View source for M1918 Browning automatic rifle

{{Short description|United States automatic rifle family}}
{{About|the light machine gun and the automatic rifle|the semi-automatic hunting rifle|Browning BAR}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Rifle, caliber .30, automatic, Browning, M1918
| image              = Army Heritage Museum B.A.R..jpg
| caption            = The M1918A2 BAR
| type               = {{plainlist|
* [[Light machinegun|Light machine gun]]
* [[Automatic rifle]]}}
<!-- Type selection -->
| service            = 1918–1973 (United States)
| wars               = {{plainlist|
* [[World War I]]
* [[Banana Wars]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Macaulay|first=Neill|title=The Sandino Affair|date=February 1998|publisher=Quadrangle Books|location=Chicago|page=183}}</ref>
* [[Cuban Revolution of 1933]]<ref>Jowett, Phillip, Latin American Wars 1900-1941: Osprey Publishing (2018)</ref>
* [[Spanish Civil War]]
* [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
* [[World War II]]
* [[Chinese Civil War]]
* [[Indonesian National Revolution]]
* [[Greek Civil War]]
* [[First Indochina War]]
* [[Hukbalahap Rebellion]]
* [[1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine|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]]
* [[Invasion of Panama]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Melissa |first=Healy |date=27 January 1990 |title=Tactics Switch May Have Boosted Navy’s Invasion Toll : Panama: A last-minute change increased the exposure of commandos sent to sabotage Noriega’s plane. Four died in the ensuing exchange with the dictator’s loyalists. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-27-mn-625-story.html|publisher=Los Angeles Times |access-date=25 March 2025}}</ref>}}

<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = [[John Browning]]
| number             = 351,679
{{plainlist|
* 102,174: M1918
* 125: Monitor Machine Rifle
* 249,380: M1918A2
}}
| unit_cost          = $319
| length             = {{plainlist|
* {{convert|1194|mm|in|abbr=on}} (M1918, M1922, M1918A1)
* {{convert|1215|mm|abbr=on|1}} (M1918A2)
* {{convert|1110|mm|abbr=on|1}} (wz. 1928)}}
| action             = [[Gas-operated reloading|Gas-operated]], rising bolt lock
| image_size         = 300
| origin             = United States
| is_ranged          = yes
<!-- Service history -->
| used_by            = See ''[[#Users|Users]]''
| design_date        = 1917
| manufacturer       = {{plainlist|
* [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company]]
* [[Winchester Repeating Arms Company]]
* [[Marlin Firearms|Marlin-Rockwell Corporation]]
* [[New England Small Arms]]
* [[Royal Typewriter Company|Royal McBee Typewriter Company]]
* [[IBM]]
* [[Bofors Carl Gustaf|Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori]]
* [[Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów]]
* [[FN Herstal]]}}
| production_date    = 1917–1960
| variants           = See ''[[#Variants and subsequent models|Variants]]''
<!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = {{plainlist|
* {{convert|7.25|kg|lb|2|abbr=on}} (M1918)
* approx. {{convert|11|kg|abbr=on}} (M1922)
* {{convert|6.0|kg|abbr=on}} (Colt Monitor)
* {{convert|8.4|kg|abbr=on}} (M1918A1)
* {{convert|8.8|kg|abbr=on}} (M1918A2)
* {{convert|9.0|kg|abbr=on}} (wz. 1928)}}
| part_length        = {{plainlist|
* {{convert|610|mm|abbr=on|1}} (M1918, M1922, M1918A1, M1918A2)
* {{convert|611|mm|abbr=on|1}} (wz. 1928)
* {{convert|458|mm|abbr=on|1}} (Colt Monitor)}}
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| cartridge          = {{plainlist|
* [[.30-06 Springfield|.30-06 Springfield (7.62×63mm)]]/[[.303 British|.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)}}
| rate               = {{plainlist|
* 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)}}
| velocity           = {{plainlist|
* {{convert|860|m/s|0|abbr=on}} (M1918, M1922, M1918A1, M1918A2)
* {{convert|853|m/s|abbr=on|1}} (wz. 1928)}}
| range              = {{convert|100–1,500|yd|m}} sight adjustments (maximum effective range)
| max_range          = approx. {{convert|4,500-5,000|yd|m}}
| feed               = {{plainlist|
* 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             = {{plainlist|
* Rear leaf, front post
* {{convert|784|mm|abbr=on|1}} sight radius (M1918, M1922, M1918A1)
* {{convert|782|mm|abbr=on|1}} (M1918A2)
* {{convert|742|mm|abbr=on|1}} (wz. 1928)}}
}}

The '''Browning automatic rifle''' ('''BAR''') is a family of American [[automatic rifle]]s and [[machine gun]]s 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 (firearms)|cartridge]] and designed by [[John Browning]] in 1917 for the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] in Europe as a replacement for the French-made [[Chauchat]] and [[Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun|M1909 Benét–Mercié]] machine guns that US forces had previously been issued.

The BAR was designed to be carried by infantrymen during an assault<ref name=Popenker>{{cite web |url=http://world.guns.ru/assault-e.html |title=Modern Firearms - Assault Rifles |access-date=2015-12-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208124647/http://world.guns.ru/assault-e.html |archive-date=2015-12-08}} Article by Maxim Popenker, 2014.</ref> advance while supported by the sling over the shoulder, or to be fired from the hip. This is a concept called "[[Marching fire|walking fire]]"—thought to be necessary for the individual soldier during trench warfare.<ref name="Chinn">{{harvnb|Chinn|1951|p=175}}</ref> The BAR never entirely lived up to the original hopes of the War Department as either a rifle or a machine gun.<ref>{{harvnb|Hogg|Weeks|2000|p=285}}</ref>

The US Army, in practice, used the BAR as a light machine gun, often fired from a bipod (introduced on models after 1938).<ref name="Bishop">Bishop, Chris: ''The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II'', p. 239. Sterling Publishing, 2002.</ref> 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.<ref name="Bishop"/>

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 rifle|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.

==History==
[[File:Browning with his BAR.jpg|left|thumb|John M. Browning, the inventor of the rifle, and Frank F. Burton, the [[Winchester Repeating Arms Company|Winchester]] expert on rifles, discussing the finer points of the BAR at the Winchester plant]]

The US entered World War I with an inadequate, small, and obsolete assortment of domestic and foreign machine gun designs, due primarily to bureaucratic indecision and the lack of an established military doctrine for their employment. When the [[1917 United States declaration of war on Germany|United States declaration of war on Germany]] was announced on 6 April 1917, the high command was made aware that to fight this [[trench war]], dominated by machine-guns, they had on hand a mere 670 [[Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun|M1909 Benét–Merciés]], 282 [[Maxim gun|M1904 Maxim]]s and 158 [[M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun|Colt-Browning M1895]]s.<ref name="Chinn_173">{{harvnb|Chinn|1951|p= 173}}</ref> After much debate, it was finally agreed that a rapid rearmament with domestic weapons would be required, but until that time, US troops would be issued whatever the French and British had to offer. The arms donated by the French were often second-rate or surplus and chambered in [[8mm Lebel]], further complicating logistics as machine gunners and infantrymen were issued different types of ammunition.<ref name="Chinn"/>

===Development===
Browning began to design the weapon later known as the BAR in 1910. He demonstrated the prototypes to the US military, which did not see an immediate use for the weapon until 1917.{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=121–122}}

In 1917, prior to America's entry to the war, John Browning personally brought to Washington, D.C. two types of automatic weapons for the purposes of demonstration: a water-cooled machine gun (later adopted as the [[M1917 Browning machine gun]]) and a shoulder-fired automatic rifle known then as the ''Browning Machine Rifle'' or ''BMR'', both chambered for the standard US [[.30-06 Springfield]] (7.62×63mm) cartridge.<ref name="Chinn"/> Colt and the Ordnance Department arranged for a public demonstration of both weapons at a location in southern Washington, D.C. known as [[Congress Heights, Washington, D.C.|Congress Heights]].<ref name="Chinn_176">{{harvnb|Chinn|1951|p=176}}</ref> There, on 27 February 1917, in front of a crowd of 300 people (including high-ranking military officials, [[Member of Congress|congressmen]], [[United States Senate|senators]], foreign dignitaries and the press), the Army staged a live-fire demonstration which so impressed the gathered crowd, that Browning was immediately awarded a contract for the weapon and it was hastily adopted into service (the water-cooled machine gun underwent further testing).<ref name="Chinn_176"/>

[[File:Congress Heights M1918 Test.jpg|thumb|left|A live fire demonstration of the BAR in front of military and government officials]]
Additional tests were conducted for [[United States Army|US Army Ordnance]] officials at [[Springfield Armory]] in May 1917, and both weapons were unanimously recommended for immediate adoption. In order to avoid confusion with the belt-fed M1917 machine gun, the BAR came to be known as the ''M1918'' or ''Rifle, Caliber .30, Automatic, Browning, M1918'' according to official nomenclature. On 16 July 1917, 12,000 BARs were ordered from [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company]], which had secured an exclusive concession to manufacture the BAR under Browning's patents (Browning's {{US Patent|1293022}} was owned by Colt).<ref name="Chinn_177">{{harvnb|Chinn|1951|p= 177}}</ref> However Colt was already producing at peak capacity (contracted to manufacture the [[Vickers machine gun]] for the [[British Army]]) and requested a delay in production while they expanded their manufacturing output with a new facility in [[Meriden, Connecticut]]. Due to the urgent need for the weapon, the request was denied and the [[Winchester Repeating Arms Company]] (WRAC) was designated as the prime contractor. Winchester gave valuable assistance in refining the BAR's final design, correcting the drawings in preparation for mass production.<ref name="Chinn_180">{{harvnb|Chinn|1951|p= 180}}</ref> Among the changes made, the ejection pattern was modified (spent casings were directed to the right side of the weapon instead of straight up).{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Initial M1918 production===
[[File:Val Browning M1918 BAR.jpg|thumb|left|2nd Lt. [[Val A. Browning|Val Browning]] with the Browning Automatic Rifle in France]]

