I've received many comments about the B.A.R. never being referred to as a "Bar." Though B.A.R was certainly far more common than Bar or Browning Automatic Rifle, soldiers nicknamed and shortened everything. They also came into contact with people from across the country and the world be them Canadians, Australians, Brits etc who had twice as many weird names for things. Here are two wonderful interviews with Korean War vets who refer to the B.A.R. as the "Bar" once in each video, which is fine, I doubt anyone cared. ua-cam.com/video/IvBHjKvbfVw/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/I1jcCp4jrSI/v-deo.html
Johnny in Highwaymen the Colt Monitor or BAR usually say that it could fire atleast 30 rounds per magazine but it cut short of the ammunition meant up to 20 for the army as because it needed to be bulky weight and even down time needed to reloaded that's why it's a SAW or LSW Light Squad (Support) Weapon, Squad Automatic Weapon or Automatic Rifleman theoretical for it well the BAR is meant for Support with a company of M1 Garands to follow up shots this meant that they could have reign supreme over the battlefield as they could return fire while the both the BAR and M1 Garands could fire atleast faster than the Germans could do the Germans emphasize their tactic around the MG42 but have few or more ways to exploited that's why it has a weakness if the MG42 is taken out
My neighbor used a BAR In the Philippines in 1944/45, and he said he was surprised he was given it (5’7”, very skinny, quiet religious man from Utah.) he was asked if he knew about squad ammunition bearers, and when he replied “yes”, they said “Well you’re it.” He said that on a good day he would carry between 50-60 pounds of ammo, grenades, and water. He was sent before his squad to clear out any Japanese that were off of the nearby path before his squad advanced. He turns 96 in February 2022. Awesome man.
It seems the people who took the most shots at them live the longest...Maybe we all need to be shot at by a Machine gun while trying to fight it to live longer.
There's a couple things that don't add up with this story. First, the cartridge belts worn by BAR gunners had either 6 or 8 pockets for the 20-rnd magazines. An ammunition "bearer" is not the same as a BAR gunner. I can't think of anytime where a single soldier or Marine carried an additional "50-60" pounds of ammunition for the BAR. Second, the BAR gunner was a support member of the rifle team, they wouldn't send them out in front of the squad because its the very nature of it being an automatic rifle that the squad is counting on for suppressing fire.
@@jeffburnham6611 he would carry ammo for the WHOLE squad. Garand clips, Thompson mags, etc. He would also carry water for the squad. And he wouldn’t be sent necessarily ahead, but he and a spotter would be out off the trail while the rest of the squad was on the trail.
@@masterbuilderproductions Still doesn't add up. A rifleman was an ammunition bearer. You never make a squad member with an already heavy weapon and it's ammunition an ammo bearer for the whole squad.
One thing that movies tent not to cover is how quickly a BAR magazine is emptied. You had to reload it constantly in battle. In the movies they tend to spray it for quite a while before reloading
I think it is fair to say, that this is true for every firearm that Hollywood gets their hands on. A C7 even on semi empties itself pretty quickly. Hollywood magazines: How many rounds does that thing hold? Answer: Yes.
The BAR had two fire modes, well realistically they are speeds. One setting is 600rpm and the other is about 400rpm. Not saying this means the magazine doesn't empty out quickly.
My Dad was a BAR man in France, Luxembourg and Germany in WW2. He said the FIRST thing a BAR man did was to remove the carrying handle and bipod and throw them in the woods. He said you shot single shot or in 3 round bursts because the first thing the Germans did was go after the automatic weapons.
