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Browning Automatic Rifle
M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
The Browning Automatic Rifle or BAR (sometimes incorrectly known as the "Browning BAR," which is actually the name of a later semi-automatic rifle which shares no parts with the original BAR) traces its origins back to a First World War French concept of a "walking fire" gun that could be used from the hip by soldiers crossing No Man's Land to suppress the enemy trench line. Ultimately the 16-pound weapon was not suited to this role, but was adopted as a light machine gun by the United States military and was used extensively during the Second World War (as the improved M1918A2) and Korean War, ultimately seeing its last action in US service in Vietnam where it was replaced by the M60 machine gun. BARs remained in National Guard armories until the mid-70s, and was still in use by other countries as late as the 90s.
While heavy, it had a relatively low capacity for a support weapon (most period LMGs using a 30-round magazine compared to the BAR's 20; an experimental 40-round magazine was created, but for infantry use it was turned up too cumbersome, and it was only limited used in anti-aircraft roles) and a fixed barrel which could not be easily changed out, making it unsuited for protracted fire. It was often employed in a capacity more similar to a modern Designated Marksman Rifle, with the BAR gunner being tasked with extending the squad's range of fire and suppressing enemy snipers.
The BAR was also sold to civilians in the interwar years, and proved a popular weapon among gangsters; the civilian variant, the Colt Monitor, was acquired by US law enforcement to combat the threat. Clyde Barrow and his girlfriend Bonnie Parker were particularly notorious for their use of a cut-down M1918 BAR.
The highly successful FN MAG uses the same locking mechanism as the BAR, though since it is belt-fed the MAG's is upside-down compared to the BAR's. The BAR action was also used in the French Chatellerault Light Machine Gun, descendants of which included the ZB26 Machine Gun and through that the Type 96 and Bren gun.
The Browning Automatic Rifle and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Specifications
(1917 - 1950s)
- Type: Light Machine Gun
- Caliber: .30-06 Springfield
- Barrel Lengths 24" (610mm) & 18" (457mm)
- Cyclic Rate 500-650 RPM (M1918 / M1922 / M1918A1) 500 RPM (Colt Monitor) selectable 300-450 RPM & 500-650 RPM (M1918A2)
- Weight Unloaded 16 lb 0oz (7.28 kg) (M1918) 24 lb (11 kg) (M1922) 13.2 lb (6 kg) (Colt Monitor) 19 lb (8.8 kg) (M1918A2)
- Feed System: 20-round box magazine; rare 40-round magazines are known to have existed.
- Fire Modes: Semi-Automatic/Fully-Automatic (M1918, M1918A1), "Slow" Full-Auto/"Fast" Full-Auto (M1918A2)
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lost Battalion | An American soldier | 1919 | ||
| Wings | U.S. soldiers | 1927 | ||
| Wake Island | A U.S. soldier | 1942 | ||
| For Whom the Bell Tolls | Gary Cooper | Robert Jordan | 1943 | |
| They Were Expendable | US Navy sailor | Without bipod | 1945 | |
| Back to Bataan | Philippine guerrilla fighters | 1945 | ||
| The FBI Story | William Phipps | Lester "Baby Face" Nelson | 1959 | |
| The Sand Pebbles | Steve McQueen | Jake Holman | M1918 with anachronistic A2 muzzle brake | 1966 |
| Richard Crenna | Capt. Collins | |||
| Tarzan and the Valley of Gold | Mike Henry | Tarzan | 1966 | |
| Vinero's soldiers | ||||
| Beach Red | US Marines | 1967 | ||
| The Devil's Brigade | Luke Askew | Pvt. Hubert Hixon | 1968 | |
| The Bridge at Remagen | George Segal | Lt. Hartman | 1969 | |
| US Army soldiers | ||||
| Dillinger | Warren Oates | John Dillinger | 1973 | |
| Harry Dean Stanton | Homer Van Meter | |||
| Richard Dreyfuss | Lester "Baby Face" Nelson | |||
| Geoffrey Lewis | Harry Pierpont | |||
| Michelle Phillips | Billie Frechette | |||
| A Bridge Too Far | US Airborne troops | 1977 | ||
| Go Tell the Spartans | South Vietnamese troops | 1978 | ||
| Exterminator 2 | Mounted on Eastland's truck | 1984 | ||
| Michael Collins | IRA member and a Black & Tan | 1996 | ||
| Public Enemies | Stephen Dorff | Homer Van Meter | Customized with cut-down barrel | 2009 |
| War Pigs | US Army soldiers | 2015 | ||
