Commercial Browning BAR vs M1918A2

General Firearms Other Semi-Automatic Rifles
1

I notice the receiver is kinda-sorta shaped like the military M1918A2 automatic rifle. For the mechanical gurus here is there any similarity between the firing systems other than the full-auto capability? Sure it’s not the same weapon but (given the shape of the receiver) but does the action of the commercial BAR internally mimic the military one? Anyone ever see an M1918A2 clone built from a commercial receiver? A little Whistle Pig on a Friday evening got me thinking!

FWIW I am not willing to fork over $7,000+ for an Ohio Ordnance 1918A2. IMHO they are beautiful weapons but I just can’t think of dropping that much $$$ on what is essentially a cool toy. Still…

2

I’m with you. That is 7 Colts or almost 4 Knights.

3

For a 18 lb rifle.

4

As far as I can see the only commonality is the name.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160222080941/http://www.browning.com/news/articles/brief-history-of-the-browning-bar.html

5

Which is a shame. Fake Springfield made a ton of money selling semi M1As, Browning could have made a light weight “sporter” version of the 1918 and potentially taken half of that market.

6

Easily.

7

Browning / FN have a history of not getting it.

During the 80s they imported the LAR (semi auto FAL) which had a investment cast receiver and a price tag around $1,800. Meanwhile Springfield imported the SAR-48 which was a Brazilian (Imbel) FAL with a forged receiver which sold for half as much.