Factually, that's incorrect! I was told by a WW2 Veteran who fought in Normandy as a BAR gunner and he said I quote: "the German's were petrified of the BAR"! As far as dumping the tripod is bs that was BS bc of many reasons esp in subzero weather there was at time no cover and the gunners had no choice but to shoot laying down! That vet that told you must of picked up the BAR from the battle field which was common it was called, "next man up"! Thanx
@@michaeloliveri2577 Instead of being caustic and confrontational wouldn't it be better to be respectful, especially when it concerns a man who's father served during the Normandy invasion? How about something like this: "Kudos to your father for his service, he has my respect. FWIW, a WWII vet gave me a different take on the subject. He told me the Germans were petrified of the BAR, now that doesn't necessarily mean they didn't try to take out that shooter first, just that they wanted to avoid that particular weapon. Another thing he said was, in his experience, the tripod was left on the BAR because it facilitated better sighting when the gunner was forced to quickly lay down, the frigid weather didn't provide for too much cover. This is just another point of view but I'm sure different people handled situations in the way that best suited them. Just something to consider, it has to bearing on the veracity of your comment"
my grandfather was part of the Brazilian expeditionary force in Italy during the WW2 and was a B.A.R operator, I realy love his badasses pictures holding this beautiful weapon
@@Guilherme-ps3tw So, story you might like. A few years ago I had a new co-worker that was Brasilian, her family had moved to the US in her late teens. She wasn't really aware of the Smoking Snakes so I told her the whole story and she really enjoyed it. I ended up making an avatar for her, I took the Smoking Snake logo, gave it sunglasses and replaced the word "Brasil" with "Lide Com Isso", which if I remember correctly translates to "Deal With It." She got a real kick out of it!
Another proof of how brilliant John Browning was. The BAR isn't the ultimate Assault Rifle or light machine gun but it was a step in it's development. I was an Armorer in the Marines from 1966 to 1970 & was lucky enough to play with this peace of history. Semper Fi .
@@cdjhyoung The armourers job on the movie set is probably no different than our armouer on the police department. They make sure that the weapon is in good order and can be operated safely. In the army they were called weapon technicians. Simply put they are mechanics for firearms. If something has a serious malfunction or failure the armourer can repair the weapon and the work can be certified so that the firearm can be put back in service without sending it to the manufacturer.
@@kellybreen5526 Thanks for the information. I was most interested in the military application of the term. In my parlance, the armorer would be the weapons 'mechanic' for the unit.
A friend of my dads fought in ww2 as a bar operator in the battle of the bulge. He told my dad a story once. BARman was in a foxhole at night, and his partner jumped in the foxhole without letting him know. BARman turned and unloaded the entire 20 round magazine in a few seconds, hitting only the wall of the foxhole next to his partner. He said that neither of them slept that night afterward.
I was a Marine in the early to mid-'60s. We were not issued BARs, but fired them for familiarization at ITR, Camp Geiger. One of the reason that they were so heavy is because of the buffer in the stock, which greatly reduced recoil. It was relatively "gentle" when fired from the shoulder. We also practiced disassembly and reassembly of the weapon. Later, when I was an AR man in 3rd platoon, G co, 2/2, FMF, I carried an M-14 with a selector switch. About the movies: It took but a few rounds through a BAR to get the barrel too hot to touch. After firing, if it was done using the bipod, you reached UNDER the rifle and picked it up by the forearm. If you picked it up by the top, you got a blister from the web of your hand to the edge of your palm. We called it a "BAR hand." In some movies, I've noticed scenes where the BARman emptied several mags at enemies, and had a squad meeting immediately afterward. The BARman is kneeling, with the barrel of the rifle against the right side of his neck. Had it been a REAL scene, he'd have had a BAR neck. To change the rate of fire on a BAR, there was a rotating cap with holes of various diameters at the end of the gas cylinder. To change the rate of fire you had to rotate that cap; the larger the hole that lined up with port of the gas cylinder, the slower the rate of fire.. The BAR did not have a bayonet lug.
My grandfather was a marine in the early 60s and he was still issued M1s until his unit not long before he got out, got issued M14s. He told me stories of shooting the BAR. Dont remeber if he said issued or not since I dont know when the BAR was replaced by the M60 in Marine service
Im glad you covered this. After reading up on stories of GIs who used the BAR, I've come to realize it doesn't deserve the bad rep it seems to have garnered in modern times. It was actually a pretty amazing weapon. It's a poor LMG but as you suggest, troops made use of it in different ways by lightening it. Almost all of the BARs I've seen in historical photos do not have the bulky bipod. Also I have heard that the Germans would try to kill the BAR gunner first when engaging American squads. That tells you something about the BAR's effectiveness.