Since work on the weapon did not begin until February 1918, so hurried was the schedule at Winchester to bring the BAR into full production that the first production batch of 1,800 rifles was delivered out of spec;<ref name="Chinn_180"/> it was discovered that many components did not interchange between rifles, and production was temporarily halted until manufacturing procedures were upgraded to bring the weapon up to specifications.<ref name="Chinn_181">{{harvnb|Chinn|1951|p= 181}}</ref> The initial contract with Winchester called for 25,000 BARs. They were in full production by June 1918, delivering 4,000 units, and from July were turning out 9,000 units per month.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Colt and [[Marlin Firearms|Marlin-Rockwell Corp.]] also began production shortly after Winchester got into full production. Marlin-Rockwell, burdened by a contract to make rifles for the Belgian government, acquired the Mayo Radiator Co.'s factory and used it exclusively to carry out production of the BAR. The first unit from this source was delivered on 11 June 1918 and the company's peak output reached 200 automatic rifles per day.<ref name="Chinn_181"/> Colt had produced only 9,000 BARs by the time of the [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|armistice]] due to the heavy demands of previous orders.<ref name="Chinn_181"/> These three companies produced a combined daily output of 706 rifles and a total of approximately 52,000 BARs were delivered by all sources by the end of the war.<ref name="Chinn_181"/> Between 1918 and 1919, 102,174 BARs had been manufactured jointly by Colt, Winchester, and Marlin-Rockwell.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

By July 1918, the BAR had begun to arrive in France, and the first unit to receive them was the US Army's [[79th Infantry Division (United States)|79th Infantry Division]], which took them into action for the first time on 13 September 1918.<ref name="Chinn_181"/> The weapon was personally demonstrated against the enemy by [[2nd Lt.]] [[Val A. Browning|Val Allen Browning]], the inventor's son.<ref name="Chinn_181"/> Despite being introduced very late in the war, the BAR made an impact disproportionate to its numbers; it was used extensively during the [[Meuse-Argonne Offensive]] and made a significant impression on the Allies (France alone requested 15,000 automatic rifles to replace their [[Chauchat]] machine rifles).<ref name="Chinn_181"/>

US Marines briefly took possession of the BAR. Troops from the First Battalion of the Sixth Marines had talked the "doggies" of the US Army's 36th Division into trading their BARs for their Chauchats. However, complaints from officers of the 36th resulted in the issuance of a command from Marine [[Harry Lee (United States Marine)|Lt. Col. Harry Lee]] on 9 October 1918: All Browning guns and equipment in Marine possession were to be turned in.<ref>George Clark; ''The Fourth Marine Brigade in World War I: Battalion Histories Based on Official Documents''; Chapter - First Battalion, Sixth Marines; page 180</ref>

==Design details and accessories==
The M1918 is a [[selective-fire]], air-cooled automatic rifle using a [[Gas-operated reloading|gas-operated]], long-stroke piston rod actuated by propellant gases bled through a vent in the barrel. The bolt is locked by a rising bolt lock. The weapon fires from an [[open bolt]]. The spring-powered cartridge casing extractor is contained in the bolt and a fixed ejector is installed in the trigger group. The BAR is striker-fired (the bolt carrier serves as the striker) and uses a trigger mechanism with a fire selector lever that enables operating in either semi-automatic or fully automatic firing modes. The selector lever is located on the left side of the [[Receiver (firearms)|receiver]] and is simultaneously the manual safety (selector lever in the "''S''" position – weapon is ''s''afe, "''F''" – ''f''ire, "''A''" – ''a''utomatic fire). The "safe" setting blocks the trigger.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The weapon's barrel is screwed into the receiver and is not quickly detachable. The M1918 feeds using double-column 20-round [[box magazine]]s, although 40-round magazines were also used in an anti-aircraft role; these were withdrawn from use in 1927. The M1918 has a cylindrical [[flash suppressor]] fitted to the muzzle end. The original BAR was equipped with a fixed wooden [[Stock (firearms)|buttstock]] and closed-type adjustable [[iron sight]]s taken from the [[Enfield 1917]], consisting of a forward post and a rear leaf sight with {{convert|100|to|1,500|yds|m|abbr=off}} range graduations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCollum |first1=Ian |title=BAR Comparison: M1918 vs M1918A2 |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/bar-comparison-m1918-vs-m1918a2/ |website=Forgottenweapons.com |publisher=Ian McCollum |access-date=19 December 2024}}</ref>
As a heavy automatic rifle designed for support fire, the M1918 was not fitted with a [[bayonet]] mount and no bayonet was ever issued, though one experimental bayonet fitting was made by Winchester.<ref name="BAL">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp=225–226}}</ref>

=={{Anchor|Variants}} Variants and subsequent models==
[[File:M1918 Variants.jpg|left|thumb|The primary US M1918 variants]]
[[Image:Browning Automatic Rifle Cropped.jpg|thumb|left|The early M1918 BAR]]

During its lengthy service life, the BAR underwent continuous development, receiving many improvements and modifications. The first major attempt at improving the M1918 resulted in the M1922 machine rifle, adopted by the [[Cavalry (United States)|United States Cavalry]] in 1922{{sfn|Lorain|1979|p=13}} as a troop-level light machine gun. The weapon used a new heavy profile ribbed barrel, an adjustable spiked bipod (mounted to a swiveling collar on the barrel) with a rear, stock-mounted monopod, a side-mounted sling swivel and a new rear buttplate, fixed to the stock retaining sleeve. The hand guard was changed, and in 1926 the BAR's sights were redesigned to accommodate the heavy-bullet 172-grain M1 .30-06 ball ammunition then coming into service for machinegun use.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In 1931, the Colt Arms Co. introduced the Monitor Automatic Machine Rifle (R 80), intended primarily for use by prison guards and law-enforcement agencies.<ref name="Ballou">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000| pp=89–95}}</ref> Intended for use as a shoulder-fired automatic rifle, the Monitor omitted the bipod, instead featuring a separate pistol grip and butt stock attached to a lightweight receiver, along with a shortened, {{convert|458|mm|abbr=on|1}}, barrel fitted with a {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on}} Cutts compensator.<ref name="Ballou_89-95">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 89–95}}</ref> Weighing {{convert|16|lb|3|oz|kg|2|abbr=on}} empty, the Monitor had a rate of fire of approximately 500&nbsp;rpm.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" /> Around 125 were produced; 90 were purchased by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]].<ref name="Ballou_89-95" /> Eleven went to the US Treasury Department in 1934, while the rest went to various state prisons, banks, security companies and accredited police departments.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" /> Although available for export sale, no examples appear to have been exported.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In 1932, a greatly shortened version was developed, the "BAR, cal. .30, M1918 (modified)" better known as the "jungle BAR" designed for bush and jungle warfare was developed by USMC Maj. H.L. Smith and was the subject of an evaluative report by Capt. [[Merritt A. Edson]], ordnance officer at the Quartermaster's Depot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref name="Ballou_124-128">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 124–128}}</ref> The barrel was shortened {{convert|9|in|mm|spell=in}} at the muzzle and the gas port and gas cylinder tube were relocated. The modified BAR weighed {{convert|13|lb|12|oz|kg|2|abbr=on}} and was only {{convert|34.5|in|mm}} long overall.<ref name="Ballou_124-128" /> Though it proved superior to the M1918 in accuracy when fired prone in automatic mode and equal in accuracy to the standard M1918 at ranges of {{convert|500|–|600|yds|m|abbr=off}} from a rest, it was less accurate when fired from the shoulder, and had a loud report combined with a fierce muzzle blast.<ref>{{harvnb|Ballou|2000| p= 126}}: According to one evaluation, the "bush"  model had a report as loud as the T9 [[Anti-aircraft warfare#History|37mm automatic AA cannon]].</ref> Attaching a [[Cutts compensator]] materially reduced the muzzle blast, but this was more than offset by the increase in smoke and dust at the muzzle when fired, obscuring the operator's vision.<ref name="Ballou_124-128" /> Nor did it improve control of the weapon when fired in bursts of automatic fire.<ref name="Ballou_124-128" /> Though the report recommended building six of these short-barreled jungle BARs for further evaluation, no further work was done on the project.<ref name="Ballou_124-128" />

The M1918A1, featuring a lightweight spiked bipod with a leg height adjustment feature attached to the gas cylinder and a hinged steel butt plate, was formally approved on 24 June 1937.<ref name="Ballou_130">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 130}}</ref> The M1918A1 was intended to increase the weapon's effectiveness and controllability firing in bursts. Relatively few M1918s were rebuilt to the new M1918A1 standard.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[File:Browning ar001.jpg|thumb|right|M1918A2]]

In April 1938, work commenced on an improved BAR for the US Army. The army specified a need for a BAR designed to serve in the role of a light machine gun for squad-level support fire. Early prototypes were fitted with barrel-mounted bipods as well as pistol grip housings and a unique rate-of-fire reducer mechanism purchased from [[FN Herstal]].<ref name="Ballou_133-138">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp=133–138}}</ref> The [[rate reducer]] mechanism performed well in trials, and the pistol grip housing enabled the operator to fire more comfortably from the prone position. However, in 1939 the army declared that all modifications to the basic BAR be capable of being retrofitted to earlier M1918 guns with no loss of parts interchangeability.<ref name="Ballou_131-139">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 131–139}}</ref> This effectively killed the FN-designed pistol grip and its proven rate reducer mechanism for the new M1918 replacement.<ref name="Ballou_131-139" />