| Live by Night | Ben Affleck | Joe Coughlin | 2016 | |
| The Highwaymen | Thomas Mann | Ted Hinton | M1918 | 2019 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonnie and Clyde (2013) | Holliday Grainger | Bonnie Parker | 2013 | |
| Bonnie and Clyde (2013) | Emile Hirsch | Clyde Barrow | 2013 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty 3 | 2006 | |||
| Jurassic: The Hunted | As the ".30-06 Assault Rifle" | . | Incorrectly shown with optional 30-round magazine | 2009 |
| NecroVisioN: Lost Company | BAR | 2010 | ||
| State of Decay | "M1918A2" | added in Breakdown DLC | 2013 | |
| Battle of Empires : 1914-1918 | BAR | 2014 | ||
| Verdun | "Browning Automatic Rifle M1918 BAR" | M1918 | 2015 | |
| Battlefield 1 | M1918 | 2016 |
M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle
The M1918A2 was a broad package of improvements to the original BAR that included a magazine guide, new sights, a bipod, modified fire control group and a redesigned handguard and stock. The A1 version with a spiked bipod and hinged steel buttplate is almost never seen as very few examples were made; the M1922, the US Cavalry version with a ribbed barrel and spiked bipod, is similarly rare.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gung Ho! | Marine Raider | 1943 | ||
| A Walk In The Sun | US Army soldiers | 1945 | ||
| Battleground | US Army Airborne Soldiers | 1949 | ||
| Go for Broke! | George Miki | Chick | 1951 | |
| The Steel Helmet | U.S. Army soldiers | 1951 | ||
| Halls of Montezuma | Skip Homeier | "Pretty Boy" Riley | 1951 | |
| Halls of Montezuma | Martin Milner | Whitney | 1951 | |
| Halls of Montezuma | US Marines | 1951 | ||
| Battle Circus | U.S. Army soldier | 1953 | ||
| From Here to Eternity | Burt Lancaster | 1st Sergeant Milton Warden | 1953 | |
| Between Heaven and Hell | US National Guards | 1956 | ||
| The Young Lions | Lee Van Cleef | First Sergeant Rickett | 1958 | |
| Pork Chop Hill | US Army soldiers | 1959 | ||
| Hell Is for Heroes | Mike Kellin | Pvt Kolinsky | 1962 | |
| The Longest Day | US Army soldiers | 1962 | ||
| Merrill's Marauders | US Army soldiers | 1962 | ||
| Battle of the Bulge | US Army soldiers | 1965 | ||
| The 317th Platoon | French soldiers | M1918A2 version | 1965 | |
| Is Paris Burning? | Free French Forces soldiers | 1966 | ||
| Castle Keep | Tony Bill | Lt. Amberjack | 1969 | |
| Castle Keep | Scott Wilson | Cpl. Clearboy | 1969 | |
| Che! | Rudy Diaz | Willy | 1969 | |
| The Omega Man | Charlton Heston | Neville | With bipod removed and M3 infrared night scope | 1971 |
| The Seventh Company Outdoors (La 7ème compagnie au clair de lune) | A German soldier | 1977 | ||
| Death Force | Soldiers | 1978 | ||
| Apocalypse Now | French Colonists | 1979 | ||
| The Year of Living Dangerously | Indonesian soldiers | 1982 | ||
| Uncommon Valor | Patrick Swayze | Kevin Scott | 1983 | |
| Rookies Run Amok 2 (Le retour des bidasses en folie) | German and French soldiers | 1983 | ||
| Jungle Warriors | Paul L. Smith | Cesar Santiago | 1984 | |
| Jungle Warriors | Paramilitary guard | 1984 | ||
| Order No. 027 (Myung ryoung-027 ho) | ROK Armed Forces soldiers | 1986 | ||
| Laser Mission | soldiers | 1989 | ||
| Farewell To The King | Gerry Lopez | Gwai | 1989 | |
| Last Man Standing | Mexican police officer | Dressed as a Colt Monitor | 1996 | |
| Saving Private Ryan | Edward Burns | PFC Richard Reiben | With bipod removed | 1998 |
| When Trumpets Fade | Dylan Bruno | Sgt. Talbot | 1998 | |
| When Trumpets Fade | Zak Orth | Pvt. Sanderson | 1998 | |
| The Thin Red Line | David Harrod | Cpl. Queen | 1998 | |
| The Thin Red Line | Robert Roy Hofmo | Pvt. Sico | 1998 | |
| Pearl Harbor | Matthew Davis | Joe | 2001 | |
| Pearl Harbor | US Military personnel | 2001 | ||
| City Of God | Charles Paraventi | Charlie "Uncle Sam" | 2002 | |
| Windtalkers | Noah Emmerich | Pvt. Charles "Chick" Clusters | 2002 | |
| The Quiet American | Gen. The's soldiers | 2002 | ||
| The Rundown | Henchmen | Without bipod | 2003 | |
| The Rundown | Dwayne Johnson | Beck | Without bipod | 2003 |
| The Devil's Rejects | Tyler Mane | Rufus | Without bipod | 2005 |
| King Kong | US Army soldier | With bipod removed | 2005 | |
| Flags of Our Fathers | US Marines | With & without bipod | 2006 | |
| The Artist | Guard | M1918A2 | 2011 | |
| The Front Line (2011) | South Korean Army | 2011 | ||
