Not the type you drink in, but the Browning Automatic Rifle. Must have been a beast to carry, but it must have been a real suck fest to be on the receiving end of that bad boy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfHfKDRjE2E&
I know for the weight carried the SAW makes more sense the days, but I have a love of the BAR for some reason. :o
Never been anything quite like it before or after has there?
What did it weigh? Makes me think back to my bad ass days. Good video.
I humped the 240B on a ton of missions it was hell but dam it was a head turner. Bitches respected it! I remember walking down this street, bunch of guys standing on the corner staring me down. I here one of them say look at that guy he has a PKM I corrected them in Arabic as to what I had and the hate and distruction it could bring. They where so shocked I spoke Arabic I think they forgot about the weapon.
Off topic but its what I thought of when you posted
8.33 kg (18.5 lbs) it says, but of course you had to hump the ammo, and the 30-06 ammo would add a ton also. But damn, 7.62, what 7.62???!!! 
Accurate, uber reliable, one man operated and pushing a 30-06 bullet at 2800 fps.
Hell of a gun as only JMB could design.
Not to hijack, but have you seen the new M240J? I also humped a 240B, but I don’t speak Pashto so no cool stories. Back to the topic I was lucky enough fire a full auto BAR many years ago. They seemed like they weighed a ton back then, and I wasn’t buff enough to control the muzzle climb that good. I’ve seen accurized “sniper” versions floating around now and then, and there’s also the FNAR which is a moderized version from what I’ve seen. I agree there isn’t anything else like it, and if you get a chance to get one then go for it.
Here’s Vickers on the M249:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOnLGm6Dy9Q&feature=related
I’d like to fire one some day to be sure.
The original M1918 that Lt. Val Browning carried in France was designed as more of an automatic rifle, but later took over as a SAW.
No bipod, just balls out battle rifle. The theory of “walking fire” was still prominent, so guys were trained to advance while firing from the hip.
Have you guys seen the BAR gunner’s belts? There’s a canvas covered metal hoop on the right hand side that you were supposed to put the buttstock through to help you hold the damn thing up. Lots of heavy steel magazines too.
Lt. Val Browning, son of JMB.
They tried to make the M14 perform the role of the M1918A2 BAR as a SAW in the M14E2 incarnation. Didn’t work out all that well, too lightly built.
My father was in the US Army from 1960-1963, they were still being issued M1 Garands and M1 Carbines, and still using M1919A4’s and A6’s. They were also still trained on the M1918A2. My dad would tell me about the guy they had as an instructor for the BAR…about the size of Audie Murphy, so the weapon was about the same size he was, but who apparently used it to good effect in Korea.
“Bursts of two, bursts of TWO!”
Great pics. Its interesting to see the progression of infintry tactics. So what your saying in WWI infintry doctorine was much like Soviet in regards to walking fire.
I have never had the pleasure of even seeing a real 1918 BAR maybe some day. Seen alot of stuff but never this.
Like Will said lots of “MACHEZMO”
.
Didnt Bonny of Bonny and Clyde hump a choped BAR, and tossed it around like a doll all 100 ponds of her.
I have not seen the 240J but I’m assuming your refering to the titanum model?
If I had a choice in the matter I would hump the USO M60
M240J 
Are you talking about the M240L (Lightweight M240) with titanium used too replace a lot of the steel??
The only problem with the BAR is that it isn’t belt fed. 20 rounds of full auto won’t last long.
Yeah the 240L, I only saw a picture of it.
Korea
BAR = Bad Ass Rifle :big_boss:
It’s one of my all time favorite weapons.
The BAR has always been near the top of “lottery guns.”
There’s nothing like rockin’ a full auto .30-06. I’d like to see what a chopped gun would be like.
Barrow’s chopped BAR
Bonnie and Clyde also used sawn-off BARs.
My Grandfather humped a BAR from Guadalcanal, through the Solomon Islands and to the Battle of Leyte.
He rarely ever fired it in full auto. In skirmishes he would shoot until the barrel turned white. He would “shoot the rust out” of the barrel every morning. He said the gun never failed him.
He was awarded the Bronze Star for rushing a Japanese MG emplacement with his BAR after his squad was ambushed and his best friend was killed. His first rounds struck the bi-pod of the Japanese Nambu, knocking the gun down. He kept up the fire until he reached the nest and killed all three of the enemy MG team. He credits pure rage and the reliable firepower of the BAR for saving the day.
Grandpa stripped the flash hider and bi-pod, and as he says, “threw them in the garbage”. …Unnecessary weight in his not so humble opinion.
His load out consisted of 13 20 round magazines. One in the gun, 12 in a bandolier which he wore around his waist, 6 frags and a 1911 made from stolen parts.
He used the BAR as more a battle rifle than a SAW. The Japanese soldiers feared the BAR and the large Americans who carried it. They were preferred targets by snipers, which is what ultimately put Grandpa on a hospital ship back home.
If you were to look up “American Bad Ass” in and old encyclopedia, you will see a photo of my Grandfather and his trusty BAR.
I love the BAR! My Gramps is nearly 88 years old and still with us. It is my dream to let him fire a BAR once more before his time is up. It would be priceless to see the emotion on the old warriors face.
Bonnie and Clyde were also killed by BAR’s.
I saw a show on the pentagon channel were a WW2 sniper was given a chance to shot a Sprinfield M1903 again, and he also made 3 head shots at 1000 yards with a modern sniper rifle. This should be done more often for vets like your Grandpa.
I should also ad that he got to shoot with the USAMU, including an amputee like himself and SFC. Jason St. John and SSgt. Robby Johnson. He was also given a M1903 sniper rifle.
The Colt Monitor was the official rifle of the FBI, which was nothing more than a slightly modified BAR. It was the Colt Monitor that Frank Hamer brought to the Bonnie and Clyde ambush along with his Remington Model 8 that was fitted with a special “Law Enforcement Only” 15 round magazine from the Peace Officer’s equipment Company in St. Joseph, MO. I believe both of these rifles are in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, TX.
An awesome read if you get your hands on it is “A Rock in a Hard Place” by James L. Ballou. It covers pretty much everything BAR related along with the story of BAR man John Pepper the inventor of the Pepper Popper steel targets. My father was a BAR man briefly in the Marine Corps in 1964 and he still has all of his deuce gear for it (they had long sence dispenced with the metal cup on the mag belt). In boot camp he was issued both an M1 and an M14 and was required to qualify with both of them. Pictures from is boot camp book show both rifles “secured” at the end of their racks along with issued bayonets, a no-no in todays Corps.