The final development of the M1918A2 was authorized on 30 June 1938.<ref name="Ballou_131-139" /> The FN-designed pistol grip and rate-reducer mechanism with two rates of automatic fire was shelved in favor of a rate-reducer mechanism designed by Springfield Armory, and housed in the butt stock. The Springfield Armory rate reducer also provided two selectable rates of fully automatic fire only, activated by engaging the selector toggle. Additionally, a skid-footed bipod was fitted to the muzzle end of the barrel, magazine guides were added to the front of the trigger guard, the hand guard was shortened, a heat shield was added to help the cooling process, a small separate stock rest (monopod) was included for attachment to the butt and the weapon's role was changed to that of a squad light machine gun. The BAR's rear sight scales were also modified to accommodate the newly standardized M2 ball ammunition with its lighter, flat-base bullet. The M1918A2's walnut butt stock is approximately {{convert|1|in|cm|spell=in}} longer than the M1918 BAR's butt stock.<ref name="Ballou_301">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 301}}</ref> The M1918A2's barrel was also fitted with a new flash suppressor and fully adjustable iron sights. Towards the end of the war a barrel-mounted carrying handle was added.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Because of budget limitations initial M1918A2 production consisted of conversions of older M1918 BARs (remaining in surplus) along with a limited number of M1922s and M1918A1s. After the outbreak of war, attempts to ramp up new M1918A2 production were stymied by the discovery that the World War I tooling used to produce the M1918 was either worn out or incompatible with modern production machinery.<ref name="Ballou_146-154">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 146–154}}</ref> New production was first undertaken at the [[New England Small Arms]] Corp. and [[IBM|International Business Machines Corp.]] (a total of 188,380 new weapons were manufactured). In 1942 a shortage of black walnut for butt stocks and grips led to the development of a black plastic butt stock for the BAR.<ref name="Ballou_301-303">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp=301–303}}</ref> Composed of a mixture of [[Bakelite]] and Resinox, and impregnated with shredded fabric, the stocks were sandblasted to reduce glare.<ref name="Ballou_301" /> The [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company|Firestone Rubber and Latex Products Co.]] produced the plastic butt stock for the US Army, which was formally adopted on March 21, 1942.<ref name="Ballou_301" /> The M1922 machine rifle was declared obsolete in 1940,{{sfn|Lorain|1979|p=13}} but they were used by [[Merrill's Marauders]] in Burma later in the war as a slightly lighter alternative to the M1918A2.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Production rates greatly increased in 1943, after IBM introduced a method of casting BAR receivers from a new type of [[malleable pig iron|malleable iron]] developed by the [[Saginaw Metal Casting Operations|Saginaw division]] of [[General Motors]], called ''ArmaSteel''.<ref name="Ballou_168">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 168}}</ref> After it successfully passed a series of tests at Springfield Armory, the Chief of Ordnance instructed other BAR receiver manufacturers to change over from steel to ArmaSteel castings for this part.<ref name="Ballou_168" /> During the [[Korean War]]  M1918A2 production was resumed, this time contracted to the [[Royal Typewriter Company|Royal McBee Typewriter Co.]], which produced an additional 61,000 M1918A2s.<ref name="Ballou_191">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 191}}</ref>

A bullpup prototype existed as the Cook automatic rifle during the 1950s. It was developed at Benicia Armoury by US Army ordnance officer Lauren C. Cook. It used the gas operation of the M1918 BAR with the trigger group in front of the magazine. The operation fired from a closed bolt. The Cook automatic rifle was 30 inches retaining the barrel length of 18 inches.

The last US-made variant was produced in [[7.62×51mm NATO]], as '''T34 Automatic rifle'''.{{sfn|Lorain|1979|p=15}}<ref>{{cite web|title=1967. A United States Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) T34|website=awm.gov.au|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C244503|last= Prosper|first= Bruce|date=1967|publisher=[[Australian War Memorial]]}}</ref>

===International and commercial models===
====Export models====
The BAR also found a ready market overseas and in various forms was widely exported. In 1919 the Colt company developed and produced a commercial variant called the ''Automatic Machine Rifle Model 1919'' (company designation: ''Model U''), which has a different return mechanism compared to the M1918 (it is installed in the stock rather than the gas tube) and lacks a flash hider. Later the Model 1924 rifle was offered for a short period of time, featuring a [[pistol grip]] and a redesigned hand guard. These Colt automatic rifles were available in a number of calibers, including .30-06 Springfield (7.62×63mm), [[7.65×53mm Argentine|7.65×53mm Belgian Mauser]], [[7×57mm Mauser]], [[6.5×55mm]], [[7.92×57mm Mauser]] and [[.303 British|.303 British (7.7×56mmR)]].<ref name="Ballou_95-99">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp=95–99}}</ref> All of the 6.5×55mm-caliber Colt automatic rifles appear to have been sold directly to FN.<ref name="Ballou_95-99" />

An improved version of the Model 1924, the Model 1925 (R75), achieved the highest popularity in export sales. It is based on the Model 1924 but uses a heavy, finned barrel, a lightweight bipod and is equipped with dust covers in the magazine well and ejection port (some of these features were patented: US patents #1548709 and #1533968). The Model 1925 was produced in various calibers, including .30-06 Springfield (7.62×63mm), [[7.65×53mm Argentine|7.65×53mm Belgian Mauser]], [[7×57mm Mauser]], [[7.92×57mm Mauser]], and [[.303 British|.303 British (7.7×56mmR)]] (no Colt-manufactured Model 1925 rifles in 6.5×55mm appear to have been sold).<ref name="Ballou_95-99" /> A minor variant of the Model 1925 (R75) was the R75A light machine gun with a quick-change barrel (produced in 1942 in small quantities for the [[Royal Netherlands Army|Dutch army]]). Between 1921 and 1928 [[FN Herstal]] imported over 800 Colt-manufactured examples of the Colt Machine Rifles for sale abroad.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" />

All of the Colt automatic machine rifles, including the Colt Monitor, were available for export sale.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" /> After 1929 the Model 1925 and the Colt Monitor were available for export sale in Colt's exclusive sales territories per its agreement with FN.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" /> These Colt territories included North America, Central America, the West Indies, South America, Great Britain, Russia, Turkey, Siam (Thailand), India and Australia.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" />

====Belgium====
[[File:FN Browning IMG 1533.jpg|thumb|right|FN Mle D featuring a quick-change barrel]]

A variant known as the [[Fabrique Nationale FN M1930|''FN Mle 1930'']] was developed in 7.65×53mm Belgian Mauser by FN Herstal and adopted by the [[Belgian Land Component|Belgian army]]. The Mle 1930 is basically a licensed copy of the Colt Automatic Machine Rifle, Model 1925 (R 75).<ref name="Ballou_391-393">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp=391–393}}</ref> The Mle 1930 has a different gas valve and a mechanical rate-reducing fire control mechanism designed by [[Dieudonné Saive]], located in the trigger guard-pistol grip housing.<ref name="Ballou_391-393" /> Some of these FN rate reducer mechanisms and pistol grip housings were later purchased by Springfield Armory for evaluation and possible adoption on a replacement for the M1918.<ref name="Ballou_133-138" /> The weapon also had a hinged shoulder plate and was adapted for use on a tripod mount. In 1932 Belgium adopted a new version of the FN Mle 1930 allocated the service designation ''FN Mle D'' (D—''demontable'' or "removable"), which had a quick-change barrel, shoulder rest and a simplified take-down method for easier cleaning and maintenance.<ref name="BFW"/> The Mle D was produced even after World War II in versions adapted for .30-06 Springfield (for Belgian service) and 7.92×57mm Mauser ammunition (for Egyptian service).{{sfn|Lorain|1979|p=15}} The final variant in Belgian service was the Model DA1 chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge and feeding from the 20-round magazines for the [[FN FAL]] battle rifle.<ref name="BFW">{{Cite web | url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/light-machine-guns/fn-model-d-bar/ | title=FN Model D (BAR)| date=2012-04-04|website=forgottenweapons.com}}</ref>

==== France ====
[[File:D50-2 Nr 117 (f) (1941-12-01) 7,5 mm leichtes Maschinengewehr 117 (f) - Fusil-mitrailleur M A S Mle 1922 (Bild).png|thumb|The ''MAS mle 1922'', a French prototype copy of the BAR.]]
In 1922, the French Army considered the introduction of the BAR or of the ''Fusil-mitrailleur MAS modèle 1922'', a copy of the BAR produced by the [[Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne]]. The [[FM 24/29 light machine gun]] was eventually adopted.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Pierre|last=Lorrain|title=Le fusil mitrailleur modèle 1924|magazine=Gazette des Armes|issue=92 |date=April 1981| language=French| pages=20–24| url= http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-92-avril-1981/page-22-23-texte-integral}}</ref>

====Poland====
{{Main|Browning wz. 1928|Karabin maszynowy obserwatora wz.37}}
[[File:Zdzisław de Ville.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish partisan]] member of [[Jędrusie]] unit with [[Browning wz.1928|Polish version]] of the M1918 BAR during World War II]]