| Memorial Day | 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper | With bipod removed | 2011 | |
| My Way | US Army soldiers | With bipod removed | 2011 | |
| Machine Gun Preacher | LRA troops | 2011 | ||
| Red Tails | American troops | 2012 | ||
| Gangster Squad | Holt McCallany | Karl Lockwood | 2013 | |
| Fury (2014) | U.S. Army soldiers | 2014 | ||
| Hacksaw Ridge | Luke Bracey | Smitty Ryker | with bipod removed | 2016 |
| Hacksaw Ridge | US Army soldiers | with bipod removed | 2016 | |
| Overlord | Jacob Anderson | PFC Dawson | 2018 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat! | Jack Hogan | Pvt. William G. Kirby | . | 1962 - 1967 |
| The A-Team | Sergio Calderón | Malavida Valdez | "Mexican Slayride" (S01E01) | 1983 |
| Crime Story | Bill Smitrovich | Sgt. Danny Krychek | . | 1986-1988 |
| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Joey | "That Old Gang of Mine" (S02E07) | 1994 | |
| Band of Brothers | American soldiers | 2001 | ||
| The Company | Cuban freedom fighters | 2007 | ||
| Deadliest Warrior | French Foreign Legion | . | 2009-2011 | |
| The Pacific | US Marines | 2010 | ||
| Parer's War | US Marines | 2014 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWII G.I. | 1999 | |||
| Medal of Honor (1999) | 1999 | |||
| Medal of Honor: Underground | Used in "Panzerknacker Unleashed!" bonus mission | 2000 | ||
| Fallout Tactics | "Browning Auto Rifle" | 2001 | ||
| Medal of Honor: Allied Assault | 2002 | |||
| Medal of Honor: Frontline | 2002 | |||
| Battlefield: 1942 | 2002 | |||
| BloodRayne | "M1918 GAR" | M1918A2 w/ bipod | 2002 | |
| Medal of Honor: Rising Sun | 2003 | |||
| Call of Duty | With ability to fast/slow fire and bipod removed | 2003 | ||
| Forgotten Hope | M1918A2 w/ bipod | 2003 | ||
| Hidden & Dangerous 2 | 2003 | |||
| Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault | 2004 | |||
| Call of Duty: United Offensive | With bipod removed | 2004 | ||
| Day of Defeat: Source | With semi and full auto fire modes | 2005 | ||
| Call of Duty 2 | 2005 | |||
| Forgotten Hope 2 | With deployable bipod. Includes "Reiben BAR" from Saving Private Ryan with ability to fire at 450/600rpm and with bipod removed | 2005 | ||
| Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood | 2005 | |||
| Vietcong 2 | 2005 | |||
| Commandos: Strike Force | 2006 | |||
| Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 | With deployable bipod | 2006 | ||
| UberSoldier | 2006 | |||
| Medal of Honor: Airborne | With various upgrades available | 2007 | ||
| Medal of Honor: Vanguard | BAR | M1918A2 | 2007 | |
| Hour of Victory | 2007 | |||
| Call of Duty: World at War | 2008 | |||
| Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway | 2008 | |||
| Fallout: New Vegas | "Automatic Rifle" | pistol grip | M1918A2, rechambered for .308 Win/7.62x51mm NATO(Dead Money expansion) | 2010 |
| World War II Online: Battleground Europe | Released with 1.34 update, M1918A2 | 2011 | ||
| 7554 | "M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle" | W/bipod; unusable | 2011 | |
| Karma Online | 2011 | |||
| L.A. Noire | 2011 | |||
| Project Reality: Normandy | Can switch between 360 RPM and 650 RPM settings | 2013 | ||
| Counter-Strike Online | "M1918 BAR" | . | M1918A2 | 2014 |
| World of Guns: Gun Disassembly | Browning Automatic Rifle | 2014 | ||
| Heroes & Generals | M1918A2 | 2016 | ||
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | "M1918 BAR" | M1918A2 | 2016 | |
| "M1918 BAR Shorty" | Short barrel & bipod removed, similar to John Dillinger's BAR | |||
| "Fire Walker" | Highly stylized version | |||
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | 2017 | |||
| Post Scriptum | 2018 | |||
| Battlefield V | 2018 | |||
| State of Decay 2 | 2018 |
Anime
| Film Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage | Gretel | 2006 | |
| Strike Witches | Charlotte E. Yeager | Without bipod | 2008 |
| Strike Witches 2 | Charlotte E. Yeager | Without bipod | 2010 |
| Strike Witches: The Movie | Charlotte E. Yeager | Without bipod | 2012 |
| Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow | Charlotte E. Yeager | Without bipod | 2014 - 2015 |
| Strike Witches: Road to Berlin | Charlotte E. Yeager | Without bipod | 2020 |
| Liberion tank crews |
Colt Monitor
