M1918 Browning automatic rifle

Rifle, caliber .30, automatic, Browning, M1918
The M1918A2 BAR
Type	Light machine gun Automatic rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1918–1973 (United States)
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War I Banana Wars[1] Cuban Revolution of 1933[2] Spanish Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Chinese Civil War Indonesian National Revolution Greek Civil War First Indochina War Hukbalahap Rebellion Palestinian Civil War Korean War Algerian War Cypriot intercommunal violence Cuban Revolution Bay of Pigs Invasion Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Cambodian Civil War Lebanese Civil War Turkish invasion of Cyprus Thai–Laotian Border War Myanmar Civil War
Production history
Designer	John Browning
Designed	1917
Manufacturer	Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company Winchester Repeating Arms Company Marlin-Rockwell Corporation New England Small Arms Royal McBee Typewriter Company IBM Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów FN Herstal
Unit cost	$319
Produced	1917–1960
No. built	351,679 102,174: M1918 125: Monitor Machine Rifle 249,380: M1918A2
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Mass	7.25 kg (15.98 lb) (M1918) approx. 11 kg (24 lb) (M1922) 6.0 kg (13.2 lb) (Colt Monitor) 8.4 kg (19 lb) (M1918A1) 8.8 kg (19 lb) (M1918A2) 9.0 kg (19.8 lb) (wz. 1928)
Length	1,194 mm (47.0 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) 458 mm (18.0 in) (Colt Monitor)
Cartridge	.30-06 Springfield (7.62×63mm)/.303 British (7.7×56mmR)/7.92×57mm Mauser (M1918, M1922, M1918A1, M1918A2) 7.92×57mm Mauser (wz. 1928) 6.5×55mm (Kg m/21, m/37)
Action	Gas-operated, rising bolt lock
Rate of fire	500–650 rounds/min (M1918, M1922, M1918A1) 500 rounds/min (Colt Monitor) 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 firing range	100–1,500 yards (91–1,372 m) sight adjustments (maximum effective range)
Maximum firing range	approx. 4,500–5,000 yards (4,100–4,600 m)
Feed system	20-round detachable box magazine (7oz empty; 1lb, 7oz full) 40-round detachable box magazine (14 oz empty; 2lb 7oz full. Used for anti-aircraft)
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)

The Browning automatic rifle (BAR) is a family of American automatic rifles and 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 American Expeditionary Forces in Europe as a replacement for the French-made Chauchat and M1909 Benét–Mercié machine guns that US forces had previously been issued.

The BAR was designed to be carried by infantrymen during an assault^[3] 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.^[4] The BAR never entirely lived up to the original hopes of the War Department as either a rifle or a machine gun.^[5]

The US Army, in practice, used the BAR as a light machine gun, often fired from a bipod (introduced on models after 1938).^[6] A variant of the original M1918 BAR, the Colt Monitor machine rifle, remains the lightest production automatic firearm chambered for the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, though the limited capacity of its standard 20-round magazine tended to hamper its utility in that role.^[6]

Although the weapon did see action in late 1918 during World War I, the BAR did not become standard issue in the US 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 US 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 US Army was without a portable light machine gun until the introduction of the M60 machine gun in 1957.