Production of the BAR in Belgium began only after signing an agreement with Poland (on 10 December 1927) involving the procurement of 10,000 [[wz. 1928]] light machine guns chambered in 7.92×57mm Mauser, which are similar to the R75 variant but designed specifically to meet the requirements of the Polish army. Changes to the base design include a pistol grip, different type of bipod, open-type V-notch rear sight and a slightly longer barrel. Subsequent rifles were assembled in Poland under license by the state rifle factory (Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów) in Warsaw. The wz. 1928 was accepted into service with the [[Polish Land Forces|Polish army]] in 1927 under the formal name ''7,92&nbsp;mm rkm Browning wz. 1928'' and—until the outbreak of World War II—was the primary light support weapon of Polish infantry and cavalry formations (in 1939 Poland had a total of approximately 20,000 wz. 1928 rifles in service). Additional detail modifications were introduced on the production line; among them were the replacement of the iron sights with a smaller version and reshaping the butt to a fish tail.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[File:Święto 36 Pułku Piechoty Legii Akademickej w Warszawie (1-W-1221-2).jpg|thumb|right|A late series Browning wz. 1928 with anti-aircraft spiderweb sight and more ergonomic buttstock is presented to Polish soldiers during a ceremony in 1938.]]
In the mid-1930s, Polish small-arms designer Wawrzyniec Lewandowski was tasked with developing a flexible aircraft-mounted machine gun based on the Browning wz.1928. This resulted in the wz. 1937. Changes included increasing the weapon's rate of fire to 1,100 rounds/min, eliminating the butt stock, adding a spade-type grip to the rear of the receiver, moving the main drive spring under the barrel and, most importantly, changing the feed system. Sustained fire was practically impossible with the standard 20-round box magazine, so a new feed mechanism was developed that was added to the receiver as a module. It contains a spring-loaded, bolt-actuated lever that would feed a round from a 91-round pan magazine located above the receiver and force the round into the feed path during unlocking. The machine gun was accepted in 1937 and ordered by the [[Polish Air Force]] as the ''karabin maszynowy obserwatora wz. 1937'' ("observers machine gun model 1937"). Eventually 339 machine guns were acquired and used as armament in the [[PZL.37 Łoś]] medium bomber and the [[LWS-3 Mewa]] reconnaissance aircraft.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

====Sweden====
[[File:Swedish Kg M1921 Right.jpg|thumb|right|Swedish Kg m/21 model, which was nearly identical to the M1919 configuration]]
[[File:Swedish Kg M1937 Left.jpg|thumb|right|Model Kg m/37 with quick-detachable barrel]]

In 1920, Belgian arms manufacturer [[Fabrique Nationale de Herstal|Fabrique Nationale]] (FN) acquired sales and production rights to the BAR series of firearms in Europe from Colt. The first BAR model sold by FN was the Kg m/21 (Kg—''Kulsprutegevär'' or "machinegun rifle") chambered for the [[6.5×55mm Swedish|6.5×55mm]] m/94 cartridge. The m/21 is a variant of the Model 1919 designed to Swedish specifications and manufactured initially by Colt's and later under license at the [[Bofors Carl Gustaf|Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori]] in Eskilstuna. Compared to the Model 1919, the Swedish weapon has—apart from the different caliber—a spiked bipod and dust covers for ejection.{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=552}} The m/21 would become one of Sweden's main support weapons in the interwar years together with the water-cooled, belt-fed Ksp m/1914 medium machine gun (Swedish adaptation of the Austrian [[Schwarzlose MG M.07/12|M07/12]]). Dissatisfied with the rapidly overheating fixed barrel of the m/21, Carl Gustaf began to design a new quick-detach mechanism for the barrel that mates the externally grooved chamber to a series of rotating flanges in the receiver operated by a locking lever. The barrel also received cooling fins along its entire length. These enhancements were incorporated into the fm/1935 prototype, which was favorably evaluated during trials in 1935. The final version was the Kg m/37, adopted for service in 1937, which uses a smooth-contour, unfinned barrel. Numerous m/21 guns were retrofitted with the screw-on receiver extension and quick-change barrel and renamed the Kg m/21-37.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} The m/37 remained in service until replaced by the FN MAG,{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=553}} but was still in second-line use until 1980. Carl Gustaf also developed a belt-fed prototype; however, it was never adopted.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

====China====
The [[Chinese Nationalist Army]] used the FN Mle 1930 throughout the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. 29,550 were bought from Belgium between 1933 and 1939. The Chinese BAR was chambered for the German [[7.92×57mm Mauser]] round, the standard rifle cartridge of the [[National Revolutionary Army]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Chinese Soldier vs Japanese Soldier: China 1937–38|series=Combat 37|first=Benjamin |last=Lai |date=18 Oct 2018|isbn=9781472828200|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|page=61}}</ref> After the outbreak of the [[Pacific War]], the [[Chinese Expeditionary Force (Burma)|Chinese Expeditionary Army]] in [[Burma Campaign|Burma]] was equipped with American BARs. Towards the end of World War II, small quantities of American equipment, including the BAR, made their way into mainland China.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Civilian use==
[[File:Firearms practice, 1936.jpg|thumb|right|An [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] special agent practices with the Colt Monitor (R 80). The Monitor had a separate pistol grip and long, slotted Cutts recoil compensator.]]

===Colt Monitor===
With the cessation of WWI hostilities, Colt Arms Co. received the Browning patents to produce the BAR that had been withheld from issue during the war.<ref>{{harvnb|Ballou|2000| pp= 65–66}}</ref> This allowed Colt to make the BAR available for commercial sale, including to civilian owners. The Colt Automatic Machine Rifle Model 1919, initially made up of overruns from the M1918 military production contract, was the first of several commercial Colt BARs that would follow. However, the high price of the weapon and its limited utility for most civilian owners resulted in few sales. [[Adolf Topperwein|Ad Topperwien]], a famous trick shooter of the early 1920s, purchased one of the first Colt-produced BARs to perform aerial target shooting exhibitions.<ref>{{harvnb|Ballou|2000| p= 76}}</ref> Occasional BAR sales were made to civilian owners through distributors such as the Ott-Heiskell Hardware Co.<ref>{{harvnb|Ballou|2000| p= 97}}</ref>

In 1931, the new Colt Monitor was made available to civilians during the Depression at $300 each, including a spare parts kit, sling, cleaning accessories and six magazines, but Colt records indicate no domestic sales to individuals.<ref>{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 95, 99}}</ref>

===Post National Firearms Act===
After passage of the [[National Firearms Act]] of 1934, civilian BAR ownership was restricted even further. Importation of machine guns for transfer between civilians was [[Gun Control Act of 1968|prohibited in 1968]] and the production of machine guns for civilian transfer was [[Firearm Owners Protection Act|banned in 1986]]. However, machine guns produced prior to 1986 are still transferable, and fully-automatic BAR models exist and occasionally come up for sale to qualified buyers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Winchester 1918 BAR at Auction |url=https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/86/369/us-winchester-1918-bar-class-iiinfa-cr-machine-gun |website=Rock Island Auction |access-date=2 February 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:HCAR.jpg|thumb|HCAR (Heavy Counter Assault Rifle), a modernized lightweight civilian variant of the M1918 BAR produced by the Ohio Ordnance Works.]]
Some companies continue to manufacture semi-automatic copies for sale to civilians, such as [[Ohio Ordnance|Ohio Ordnance Works, Inc.]], in Chardon, Ohio. Ohio Ordnance Works produces a contemporary semi-automatic variant of the M1918 called "1918A3-SLR", and a much modified lightened version called HCAR (Heavy Counter Assault Rifle), which are legal for civilians without an FFL (federal firearms license) to own.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/Firearms/OOWExclusiveFirearms/1918A3_SLR.rif |title=Home |publisher=Ohio Ordnance Works |access-date=2012-07-18 |archive-date=2012-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815024755/http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/Firearms/OOWExclusiveFirearms/1918A3_SLR.rif |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oowinc.com/exclusives/semi-auto/1918a3-slr/ |title=1918A3-SLR |date=31 October 2017 |publisher=Ohio Ordnance Works |access-date=2022-10-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oowinc.com/exclusives/semi-auto/h-c-a-r-package-2/ |title=H.C.A.R. Package |date=10 October 2017 |publisher=Ohio Ordnance Works |access-date=2022-10-19 }}</ref>

==Criminal and law enforcement use==
Although the [[Colt Monitor]] version of the BAR failed to interest US civilian buyers in the midst of the Depression,<ref name="Ballou_95">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 95}}</ref> the underworld was a lot more interested: in 1936 the price of a black-market Colt Monitor was $5,000, with military BARs going for somewhat less.<ref name="Ballou_95" /> The army's M1918 was a favorite of gangster [[Bonnie and Clyde#Clyde Barrow|Clyde Barrow]], who obtained his through periodic robberies of Army National Guard armories in the Midwest. Barrow liked to use armor-piercing (AP) .30-06 ammunition he obtained from armory stores, and frequently modified his BARs to suit his own needs.<ref name="Ballou_77-79">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 77–79}}</ref> Barrow taught his girlfriend [[Bonnie and Clyde#Bonnie Parker|Bonnie Parker]] to fire the M1918 as well, and by all accounts she was an excellent BAR operator. She used an M1918 on full-automatic to pin down unsuspecting law officers after they confronted the gang at a house in [[Joplin, Missouri]].<ref name="Ballou_77-79" /> A Missouri highway patrolman at the scene, forced to dive for cover behind a substantial oak tree after Bonnie Parker opened up on him, later stated, "That little red-headed woman filled my face with splinters on the other side of that tree with one of those damned guns."<ref name="Ballou_77-79" />