My grandfather carried the BAR in France during WWII. Said he was the skinniest guy in his squad, but had the heaviest gun. He never talked about the war, I shudder about what he went through. Made it home without a scratch, but I know it took a toll on him mentally and psychologically. I miss him terribly.
My uncle was 5FT. 5 In Marine in the Korean War . Guess who got the BAR that's right the smallest guy in the squad platoon and company. 3 years later got to come home. NEVER touched a gun again. Also verified that Marine doctrine was in only three marines out of a squad survived an engagement they all were keeping the BAR's .
I was on .y first Westpac cueise in 1967-68 on the USS Cleveland, an amphib. ship. We picked a marine infentry battalion. I noticed that the men carrying the radios and squad weapons (M 60s), were the smallest men in the platoon. I asked one of the Gunny Sargents why the smalles marines were assigned to carry the the radios ans the M 60s. His response was, "because they.make the smallest targets".
While my father was training stateside during WW2 he learned mountain climbing Assault at Seneca Rock West Virginia, one of the guys in his company froze up high on the rock and had to be helped down. My father wondered if the guy would freeze up in combat but this GI was issued B A R and proved to be fearless and formidable during bitter house to house fighting in German Saarland.When my father was wounded along with many of his company by a machine gun and rifle fire on a rail yard in Fraulatern they retreated into a switch house . During the night when the enemy would attempt to slip into their perimeter J...........k ‘s BAR would open up and drive them back . Daddy said that J...........k was the last man fighting that night and that he was a brave warrior.
Sand Pebbles was my first ‘contact’ with BARs and also with the concept of the ‘BAR Team’. Plus it’s Steve McQueen so it’s just super cool. Great video as usual. I’d say “keep it up” but you’re clearly doing that:)
My first platoon commander was a Marine Gunner who was at Guam, Iwo Jima and the Chosin Reservoir. He said that the bar gunner, when using suppressing fire on an objective, would turn the BAR on it's side and let the natural ability of the muzzle to rise to sweep rounds evenly across the target.
@@ethanmcfarland8240 He was in the 3rd Marine Division for the invasion of Guam and Iwo Jima. Between the wars, the USMC shrunk like the rest of the US military and he got assigned to the 1st Marine Division and that's how he got to Korea.
In his book, "Shots Fired in Anger", John B. George said that the BAR was an awful light machine gun but when used properly as an automatic rifle, had no equal at the time. And as an infantry Lieutenant in the Pacific, he ought to know a thing or two.
My father was a "Section Leader in charge of a light machine gun section of 15 men" infantry in the Pacific. He carried a BAR and was passionate about the virtues of that gun, it's reliability and firepower. I put the part in "" because I literally copied it off his separation papers. He was with the 37th, he fought in the Solomons and Philippines.
According to Ian McCollum, the best variants of the BAR were not American: Polish wz.28 and Belgian FN model D, which featured gas-block mounted bipods and actual pistol grips. As seen on C&Rsenal and Forgotten Weapons collaboration series, the BAR was designed rather quickly, without much thought given to quick field stripping. You basically had to disassemble the whole gun to get it field stripped. US units in WWI had their BAR's taken away for fear of Germans capturing some and were instead given French Chauchats chambered in .30-06. These "american" Chauchats were badly manufactured, leading to unreliability and thus unpopularity with the weapon, compounded by its very wonky ergonomics.
John Pershing made that decision as he did not want the BAR going into combat in small numbers, fearing that the Germans would capture some, reverse engineer them, and place them into production. Difficult to believe but true.
With all due respect for McCollum and C&Rsenal, don't garner your opinions of design, manufacturing, and use on their historical efforts. It is but a piece of information seen through the lens of time and their interpretation of what they read in books written by those who read other books. Much of the information from these UA-cam sources is opinion and out of context (and often not accurate as many of our opinions are). That the firearm was designed as it was by J. Browning in the teens of the last century is astounding. What firearms are "best" is a non-contextual discussion since tactics and strategies usually decide the outcome of armed conflict. I appreciate their efforts and enjoy watching their programs. Thanks again.
