Browning BAR M1918
* Ammunition:.30-06 (7.62mm) and 8mm Mauser (export)
* Total length:1.19 m (M1918/M1918A1), 1.215 m
(M1918A2)
* Barrel:61cm, 45.7cm (M1922)
* Magazine:20 rounds (straight)
* Mass (empty weapon):7.26 kg (M1918), 8.41 kg (M1918A1), 8.82 kg (M1918A2) and 8.74 kg (M1922)
* Rate of fire:550 c/min, 350-450 or 560-650 c/min (M1918A2)
The Browning BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) M1918 is a submachine gun designed by John Browning in 1916. It was adopted in 1918 by the US Army in 1918 to replace the Chauchat M1918 acquired too hastily in 1917. The FM BAR M1918 (photo) , devoid of a bipod, was built by Colt, Marlin and Winchester in 85,000 units between 1917 and 1918. After the First World War, the firm Colt and FN Herstal (holder of the Browning patents for Europe) continued production of the BAR. At the beginning of the 1920s, the US Cavalry adopted a lighter model, the BAR M1922. In 1937, the US Army modified its M1918s by adding a bipod creating the BAR M1918A1. Finally, in 1940, the 1918A2 version appeared, which would be massively used during the Second World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Alongside the United States, Belgium (FM Model 30/Type D), Poland (RKM Wz 28) and Sweden (KSP 21/KSP 37) are developing variants of the FM BAR. For its part, Colt offered two commercial versions:the Monitor and the R75.
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US Regulatory Versions
The FM BAR family was the support arm of the GI from the 1920s to the end of the 1950s. The BAR was also legal in Costa Rica, Greece, Guatemala, Indonesia, Norway and the Philippines.
BAR M1918
This first model served the soldiers of the 79th US Division in September 1918. Among these infantrymen was Lieutenant Val Browning, son of the inventor. It works by borrowing gas. Its half-pistol stock and checkered forend are made of walnut. The tubular flash hider supports the blade front sight. The rise is adjustable with an eyelet and located at the back of the case. It fires in bursts or single shots.
BAR M1922
This version used from 1924 to 1940 has a thickened and shortened barrel equipped with cooling fins. A bipod attached to the barrel and a flanged tubular support at the half-pistol grip are the other modifications of the M1922.
BAR M1918A1
It is a reconditioning of the M1918 already in service. Its new folding bipod with inking plates is mounted on the gas borrow tube. The butt plate has a metal hook for attaching to the shoulder. The front has been slightly reduced.
BAR 1918A2 and T34
The BAR 1918A2 is undoubtedly the most produced BAR. It was produced from 1940 to 1945 by IBM and New England Small Arms Corporation (structure bringing together six firms to supply military demand). It differs from the previous ones by the addition of a tubular support mounted on the stock (behind the grenadière). The bipod, fixed in front of the handlebar on the flash hider, has pads. The front, even smaller, incorporates a metal heat dissipation plate. The rise is now borrowed from the Browning machine gun. The selector of the M1918 and M1918A1 gives way to a rate of fire regulator. During the Second World War, the weapon was further modified by a final shortening of the front with new grip grooves, a synthetic stock, a gas borrowing regulator. At the end of 1944, a carrying handle appeared.
This version was used after 1945 during the Korean War (re-manufactured by Royal McBee Typewriter Co). The French also used it during the Indochina War. The poster for La 317e Section (one of the rare French films about this war) shows Bruno Cremer carrying a BAR on his shoulder (held by the flash hider). The South Vietnamese army introduced it to fire again between 1964 and 1975. Taiwan and many South American countries still have BARs in their reserves.
FM Model 30 and Type D
The Browning 1930 submachine gun was regulatory in the Belgian army. It results from the modification of the BAR M1918 by Dieudonné Joseph Saive, engineer of the FN Herstal and creator of the FAL. It differs mainly by its caliber, its pistol grip and its handguard close to the Wz 28 from which it is the evolution. It was manufactured between 1930 and 1939 for the Belgian Army and for export. Only the caliber differentiates the national models from those reserved for export. In 1932, D.J. Saive designed a variant with a removable barrel:the FN D. This final version was not produced until 1945.
WZ 28
It is a variant of the Belgian FM model 30 adapted for the 7.92mm Mauser. The RKM Wz 28 (machine gun model 1928) differs only in the shape of the butt. It was used by the Wehrmacht
* Ammunition:7.92mm Mauser
* Length:1.145 m
* Barrel:55 cm
* Weight without magazine:9 kg
* Theoretical rate of fire:300 or 600 c/min
* magazine:20 bullets