As the use of automatic weapons by criminal elements in the US became more widespread, FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] ordered the agency to acquire and commence regular training with automatic shoulder weapons, including the Thompson submachine gun and the BAR. For its BARs the FBI turned to Colt, which sold 90 Colt Monitor automatic machine rifles to the agency.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" /> Some of the FBI's Monitors were distributed to field offices for use as support weapons if needed on a particular operation, while the remainder were retained at the FBI Academy in [[Quantico, Virginia]], for training purposes.<ref>{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=94}}</ref> Colt sold an additional 11 Colt Monitors to the US Treasury Department in 1934, while 24 guns were sold to state prisons, banks, security companies and accredited city, county and state police departments.<ref name="Ballou_89-95" /> At least one member of the ambush team that killed Bonnie and Clyde was armed with a Colt Monitor.<ref>Texas Ranger; The Epic Life of Frank Hamer-The Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde {{ISBN|1250131596}} pages 433–6</ref><ref>Bonnie and Clyde; The Lives Behind the Legend p341-3 {{ISBN|9780805092356}}</ref>

Although it has sometimes been alleged that the M1918 or M1918A2 BAR was used by members of the [[Symbionese Liberation Army]] (SLA) in a shootout with Los Angeles police on May 17, 1974, no SLA members ever used such a weapon. The confusion arose out of Browning's decision in the 1970s to also designate its semi-automatic hunting rifle the [[Browning BAR]]. The SLA converted a .30-06 Browning BAR hunting rifle and a .243 [[Remington Model 742]] to automatic fire by filing down the sear, and it was these weapons that were used in the shootout. {{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

==In US military service==
=== World War I ===

[[File:THE US ARMY ON THE WESTERN FRONT, 1917-1918 Q69553.jpg|thumb|right|A US soldier in France demonstrates a Browning Automatic Rifle in November 1918.]]

At its inception, the M1918 was intended to be used as a shoulder-fired rifle capable of both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. First issued in September 1918 to the [[American Expeditionary Forces]], it was based on the concept of "walking fire", a French practice in use since 1916 for which the CSRG 1915 ([[Chauchat]]) had been used accompanying advancing squads of [[Rifleman (rank)|riflemen]] toward the enemy trenches, as regular machine guns were too cumbersome to move with the troops during an assault.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In addition to shoulder-fired operation, BAR gunners were issued a belt with magazine pouches for the BAR and sidearm along with a "cup" to support the stock of the rifle when held at the hip. In theory, this allowed the soldier to lay [[suppressive fire]] while walking forward, keeping the enemy's head down, a practice known as "[[marching fire]]". The idea would resurface in the [[submachine gun]] and ultimately the [[assault rifle]]. It is not known if any of the belt-cup devices actually saw combat use.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The BAR only saw minor action in France during World War I, being brought into action only as late as September 1918, less than three months before [[Armistice Day]]. The intentional delay had been inspired by General [[John J. Pershing|Pershing]], the AEF commander, in order not to let the BAR fall into enemy hands too early. Fifty-two thousand BARs were available by the end of the war in November.

===Interwar use===
[[File:BAR US Army training.jpg|thumb|A US Army soldier trains with a BAR]]
During the interwar years, as the U.S. Army was reduced significantly in size, the BAR remained in the smaller extant Regular Army and by the 1930s, was also issued to state [[National Guard of the United States|national guard]] units to be maintained at their [[National Guard Armory|armories]]. Given the part-time nature, smaller manning and lesser security of these national guard armories when compared to regular army installations, some BARs were subject to [[plunder]] by domestic civilian criminal elements.<ref>Cartwright, Gary ''The Whole Shootin' Match'' ''Texas Monthly'' Feb 2001</ref>

The BAR was also standard issue to US naval landing forces during the period.<ref name="Ballou_115">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=115}}</ref> The weapon was a standard item in US warship armories, and each BAR was accompanied by a spare barrel.<ref name="Ballou_115" /> Large capital ships often had over 200 BARs on board,<ref name="Ballou_115" /> with many of the US Navy BARs remaining in service well into the 1960s.<ref name="Ballou_115" />

The BAR also saw action with US Marine Corps units participating in the [[United States occupation of Haiti|Haitian]] and [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|Nicaraguan]] interventions, as well as with US Navy shipboard personnel in the course of [[Yangtze Patrol|patrol and gunboat duty]] along the Yangtze River in China.<ref name="Ballou_116">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=116}}</ref> The First Marine Brigade stationed in [[Port-au-Prince]], Haiti, noted that training a man to use the BAR proficiently took a full two days of range practice and instruction, compared to half a day with the .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun.<ref name="Ballou_116" />

Prior to World War II, both the US Army and Marine Corps had a separate BAR [[squad]] together with three rifle squads in the "square" organisation of the time. When converting to the "triangular" organisation the separate BAR squad was eliminated with BARs going to each rifle squad.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===World War II===
[[File:Marine BAR shooting NA01862.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A US Marine Corps infantryman firing a BAR at enemy positions]]

When the threat of a new war arose, Ordnance belatedly realized that it had no portable, squad light machine gun, and attempted to convert the M1918 BAR to that role with the adoption of the M1918A2 by the US Army on 30 June 1938.<ref name="Ballou_139">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 139}}</ref> The BAR was issued as the sole automatic fire support for a twelve-man squad,<ref name="Rush, Robert S. 2003 p. 26">Rush, Robert S., ''The US Infantryman in World War II'', Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, {{ISBN|1-84176-739-5}} (2003), p. 26</ref> and all men were trained at the basic level how to operate and fire the weapon in case the designated operators were killed or wounded. At the start of the war, infantry companies designated three-man BAR teams, a gunner, an assistant gunner, and an ammunition bearer who carried additional magazines for the gun. By 1944, some units were using one-man BAR "teams" with the other riflemen in the squad detailed to carry additional magazines or bandoliers of .30 ammunition.<ref name="Ballou_174">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 174}}</ref> Contrary to certain claims, the BAR was issued to soldiers of various heights.<ref>Patton's Ghost Corps (2006) interviews with US 3rd Army veterans.</ref>

As originally conceived, US Army tactical doctrine called for one M1918A2 per squad, using several men to support and carry ammunition for the gun.<ref name="Rush, Robert S. 2003 p. 26"/> Fire and movement tactics centered on the M1 riflemen in the squad while the BAR man was detailed to support the riflemen in the attack and provide mobility to the riflemen with a base of fire.<ref name="Rush, Robert S. 2003 p. 26"/> This doctrine received a setback early in the war after US ground forces encountered German troops, well-armed with automatic weapons including fast-firing, portable machine guns.<ref name="Ballou_169">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=169}}</ref> In some cases, particularly in the attack, every fourth German infantryman was equipped with an automatic weapon, either a submachine gun or a full-power machine gun.<ref name="Ballou_169" />

[[File:Marine-patrol-okinawa-1945.jpg|thumb|Elements of the 6th Marine Division at Okinawa with the lead marine carrying a BAR]]

In an attempt to overcome the BAR's limited continuous-fire capability, US Army divisions increasingly began to specify two BAR fire teams per squad, following the practice of the US Marine Corps. One team would typically provide covering fire until a magazine was empty, whereupon the second team would open fire, thus allowing the first team to reload. In the Pacific, the BAR was often employed at the point or tail of a patrol or infantry column, where its firepower could help break contact on a jungle trail in the event of an ambush.<ref name="George 400">{{cite book|last=George|first=John|title=Shots Fired In Anger: A Rifleman's View of the War in the Pacific, 1942–1945 |publisher=NRA Publications|year=1981|isbn=978-0-935998-42-9|page=400}}</ref> After combat experience showed the benefits of maximizing portable automatic firepower in squad-size formations, the US Marine Corps began to increase the number of BARs in its combat divisions, from 513 per division in 1943 to 867 per division in 1945.<ref name="Ballou_194">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 194}}</ref> A thirteen-man squad was developed, consisting of 3 four-man fire teams, with one BAR per fire team, or three BARs per squad. Instead of supporting the M1 riflemen in the attack, Marine tactical doctrine was focused around the BAR, with riflemen supporting and protecting the BAR gunner.<ref name="Ballou_194" />

Despite the improvements in the M1918A2, the BAR remained a difficult weapon to master with its open bolt and strong recoil spring, requiring additional range practice and training to hit targets accurately without flinching.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunlap|1948|p= 307}}</ref> As a squad light machine gun, the BAR's effectiveness was mixed, since its thin, non-quick-change barrel and small magazine capacity greatly limited its firepower in comparison to genuine light machine guns such as the British [[Bren light machine gun|Bren]] and the Japanese [[Type 96 light machine gun|Type 96]]. The weapon's rate-reducer mechanism, a delicately balanced spring-and-weight system described by one ordnance sergeant as a "[[Rube Goldberg]] device", came in for much criticism, often causing malfunctions when not regularly cleaned.<ref name="Ordnance1">{{harvnb|Dunlap|1948|p={{page needed|date=October 2018}}}}</ref> The bipod and buttstock rest (monopod), which contributed so much to the M1918A2's accuracy when firing prone on the rifle range, proved far less valuable under actual field combat conditions.<ref name="George 400"/> The stock rest was dropped from production in 1942, while the M1918A2's bipod and flash hider were often discarded by individual soldiers and marines to save weight and improve portability, particularly in the [[Asiatic-Pacific Theater|Pacific Theater]] of war.<ref name="Ordnance1"/> With these modifications, the BAR effectively reverted to its original role as a portable, shoulder-fired automatic rifle.<ref name="Ordnance1"/>

Due to production demands, war priorities, subcontractor issues, and material shortages,<ref name="Ballou_160-166">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 160–166}}</ref> demand for the M1918A2 frequently exceeded supply, and as late as 1945 some Army units were sent into combat still carrying older, unmodified M1918 weapons.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunlap|1948|p= 223}}: The [[U.S. 1st Cavalry Division]] preparing to assault [[Lingayen Gulf]] at Luzon in the Philippines in January 1945 was just one example, an ordnance sergeant reporting that the division had "the most beat-down batch of BARs in the army. A few were the original [M1918] models."</ref>

After a period of service, ordnance personnel began to receive BARs with inoperable or malfunctioning recoil buffer mechanisms. This was eventually traced to the soldier's common practice of cleaning the BAR in a vertical position with the butt of the weapon on the ground, allowing cleaning fluid and burned powder to collect in the recoil buffer mechanism.<ref name="Ordnance1"/> Additionally, unlike the M1 rifle, the BAR's gas cylinder was never changed to stainless steel. Consequently, the gas cylinder frequently rusted solid from the use of corrosive-primered M2 service ammunition in a humid environment when not stripped and cleaned on a daily basis.<ref name="Ordnance1"/> While not without design flaws (a thin-diameter, fixed barrel that quickly overheated, limited magazine capacity, complex field-strip/cleaning procedure, unreliable recoil buffer mechanism, a gas cylinder assembly made of corrosion-prone metals, and many small internal parts), the BAR proved rugged and reliable enough when regularly field-stripped and cleaned.