The Colt Model 1925 was a commercial version of the BAR, known as the R75 and based on the FN BAR with the pistol grip, larger handguard, bipod and so on. It was released in a wide variety of calibers such as .30-06 Springfield, .303 British, 7x57mm Mauser, 7.92 Mauser and 7.65x53mm Belgian Mauser. A modified version of this was the Colt R80 Monitor, developed for the FBI as a "fighting rifle". The bipod was removed, the barrel and gas system were shortened, the pistol grip was added and it was fitted with a Cutts compensator.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Highwaymen | Kevin Costner | Frank Hamer | R-80 Colt Monitor | 2019 |
| The Highwaymen | Woody Harrelson | Benjamin Maney Gault | R-80 Colt Monitor | 2019 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonnie and Clyde (2013) | William Hurt | Frank Hamer | Colt Monitor | 2013 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears As | Mods | Notes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of Decay 2 | 2018 |
FN Model D
The FN Model D is an improved European version of the FN Model 1930, a licensed clone of the 1925 version of the Colt R75. Note the folding carry handle, quick-change barrel, and a smaller forend than the American M1918 versions. Also note separate pistol grip and stock.
The FN Model D is chambered in .30-06, 7mm Mauser, 8mm Mauser, and 7.62x51mm NATO. The 7.62x51mm NATO version was designated the FN-DA1, and uses the same magazine as the FN FAL. The .30-06, 7mm and 8mm Mauser magazines are identified by a large "X" stamped on them.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Chinese Nationalist soldiers | 2007 |
Browning wz. 1928
The Polish Browning wz. 1928, known in Polish as Ręczny karabin maszynowy Browning wz. 28 (Rkm wz. 28 for short), is another European variant of the BAR based off of the FN Model D that won Polish Army trials in 1925. Made by both FN as well as Polish firm FK, it was heavily used both by the Polish Army as well as Polish Home Army and partisans.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westerplatte | Polish soldiers | Late version | 1967 | |
| Kelly's Heroes | Perry Lopez | Pvt. Petuko | 1970 | |
| Fred Pearlman | Pvt. Mitchell | |||
| Michael Clark | Pvt. Grace | |||
| Night Over Chile (Noch nad Chili) | Chilean soldiers | Including mounted on MG34 tripod | 1977 | |
| Cuba | Cuban soldier | 1979 | ||
| Catch the Wind (Ishchi vetra...) | Konstantin Grigoryev | Pavel | 1979 | |
| Cossacks | ||||
| Across the Gobi and the Khingan (Govi Khyangand tulaldsan ni) | Nikolay Penkov | Votintsev | Late version | 1981 |
| City 44 | Polish insurgent | 2014 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears As | Mods | Notes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten Hope | 2003 | |||
| Enemy Front | WZ.28 | Browning wz. 1928 | 2014 | |
| Land of War: The Beginning | rkm Browning wz. 28 | 2021 |
Kg m/21
The Kg m/21 is the Swedish version of the BAR, first bought by Sweden in 1920 from Colt with modifications such as a bipod, pistol grip, dust cover and conical flash hider. Sweden would also buy the license to produce the BAR and subsequently adopted a modified version based on the FN Model D as the m/37 in 1937. Both the m/21 and m/37 were kept in production until 1949 and used in service until the Swedish adoption of the FN MAG in 1958 although the m/21 and m/37 remained in rear line arsenals well into the 1980's.
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty: WWII | KG M-21 | Added in June 4th 2019 update | 2019 |
Ohio Ordnance HCAR
The Ohio Ordnance Heavy Counter Assault Rifle (HCAR) is a modernized version of the BAR made by Ohio Ordnance, who also make semi auto clones of the original M1918A2 pattern.
Specifications
(2013 - Present)
- Type: Battle Rifle
- Caliber: .30-06 Springfield
- Barrel Lengths: 16 in (40.6 cm), 20 in (50.8 cm)
- Capacity: 30-round box magazine
- Fire Modes: Semi-Auto
The Ohio Ordnance HCAR and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears As | Mods | Notes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warface | HCAR Classic | Added in 2018 | 2013 | |
| HCAR Auto | heavy customized | |||
| Battlefield Hardline | HCAR | w/ various attachments | Incorrectly has a full-auto option | 2015 |
See Also
- Browning Arms Company - A list of all firearms manufactured by Browning.