My grandfather was a BAR gunner on Okinawa with the 1st Marines, only a company over from 'The Pacific' show 'characters'. He was an absolute crack shot, but since he was also the biggest man in his unit (Oklahoma/Kansas farm boy, but only 5'10), he was given the BAR. He had a pistol grip made and installed on the LST while sailing over which made it more controllable.
My father was issued the B.A.R in the marines 1950 he mentioned how heavy it was . He also was 5 ft 10 and wasn't a big guy . He shot exspert during boot camp training . His company just arrived in Korea when the war was over . They were there during the prisoner exchange then off to Japan to finish his tour. He also mentioned going to Nagasaki and Hiroshima he said both citties had been completely rebuilt by the time he had arrived .
@@kevinmcfadin2141 i had the pleasure of shooting two magazines through one in Las Vegas, at a hefty cost. It was worth it to see what these guys had to put up with. Cheers sir!
We used to live in Okinawa during the late 90's. Beautiful place now but horrible back in the day. Used to find 30-06 brass from WWII while scuba diving. They still find unexploded ordnance on occasion. You just don't go tromping around in the woods.
@@wes326 , I use to work with a guy who during his time in US Marine corps was stationed on Okinawa during the 1980s, while exploring one of the caves, he found the rusted remains of a Japanese bolt action rifle, and was able to take it home with him, I got to hold it when I visited his house, TRULY an amazing piece of history, as well as the Smith and Wesson 1917 revolver his great grandfather carried during ww1.
I fired the BAR during Infantry Training at Camp Geiger. It was not a hard weapon to control; it has a buffer group in the stock to absorb mush of the recoil. The M-14 on full auto, however, is another story.
I remember listening to a Vet (I believe talking about the battle of Sugar Loaf Hill) who recounted the BAR after a guy was moving to fill in the dead BAR gunner’s position, he remarked along the lines of ‘I said I hoped he knew how to use it’ As in, using it in single shots instead of automatic so the BAR fire blended in with M1 fire since Japanese positions would target BAR Gunners.
The B. A. R. Terrified enemy soldiers immediately, and they avoided those areas of the battlefield where B. A. R. Automatic rifleman were located. The Viet Cong hated them.
One of the few drawbacks of the BAR was how quickly it consumed ammo. The gunner and his assistants had to lug a huge amount of heavy magazines with them into battle.
Had the honor of talking a few times with a Veteran from WW2 Europe . He spoke on and on about the courage of the ammo runners for a BAR holding the Germans up . Thing was that after his death I found out that he was the BAR man the runners supplied . It was said that he was at the vacation resort named Bastogne . Miss him .
I met Old School people who carried that weapon as their weapon, and they all say good things about it with the only bad thing they had to say was it was limited to a 20 round magazine. The accuracy of this weapon was without question great.
@@reynaldoflores4522 I guess my memory fails me. It was a long time ago. All I remember about Little John was that whenever Lt. Hanley needed to go somewhere, it was Little John who drove the jeep.
@@johnh.tuomala4379 COMBAT! - the TV show - is available to watch on You Tube. Gives a chance to relive and refresh your memory of their story lines. Kirby was the of shifty character that could speak fluent French - a very useful skill. Big John was the poor bloke that got to drag the BAR around with him.
Check out the 1966 film "The Sand Pebbles" with legendary actor and Marine Veteran, Steve McQueen. The B.A.R. has two major scenes, the boom river battle, and during the rescue of US citizens.