During World War II, the BAR saw extensive service, both official and unofficial, with many branches of service. One of the BAR's most unusual uses was as a defensive aircraft weapon. In 1944, Captain Wally A. Gayda, of the USAAF Air Transport Command, reportedly used a BAR to return fire against a Japanese Army [[Nakajima Aircraft Company|Nakajima]] fighter <!-- Which one? -->that had attacked his [[C-46 Commando|C-46]] cargo plane over [[the Hump]] in Burma. Gayda shoved the rifle out his forward cabin window, emptying the magazine and apparently killing the Japanese pilot.<ref>[http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avc46.html Curtiss C-46 Commando].</ref><ref>[http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/photo_albums/timeline/ww2/2/Curtiss%20Commando.htm American Aircraft of World War Two, ''Curtiss Commando''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819182527/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/photo_albums/timeline/ww2/2/Curtiss%20Commando.htm |date=2009-08-19 }}.</ref>

===Korean War===
[[Image:M1918A2 BAR Korea.JPEG|thumb|right|Korean War, 1951: A US soldier behind an M4A3 76(w) HVSS Sherman tank, with an M1918A2]]

The BAR continued in service in the [[Korean War]]. The last military contract for the manufacture of the M1918A2 was awarded to the Royal Typewriter Co. of Hartford, Connecticut, which manufactured a total of 61,000 M1918A2s during the conflict, using ArmaSteel cast receivers and trigger housings.<ref name="Ballou_191" /> In his study of infantry weapons in Korea, historian S.L.A. Marshall interviewed hundreds of officers and men in after-action reports on the effectiveness of various U.S. small arms in the conflict.<ref>Marshall, S.L.A., ''Infantry Operations and Weapons Usage in Korea'', Project Doughboy, Operations Research Office (ORO), U.S. Army (1953)</ref> General Marshall's report noted that an overwhelming majority of respondents praised the BAR and the utility of automatic fire delivered by a lightweight, portable small arm in both day and night engagements.<ref name="Ballou_191-194">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 191–194}}</ref> In his autobiography Colonel [[David Hackworth]] praised the BAR as 'the best weapon of the Korean War'.<ref>{{cite book|title=About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior|first1=David H.|last1=Hackworth|author-link1=David Hackworth|first2=Julie|last2=Sherman|page=[https://archive.org/details/aboutface00hack_0/page/363 363]|year=1989|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9780671526924|url=https://archive.org/details/aboutface00hack_0/page/363}}</ref>

A typical BAR gunner of the Korean War carried the twelve-magazine belt and combat suspenders, with three or four extra magazines in pockets.<ref name="Ballou_200">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p= 200}}</ref> Extra canteens, .45 pistol, grenades, and a flak vest added still more weight.<ref name="Ballou_200" /> As in World War II, many BAR gunners disposed of the heavy bipod and other accoutrements of the M1918A2, but unlike the prior conflict the flash hider was always retained because of its utility in night fighting.<ref name="Ballou_199">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=199}}</ref>

The large amounts of ammunition expended by BAR teams in Korea placed additional demands on the assistant gunner to stay in close contact with the BAR at all times, particularly on patrols.<ref name="Ballou_201">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=201}}</ref> While the BAR magazines themselves always seemed to be in short supply, Gen. Marshall reported that "riflemen in the squad were markedly willing to carry extra ammunition for the BAR man".<ref name="Ballou_193">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=193}}</ref>

In combat, the M1918A2 frequently decided the outcome of determined attacks by North Korean and Chinese communist forces. Communist tactical doctrine centered on the mortar and machine gun, with attacks designed to envelop and cut off United Nations forces from supply and reinforcement. Communist machine gun teams were the best-trained men in any given North Korean or Chinese infantry unit, skilled at placing their heavily camouflaged and protected weapons as close to UN forces as possible.<ref name="Ballou_193-194">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 193–194}}</ref> Once concealed, they often surprised UN forces by opening fire at very short ranges, covering any exposed ground with a hail of accurately sighted machine gun fire.<ref name="Ballou_193-194" /> Under these conditions it was frequently impossible for US machine gun crews to move up their [[M1919 Browning machine gun|Browning M1919A4 and M1919A6 guns]] in response without taking heavy casualties; when they were able to do so, their position was carefully noted by the enemy, who would frequently kill the exposed gun crews with mortar or machine gun fire while they were still emplacing their guns.<ref name="Ballou_193-194" /> The BAR gunner, who could stealthily approach the enemy gun position alone (and prone if need be), proved invaluable in this type of combat.<ref name="Ballou_193-194" />

During the height of combat, the BAR gunner was often used as the 'fire brigade' weapon, helping to bolster weak areas of the perimeter under heavy pressure by communist forces. In defense, it was often used to strengthen the firepower of a forward outpost.<ref name="Ballou_193-194" /> Another role for the BAR was to deter or eliminate enemy sniper fire. In the absence of a trained sniper, the BAR proved more effective than the random response of five or six M1 riflemen.<ref name="Ballou_193-194" />

Compared to World War II, US infantry forces saw a huge increase in the number of night engagements. The added firepower of the BAR rifleman and his ability to redeploy to 'hot spots' around the unit perimeter proved indispensable in deterring night infiltration by skirmishers as well as repelling large-scale night infantry assaults.<ref name="Ballou_196-199">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|pp= 196–199}}</ref>

While new-production M1918A2 guns were almost universally praised for faultless performance in combat, a number of malfunctions in combat were reported with armory-reconditioned M1918A2s, particularly weapons that had been reconditioned by Ordnance in Japan, which did not replace operating (recoil) springs as a requirement of the reconditioning program.<ref name="Ballou_194" /> After decades of complaints, ordnance addressed the problem of maintaining the problematic gas piston on the BAR by issuing disposable nylon gas valves.<ref name="Ballou_201" /> When the nylon valve became caked over with carbon, it could be discarded and replaced with a fresh unit, eliminating the tedious task of cleaning and polishing the valve with wire brush and GI solvent (frequently in short supply to line units).<ref name="Ballou_201" />

===Vietnam War===
[[File:South Vietnamese soldiers 1972.jpg|thumb|right|A South Vietnamese soldier using a BAR LMG]]
The M1918A2 was used in the early stages of the Vietnam War, when the US delivered a quantity of "obsolete", second-line small arms<ref name="Ballou_204">{{harvnb|Ballou|2000|p=204}}: This included the M1918A2, the M1919A6, M3A1 submachine gun, M2 carbine, and M1 Garand.</ref> to the [[South Vietnam]]ese Army and associated allies, including the [[Montagnard (Vietnam)|Montagnard hill tribespeople]] of South Vietnam. US Special Forces advisors frequently chose the BAR over currently available infantry weapons. As one Special Forces sergeant declared, "Many times since my three tours of duty in Vietnam I have thanked God for&nbsp;... having a BAR that actually worked, as opposed to the jamming M16&nbsp;... We had a lot of Viet Cong infiltrators in all our [Special Forces] camps, who would steal weapons every chance they got. Needless to say, the most popular weapon to steal was the venerable old BAR."<ref name="Ballou_204" />

An experimental variant was tested at Fort Benning. The barrel was cut back to the gas tube, had a M60 style bipod and flash suppressor, and a shortened stock with the flip up shoulder rest from the M60. Final mod was a box mag that held 50 rounds. The stated purpose was for anti vehicle and structure use. Still heavy but with AP rounds would shred brick/block structures and most things on wheels. Allegedly it was requested by USSS and SOF forces.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

A retrospective analysis by two American historians stated that Browning Automatic Rifle related shipments had provided "serviceable weapons" yet that the generally "short and slightly built" Vietnamese men using them experienced problems given the nature of "Western standards" around physicality.<ref>{{cite book|pages=19|title=Ia Drang 1965: The Struggle for Vietnam's Pleiku Province|date=January 23, 2020|isbn=9781472835130|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UI-3DwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

===Post-Vietnam use===
Quantities of the BAR remained in use by the [[Army National Guard]] up until the mid-1970s. Many recipients of US foreign aid adopted the BAR and used it into the 1980s and 1990s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Users==
<!--READ FIRST: This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->

