three months before Armistice Day. This delay was intentional, and done on the orders of American general John Pershing, in order not to let the BAR fall into enemy hands too early.
During the interwar years, as the U.S. Army was reduced significantly in size, the BAR remained in regular army use, and by the 1930s was also being issued to state national guard units to be maintained at their armories. During this period, the BAR underwent continuous development, receiving many improvements and modifications. Many of the changes made to the BAR were done in the service of improving the weapon's performance as a light machine gun. This would culminate in the adoption of the M1918A2 pattern. Some of the improvements made to the M1918A2 included a rate-reducer mechanism designed by Springfield Armory that brought the rate of fire down to a more manageable level (at the cost of removing the ability to fire in semi-automatic mode, with the gun now only able to fire in full auto at two different speeds), a skid-footed bipod fitted to the muzzle end of the barrel, magazine guides in front of the trigger guard, a shortened handguard, a heat shield to improve cooling, and a small monopod which could be affixed to the buttstock. The BAR's rear sight scales were also modified to accommodate the newly standardized M2 ball ammunition, and the barrel was also fitted with a new flash suppressor and fully adjustable iron sights. It was this version of the BAR, hastily retrofitted to supply US forces with a squad light machine gun, that would see service during the Second World War.
Despite the improvements made to the M1918A2, the BAR remained a difficult weapon to master with its open bolt and strong recoil spring, requiring additional range practice and training to hit targets accurately without flinching. As a squad light machine gun, the BAR's effectiveness was mixed, since its thin, non-detachable barrel and small magazine capacity greatly limited its firepower in comparison to genuine light machine guns such as the British Bren and the German MG 42. In addition, due to production demands, war priorities, subcontractor issues, and material shortages, demand for the M1918A2 frequently exceeded supply, and as late as 1945 some Army units were sent into combat still carrying older, unmodified M1918 weapons. While not without design flaws, the BAR proved rugged and reliable enough when regularly field-stripped and cleaned, and would see extensive service throughout the war. The BAR's service would continue into the Korean War, where the weapon would be viewed favorably by US troops. Compared to World War II, US infantry forces fighting in Korea saw a huge increase in the number of night engagements. The added firepower of the BAR rifleman and his ability to redeploy to 'hot spots' around the unit perimeter proved indispensable in deterring night infiltration by skirmishers as well as repelling large-scale night infantry assaults.
The US Army began phasing out the BAR in the 1950s after the conclusion of the Korean War, when it was intended to be replaced by a squad automatic weapon (SAW) variant of the M14. As a result, the US Army was without a portable light machine gun until the introduction of the M60 machine gun in 1957. Despite being officially replaced in US service, the M1918A2 was used in the early stages of the Vietnam War, when the US delivered a quantity of "obsolete", second-line small arms to the South Vietnamese Army and its associated allies.
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