Oh, yeah, I remember that now. Steve McQueen toting that BAR around that Chinese "villa" in the last scene. That's that I always imagined how the badass Navy of before World War II looked like. During the Boom River battle, you can see old Steve firing the BAR on it's side to allow the tendency of the muzzle to rise to sweep rounds across the target. My sainted mother took me and my younger brother to see this movie at the drive-in after it came out because one of the women who she worked with told her it was a good movie. Maybe for adults, but not for children. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Dad carried a BAR from D-day +1 frim France, Belgium and to Germany. They had one per squad. Yes, they ditched the bi-pod immediately. Usually 3-4 sec bursts were all you could do. But...in a fire-fight, the German's would listen to find out where the BAR was and then go for it first. He didn't enjoy that. He was the largest guy in the squad so he got the unfortunate job of lugging it around.
Dad said that his squad ‘s BAR man thru his bipod over a hedgerow in France and when his Sargent discovered it gone he made him double back and retrieve it . I don’t know if he ditched it later or not but things got so hot when they entered Germany I doubt that it would have been an issue .
Not a movie, but an American TV series I came across on UA-cam just before Covid lockdown (so ended up watching the whole series, b&w and colour), called “COMBAT”. Plenty of BAR action where the guy almost always fires it on its side 🇺🇸🤷🏻♂️
I too watched COMBAT! religiously as a kid with my WW2 veteran father. "Saving Private Ryan" is like one big COMBAT! episode, the similarities are quite remarkable.
On this one, my dad said when you went through the rifle range with this weapon, you would do it at a walk with pop up targets. Since you had to fire at the targets in rapid secession, you had to lean back while firing the weapon. If you did not, since it recoiled forward, you would end up running in the course as it pulled you forward.
my Father had one in korea 51-52. Loved it. said the carbine didn't have enough punch. Heavier and the ammo weighed a lot more but no problem. the weapon of choice in the INFANTRY
The BAR figured in "The Sand Pebbles", seen in the naval landing party where the USN has to sling arms and return to their gunboat, then in the hands of the mutineers during the siege of the San Pablo, then again with Steve McQueen setting up a BAR position at the start of the San Pablo's final battle, and finally, it was a major player with Richard Crenna and Steve McQueen during the climactic battle at the end. In Band of Brothers they correctly eliminated the BAR from Easy Company in Normandy - the original TO&E for a parachute rifle company did not include the BAR, but some were apparently "acquired" by some paratroopers before D-Day. The BAR does correctly appear in Easy company for the Holland drop, as he T)&E was modified in the summer of 1944 to add the BAR to the parachute rifle company. Ut was the USMC that about 1945 adopted the organization of three fire teams in each rifle squad, each built around a BAR gunner. The multiple squad BARs show up in John Wayne's "The Sands Of Iwo Jima" (where the BAR is commonly seen)
My dad fought in North Africa and Italy in WW2. Everyone on the squad loved the BAR, but nobody wanted it right next to them. They drew enemy fire like flies to....poop. Plus, like lilaolf said, they burned through ammo. Not as much as the MG39s the Germans used, but enough that everyone carried extra ammo for it.
I think it brilliant that the Garand rifle and the B.A.R. used the same ammo. One a superb infantry semi-auto rifle, the other a light machine gun used in the same unit as the Garand to give a rifle squad that much more firepower and provide extra cover when needed.
In 1962 while serving with an Air Police Squadron in France, our squadron trained on the BAR during a night fire exercise. I was impressed with its accuracy, but the weight was an issue for regular security use. The M2 Carbine was the standard issue for sentry guard duty. It was fully auto with a 30 round clip and the weight was light enough for an 8 hour guard shift.
Damn, l lived outside an Air Force Base in France at that time, my dad was a pilot. I was young, but l remember the security on the base, it was tight, my dad said you guys were the real deal.
Maybe apocryphal, but I was told that it was unofficial Army practice to assign the scrawniest man in a platoon the BAR, because hauling it around would "develop" him. One old veteran, WW2, told me that they learned to "lose" the bipod because, at a distance, it identified the BAR man and put him at the top of a snipers' "to do list."