[[File:Warsaw Uprising by Tomaszewski - Mazowiecka 1.jpg|thumb|right|Polish resistance fighters during the [[Warsaw Uprising]], 1944. The wz. 28 seen here is likely a survivor of the 1939 [[Invasion of Poland|September Campaign]].]]
[[File:The Home Guard 1939-45 H14697.jpg|thumb|right|British Home Guard in 1941. The man on the end of the front rank is carrying a BAR.]]
* {{flag|Algeria}}<ref>{{cite book|title=The Algerian War, 1954–62|series= Men-at Arms 312|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|place= London |year=1997|isbn=978-1-85532-658-3|first= Martin |last=Windrow|page=46}}</ref>
* {{flag|Argentina}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Colt Monitor B.A.R.|first=James L. |last=Ballou|url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1929|magazine=Small Arms Review |volume=8|issue=3|date=December 2004}}</ref>
* {{flag|Austria}}<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hungarian Revolution 1956|series=Elite 148|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|first1= Erwin |last1=Schmidl|first2= László |last2=Ritter|date=10 Nov 2006|isbn=9781846030796|page=28}}</ref>
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Adopted in 1930, built under licence by [[FN Herstal|Fabrique Nationale]]{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=18}}
* {{flag|Brazil|1889}}: Two Colt Automatic Rifles were used in the [[Tenentism|1923 revolution]] in Rio Grande do Sul by Loyalist forces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=JOSÉ ANTÔNIO FLORES DA CUNHA DISCURSOS (1909-1930) |url=http://www2.al.rs.gov.br/biblioteca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=X0QsJN_JZ68%3D&}}</ref> Used by the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in WWII <ref>{{cite book|last1=Maximiano|first1= Cesar|last2=Bonalume|first2= Ricardo N|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6q6HCwAAQBAJ|title=Brazilian Expeditionary Force in World War II|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|year= 2011|isbn=9781849084833|series=Men at Arms 465|page=45}}</ref>
* {{flag|Cambodia}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The BAR in Vietnam: Legacy of the French|first= James L. |last=Ballou|url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=2421|magazine= Small Arms Review |volume=5|issue=9 |date=June 2002}}</ref>
* {{flag|Chile}}{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=15}}
* {{flag|People's Republic of China}}: A large number were seized from the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] during the [[Chinese Civil War]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Spurr |first=Russell |year=1988 |title=Enter the Dragon: China's Undeclared War Against the U.S. in Korea 1950–51 |publisher=Newmarket Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55704-008-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/enterdragon00russ }}</ref>
* {{flag|Republic of China}}: Used by [[National Revolutionary Army|nationalist forces]] during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and subsequent [[Chinese Civil War]], most of them armed with FN Mle 30s{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=59}}
* {{flag|Colombia}}<ref name="jones2009">{{cite book |editor1-first=Richard D. |editor1-last=Jones |editor2-first=Leland S. |editor2-last=Ness |title=Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010 |date=January 27, 2009 |edition=35th |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Coulsdon |isbn=978-0-7106-2869-5}}</ref>
* {{flag|Costa Rica}}<ref name="gander1995">Gander, Terry J.; Hogg, Ian V. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 1995/1996''. Jane's Information Group; 21 edition (May 1995). {{ISBN|978-0-7106-1241-0}}.</ref>
* {{flag|Cuba}}: Colt commercial BAR and M1918A2 BAR, used by Castro's rebels during the Cuban Revolution.{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=18}} [[Cuban dissident movement|Anticastrists]] machine gunners of the [[Brigade 2506]] were also equipped with M1918A2 BARs.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961|series=Elite 166|first=Alejandro|last= de Quesada |date=10 Jan 2009|isbn=9781846033230 |publisher=Osprey Publishing|pages=60–61}}</ref>
* {{flag|Cyprus}}{{sfn|Bloomfield|Leiss|1967|pp=860-861, 863}}
* {{flag|Egypt|1922}}: FN type D{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=231}} in 7.92 Mauser{{sfn|Lorain|1979|p=15}}
* {{flag|Ethiopia}}:<ref name="jones2009"/> FN Mle 30 and M1918 BAR<ref>{{cite web|title=Ethiopian .30-06, 7.62 × 51 mm & 7.92 × 57 mm cartridges|date=30 September 2018|first=N.R. |last=Jenzen-Jones |url=http://armamentresearch.com/ethiopian-30-06-7-62-x-51-mm-7-92-x-57-mm-cartridges/|website=[[armamentresearch.com]]}}</ref>
* {{flag|Finland}}: FN Mle 30 and Swedish m/21<ref name="Finland">{{cite book|title=Finland at War 1939–45|series=Elite 141|first1=Philip |last1=Jowett|first2= Brent|last2= Snodgrass|date= 5 Jul 2006|isbn=9781841769691|publisher=Osprey Publishing|page=50}}</ref>
* {{flag|France}}: Supplied to Free French forces during World War II{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|pp=70-71}} and later used during [[First Indochina War|Indochina War]]<ref name ="Indochina">{{cite book|title=The French Indochina War 1946–54|series=Men-at-Arms 322|first= Martin |last=Windrow|isbn=9781855327894 |date=15 Nov 1998|page=41|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]}}</ref> and [[Algerian War]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Algerian War, 1954-62|series= Men-at Arms 312|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|place= London |year=1997|isbn=978-1-85532-658-3|first= Martin |last=Windrow|page=43}}</ref> Known as the ''Fusil-mitrailleur 7 mm 62 (C. 30) M. 18 (B. A. R.)''.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 1956-03-19|title= Manuel du Grade TTA 116|language= fr|publisher= Berger-Levrault|page= 297}}</ref>
* {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}: The [[Wehrmacht]] captured a number of Polish-made Browning wz. 1928 guns{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=18}} and used them until the end of World War II under the designation ''IMG 28(p)''
* {{flag|Greece}}{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=450}}<ref name="ArmsControl">{{cite book|title=The Control of local conflict : a design study on arms control and limited war in the developing areas|volume=3|last1=Bloomfield|first1= Lincoln P.|last2=Leiss|first2=Amelia Catherine<!--|last3=Legere|first3= Laurence J.|last4= Barringer|first4= Richard E.|last5=Fisher|first5= R. Lucas|last6= Hoagland|first6= John H.|last7=Fraser|first7= Janet|last8=Ramers|first8=Robert K-->|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for International Studies|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA324492.pdf#page=747|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804022404/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA324492.pdf#page=747|url-status=live|archive-date=August 4, 2020|date=30 June 1967|hdl=2027/uiug.30112064404368|pages=769}}</ref>{{sfn|Bloomfield|Leiss|1967|p=863}}
* {{flag|Honduras}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TH88DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA187|first=Robert H. |last=Holden|title= Armies without Nations: Public Violence and State Formation in Central America, 1821–1960 |location=Oxford and New York|year= 2004|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780198036517 |page=187}}</ref>
* [[File:Indonesian sailor firing FN Model D during exercise 2020.jpg|thumb|[[Indonesian Navy]] sailor firing FN Model D during exercise in 2020]]{{Flag|Indonesia}}: Used M1918A2{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=461}} and FN Model D. In limited service.<ref>{{Cite web|title=KRI Banda Aceh-593 melaksanakan latihan penembakan (gunnery exercise) Meriam Bofor 40 mm dan Vektor Kal 20 MM serta berbagai jenis senjata ringan di Perairan Pulau Gundul, Laut Jawa|url=https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Flembagakeris%2Fposts%2F3237331533041834|access-date=2021-11-05|website=Facebook|language=id}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Indonesian Navy #TNIAL FN Model D (BAR)|url=https://twitter.com/jatosint/status/1364437571426607108|access-date=2021-11-05|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref>
* {{flag|Israel}}: Used FN Model Ds.<ref>{{cite book|title=Israeli Defense Forces, 1948 to the Present|series=Uniforms Illustrated 12|last1=Russell|first1= Lee|last2= Katz|first2= Sam|publisher=Olympic Marketing Corp|date=April 1986|isbn=978-0853687559|page=20}}</ref>
* {{flag|Italy}}: Used the M1918A2 as the ''Fucile Mitragliatore Browning (B.A.R.) cal. 7,62''.<ref name = ArmiEMezzi1955>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title= Armi e mezzi in dotazione all'esercito|trans-title= Arms and means supplied to the army|url= https://archive.org/details/ArmiEMezziInDotazioneAllesercitoItaliano-1955|language= it}}</ref>
* {{flag|Japan}}: Used some FN Mle 30s.{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=59}} Most of them were taken from disarmed Chinese forces with original markings removed to use Japanese markings.{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=59}} Used M1918A2 post-war by [[National Police Reserve]].{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=494}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/nov-07-1951-japans-police-arms-and-the-men-trainees-at-japans-national-image69278581.html|title=Nov. 07, 1951 - Japan's Police: Arms And The Men Trainees at Japan's National Police Reserve Academy in Etchujima pose behind their varied weapons on one of the school's firing ranges. About 950 trainees are at the academy undergoing a nine-week training course. Their weapons include the M-1 rifle, the carbine, 30-caliber and 50-caliber machine guns, the 2.36 bazooka, the 60mm mortar, the Browning automatic rifle. Mortars and bazooka are recent additions to the police arsenal.|date=7 November 1951|publisher=alamy}}</ref>
* {{flagcountry|Republic of Korea}}: The [[Republic of Korea Armed Forces|Armed Forces]] received 1,198 M1918A2 before the [[Korean War]], and 11,768 were in service with the [[Republic of Korea Army|Army]] by the end of the war.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bak |first=Dongchan |url=http://medcmd.mil.kr/user/imhc/upload/pblictn/PBLICTNEBOOK_202105270240172800.pdf |title=Korean War : Weapons of the United Nations |publisher=Ministry of Defense Institute for Military History |date=March 2021 |isbn=979-11-5598-079-8 |location=Republic of Korea |pages=48–50 |language=Korean |access-date=2022-06-27 |archive-date=2022-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920170621/http://medcmd.mil.kr/user/imhc/upload/pblictn/PBLICTNEBOOK_202105270240172800.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Also used as squad automatic weapon in early years of the Vietnam War by the ROK Forces in Vietnam.<ref>{{Citation |title=대한뉴스 제 551호-월남소식 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weV9ckewod4 |access-date=2023-09-07 |language=en}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Laos}}: Received from US Government during [[Laotian Civil War]] and [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The War in Laos 1960–75|series=Men-at-Arms 217|first=Kenneth |last=Conboy|date=23 Nov 1989 |publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9780850459388|page=15}}</ref>
* {{flag|Liberia}}<ref name="jones2009"/>
[[File:Ethiopian infantry with BAR automatic rifle (LBS MH02-22-0612).jpg|thumb|right|Ethiopian infantry with the FN Mle 1930 in 1934.]]
[[File:Mariniers oefenen op Texel tijdens de NATO-oefening 'Cutloose. De marinier rechts is uitgerust met een automatische geweer type FN model D (BAR) (2009-002-011 005).jpg|thumb|right|Dutch marines with the FN Mle D variant in 1956]]
* {{flag|Netherlands}}: Introduced to the [[Korps Mariniers]] in 1943 with the creation of the [[Mariniersbrigade]]. Known as the ''Browning Automatisch Geweer M.1918 A2'',<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/index.cfm?event=search.getdetail&id=107005008|title= Gecombineerd schietboekje voor U.S. geweer M.1. en Browning Automatisch Geweer M.1918 A2, circa 1945  |author=<!--Not stated--> |website= Maritiem Digitaal|access-date= 2018-02-17|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180217101206/http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/index.cfm?event=search.getdetail&id=107005008|archive-date= 2018-02-17}}</ref> 243 BARs were in use with the Mariniersbrigade.<ref>{{cite web
 |url= http://www.dekolonisatie.com/mariniersbrigade/wapens.htm
 |title= Wapens
 |last= Does
 |first= J.V.D.
 |website= Dekolonistatie
 |access-date= 2018-02-17
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160618211015/http://www.dekolonisatie.com/mariniersbrigade/wapens.htm
 |archive-date= 2016-06-18}}</ref> The [[Koninklijke Landmacht]] also used the M1918A2 whilst fighting in the Korean War under United Nations command.<ref>{{cite book |last= Talens|first= Martien|title= De ransel op de rug deel 2|publisher= Brabantia Nostra|page= 453}}</ref>
* {{flag|Nicaragua}}:{{sfn|Lorain|1979|p=19}} The [[National Guard (Nicaragua)|Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua]] used the BAR, first supplied by the US Marines and later by the US Military Assistance Program (MAP) continuously from 1932 to 1979.
* {{flag|Norway}}{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=523}}
* {{flag|Philippines|1936}}: used during the [[Philippine resistance against Japan|anti-Japanese guerillas]]<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Small arms of the Philippine Constabulary: from Moro to Japanese and back again! Part 2|first=Paul|last=Scarlata|magazine=[[Shotgun News]]|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Small+arms+of+the+Philippine+Constabulary%3A+from+Moro+to+Japanese+and...-a0215248564|date=20 December 2009}}</ref> and by the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines]] during the [[Hukbalahap Rebellion]]<ref name="Filipino">{{cite thesis|title=The Filipino Way of War: Irregular Warfare through the Centuries|first1=Fernando M. |last1=Reyeg|first2= Ned B.|last2= Marsh|date=December 2011|type=Master Thesis|publisher=[[Naval Postgraduate School]]|hdl=10945/10681|page=98}}</ref>
* {{flag|Poland}}{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=18}} (Browning wz. 1928)
* {{flag|Spanish Republic}}<ref>{{cite book|title=The Spanish Civil War 1936–39 (2): Republican Forces|series=Men-at-Arms 498|first= Alejandro |last=de Quesada|date=20 Jan 2015|isbn=9781782007852|publisher=Osprey Publishing|page=38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DEbDCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT74}}</ref>
* {{flag|North Vietnam}}: Ex-French BARs used by the [[Viet Cong]] and the [[People's Army of Vietnam|North Vietnamese Army]].{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=67}}
* {{flag|South Vietnam}}: Used by the ARVN, most provided as surplus{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=68}}
* {{flag|Soviet Union}}: Bought some Colt commercial BARs. Some ex-Polish [[Browning wz. 1928|wz. 1928]]s also used during the war.{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=18}}
* {{flag|Sudan}}: Belgian origin FN type D BAR [[7.92x57mm]].<ref name="SmallArmsToday88sud">{{cite book| last = Ezell| first = Edward| author-link = Edward C. Ezell| title = Small Arms Today| publisher = Stackpole Books| volume = 2nd| edition = | date = 1988
| pages = 340| language = English | isbn = 0811722805| jfm =}}</ref>
* {{flag|Sweden}}{{sfn|Smith|1969|p=552}}
* {{flag|Turkey}}{{sfn|Hodges|Hodges|2012|p=18}}{{sfn|Bloomfield|Leiss|1967|pp=860-861}}
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: 25,000 bought from 1940, issued to the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] units{{sfn|Lorain|1979|p=14}}<ref>The Home Guard training Manual, Maj John Langdon-Davies, John Murry and the Pilot Press 1942, p. 120.</ref>
* {{flag|United States|1912}}
** [[United States Armed Forces]]
** [[Baltimore City Police Department]] Colt Monitor R80  <ref>{{cite web| url = https://baltimorepolicemuseum.com/en/component/content/article/482-bpd-weapons| title = Baltimore Police Weapons| last = Driscoll| first = Kenny| date = 29 December 2022
| website = Baltimore Police Museum| access-date = 27 January 2024}}</ref>
* {{flag|Uruguay}}<ref name="jones2009"/>
* {{flag|Venezuela}}: FN Model D<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCollum |first=Ian |date=2013-01-25 |title=Arms of the Venezuelan Coup |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/arms-of-the-venezuelan-coup/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=Forgotten Weapons |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States}}
* [[List of infantry weapons used during the Second World War]]
* [[FM 24/29 light machine gun]]
* [[Lewis gun|Lewis automatic machine gun]], British support gun
* [[Kulsprutegevär m/40]]
* [[McCrudden light machine rifle]]
* [[Mendoza RM2]]
* [[Model 45A]]
* [[Ribeyrolles 1918 automatic carbine]]
* [[Weibel M/1932]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite book|last=Ballou|first= James L.|title=Rock in a Hard Place: The Browning Automatic Rifle|location= Ontario, California|publisher=Collector Grade Publications Inc.|isbn=978-0-88935-263-6|year=2000}}.
* {{cite book| last = Bishop| first = Chris| year = 2002| title = The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II| publisher = Sterling Publishing| location = New York| isbn = 978-1-58663-762-0}}.
* {{cite book|author-link=George M. Chinn|last = Chinn| first = George M.| year = 1951| title = The Machine Gun, Volume I: History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/index.html| publisher = Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy| location = Washington, D.C.}}.
* {{cite book|last=Dunlap|first= Roy F.|title=Ordnance Went Up Front|publisher=Samworth Press|year=1948|isbn=978-1-884849-09-1}}.
* {{cite book|title=The Browning Automatic Rifle|series=Weapon 15|first1= Robert R.|last1= Hodges|first2= Robert R. Jr.|last2=Hodges |date= 20 Apr 2012 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|isbn=9781849087612|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LH6ICwAAQBAJ}}.
* {{cite book|last1=Hogg|first1= Ian V.|last2=Weeks|first2=John|title=Military Small Arms of the 20th Century |edition=7th |publisher= Krause Publications |year=2000|chapter=US Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30in<!--sic! Don't change it--> M1918-M1922 (Brownings)}}.
* {{cite magazine|title=Le F.M. BAR|trans-title=The BAR automatic rifle|first=Piere|last=Lorain |pages=12–19|issue=74|url=http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-74-septembre-1979/page-12-13-texte-integral |date=September 1979|language=fr|magazine=La Gazette des Armes}}.
* {{cite book |first=David |last=Miller |title=The History of Browning Firearms |publisher=The Lyons Press |location=Gilford, Connecticut |year=2006 |isbn=159228910X }}
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/FM/PDFs/FM23-15.PDF FM 23–15: Basic Field Manual — Browning Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30, M1918A2 (27 Aug 1940)].
* {{cite book| last = Popiel| first = Adam| year = 1992| pages = 205–206| title = Uzbrojenie lotnictwa polskiego 1918–1939| publisher = SIGMA-NOT| location = Warsaw, Poland| isbn = 978-83-85001-37-9|language=pl}}.
* {{cite book|last=Smith|first=Joseph E.|title=Small Arms of the World|url=https://archive.org/details/smallarmsofworld00smit|url-access=registration|edition =11|location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|publisher= The Stackpole Company|year=1969|isbn=9780811715669 }}

==External links==
{{Commons|Browning M1918 (BAR)}}
* [https://archive.org/details/FM23-15BasicFieldManualBrowningAutomaticRifleCaliber.30M1918A2withBipod/mode/2up FM 23-15 Basic Field Manual Browning Automatic Rifle, Caliber .30, M1918A2 with Bipod]
* [https://imgur.com/a/bar-cal-30-m1918-modified-LCsADeq BAR, cal. .30, M1918 (modified) / Jungle BAR]
* {{YouTube|xVzWu1CqGf4|"Operating the Browning Automatic Rifle "The BAR" - 1943"}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sp7AHe6jqE: YouTube animation showing mechanism of BAR 1918]

{{John Browning}}
{{FN Herstal firearms}}
{{WWIUSInfWeaponsNav}}
{{WWIIUSInfWeaponsNav}}
{{WWIIChineseInfantryWeapons}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1918]]
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