In 1946, my dad was deployed to Tokyo, Japan as part of the occupational forces, Army infantry. In 1950, when Korea was about to be over -run by the Korean Communists, he was immediately rushed to Pusan, Korea to hold the perimeter. In the rush, his glasses were broken so the Army handed him a BAR and and placed him in the line. At the time he was paper pusher at The Tokyo PX and kept laughing as he told me how his combat experience started. He survived all the way to the Yalu river and "the gauntlet" and was sent home in 1952 after his 3rd combat wound, bringing my Japanese mother and me with him to Winter Park, Florida. Thank you Dad, America, and John Browning !
My dad was in the Army Engineer Corp in the Pacific from 1942-1945 and I enlisted in October 1966...when I came home the first thing he asked me was "Did you get to fire the BAR"?...He said it was a terrific weapon. I guess he felt it was so good we should have still been using it. He never asked me about my M-14 or M-16. He also asked if I got to use the Browning .50 caliber and yes, we've been using that forever. They're still around.
I was thinking of that Bonnie and Clyde movie right before you showed the clip. That was the most recent BAR I have seen in film. It was truly ahead of it's time. Browning was a mad genius.
The B A R was not a very effective weapon, It was too heavy and had too small a magazine capacity. The Czech designed Bren Light Machine Gun was far superior with a 30 round magazine and a barrel that could be changed in seconds for the sustained fire role.
My grandpa used this weapon in the U.S. Army and the Missouri National Guard in the mid to late 50s he said that he had a hard time getting of the 3 round burst when on faster rate of fire.
In 1965 during post-boot training camp I got to fire a few rounds as the Marine Corps was in transition to other guns. Never saw it again except in Vietnam in 1968.
You did a good job covering the issues with the BAR. The BAR was an *_AUTOMATIC RIFLE_* not a Machine gun. It was never a machine gun and the American Army's attempt to turn it into a Squad Machine Gun - was a mistake. What they should have done - was make more 1919's - which were perfectly good *_belt fed_* light machine guns. The original concept behind the BAR - was that the weapon would be a light enough automatic weapon that could go into the enemy position with the assaulting troops - rather - than staying back and creating a base of fire. When the assault force entered the enemy position - the machine guns supporting the assault would have to cease fire to avoid hitting their own troops. At this point - if the Assaulting unit did not have a light automatic weapon they could take into the enemy position with them - then they would not have an automatic weapon. Another weapon that was designed with this role in mind was the Thompson Sub Machine Gun. As to "Walking Fire" that was just stupid and no one did that. What you did do - was advance by rushes - where part of the unit would provide covering fire while the other part advanced. The advancing unit would go to ground and begin putting fire on the enemy position while the other unit advanced, leap frogging the unit now putting fire on the enemy. Now - you have a flawed definition of a "Light Machine Gun" in which a "Light machine gun' is a magazine fed, rifle caliber weapon. That is an unfortunate definition. All of these weapons were ... less than good. First off - they had 30 round magazines that were only half again as good as the 20 round magazine for the BAR. So ... yeah ... it had another 10 rounds but ... you still had to change magazines a lot. Now - as far as it goes - when it came to someone laying in the dirt and swapping magazines for the gunner whenever it ran out - you could do that fairly well with a BAR. You had to do it more often than for a Bren Gun but ... it really didn't make that much difference. What DID make a real difference - was a belt fed weapon that could have 250 rounds or more in a belt. Here the Germans had their MG-34 and MG-42's - and the Americans had their M1919's. People think that the German guns were better but that's not really as certain as people make it out to be. The Germans idea - was that they had a weapon with a very high rate of fire. One German WWII MG-42 Gunner described the weapons functionality as being like a long range shot gun. You'd fire 3 rounds at a single target - and that gave you a good chance of hitting it. Then - with the barrel heating up because of the high rate of fire - and - the fact that you had a light barrel - the weapon had a Quick Change Barrel what could be swapped out with a spare fairly quickly. The problem with this gun - is that it used to much ammunition - and the Germans were always running out. The Americans Idea - was that you had a heavy barrel that did not heat up as much and a much slower rate of fire. It was still a machine gun and could put out a goodly amount of rounds - but - the Americans felt that they didn't want it to have as high a rate of fire as the MG-42. This had nothing to do with the design. The aircraft version of this machine gun - with the same basic design - had about as high a rate of fire as an MG-42. There were in fact a few Marines who got their hands on some of these Aircraft Guns and modified them, by such as adding a rifle stock - and used it in combat with some success. The reasons that the infantry 1919 didn't have the rate of fire of this aircraft gun - was that the Americans didn't want it to. It would use up to much ammo - and - when that custom gun was used - the people using it had to repeatedly make trips back to restock their ammunition because the gun went through it so fast - the same problem the Germans had. Now another aspect of the German vs. American machine gun was that they had bi-pods and the 1919's had a small tripod. The small tripod , carried by the gunner, could be plopped down where the gunner wanted to establish his firing position - and the Assistant Gunner - who carried the machine guy - would mount the gun and load a belt of ammo. This could all be done very quickly - and once it had been - provided a better mounting point for the machine gun with a better traverse than that of a bipod. The 1919 could of course change it's barrel - it just took a few minutes to do it - whereas the quick change barrels on the British and German Guns could be changed in seconds. Another difference between all these weapons was the number of people needed to support them. The more ammo they could put out - the more ammo carriers they needed. Someone had to carry spare barrels as all but the BAR Teams carried them. You could change the Barrel on a BAR but ... this was a maintenance thing - not something you would do in the field. The BAR, Bren Gun, M1919 and the German Machine guns - all had advantages and disadvantages. None were "better" than the others - they were just different. All of them were used successfully. They just needed troops that understood how the weapon functioned best - and used it for it's advantages - while working to mitigate it's disadvantages. The proper way to use the BAR - was in small fire teams - with 2 or 3 BARs per squad, which with the Squad Leader's Sub Machine Gun gave then Marines 4 automatic weapons and 9 semiautomatic weapons. One advantage of this - was that you had to take out 3 BARs if you were the enemy - whereas for the Germans - they had ONE Squad Machine Gun - and if they lost it - they fell back as it was the primary source of fire power for their squad. Another factor here - is that other than patrols - these weapons were not used by single squads going against each other. In a full on attack - or defense against one - you'd have Platoons, Companies, Battalions or more involved. Here - there were any number of other units that would be involved and each nation had theirs set a little differently. The Americans, for example, had "Weapons" Platoons and Companies where their heavier infantry weapons were - with the unit commander deciding where he wanted these weapons employed at any given time. .
In Windtalkers we see the guy with a 3 pocket bandolier instead of the regular M1937 ammo belt, it's an interesting piece of equipment that was used in the interwar period and very early during WW2 and from what I've read it was not worn by the gunner but the rest of the BAR team to carry more ammo as it burned through magazines super quickly. On pictures of the western front you can also see GIs armed with M1s but carrying a BAR ammo belt and their rifle ammo in a bag or bandoliers, indicating they were part of the fire support team. Last lil piece of info that I think is pretty cool, all soldiers in a squad were familiar with the BAR but the 3 men BAR team received additional training in firing and handling the weapon so if your gunner got hit at least you had two other guys that were just as familiar as him to take over the weapon. Also at the end of the war the Army decided that the BAR gunner would be upgraded from pvt. or pfc. to cpl. The reasoning behind that is that it was a specialized role. It was also to promote small level leadership so the team could function as its own entity but still answer to the squad leader or assistant squad leader.
Three Nazis walk in to a bar. All kidding aside, the Swedes modified this gun into what is probably the most unsung LMG in history. Chambered in 6.5x55, belt fed, and a quick change barrel. Probably the best light, or general purpose machine gun of its time.
Great overview of a classic weapon. What Pvt. Reiben says in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, that his BAR "tried to drown me," is a testament to how heavy that gun must have felt after carrying it around for extended periods. I've never handled one, but if it is close to the same weight as a Bren gun is, it would become a bit of a back breaker after awhile. Nice job.
I had a chance to fire the m-18 Bar in the states. a very good rifle but very heavy about the same as a M-60. Was handed the m-16a2 in vietnam. tonka/matel it was called. wint for the m-60 in 7.62 51 4th div. 10 armored.
Every time I see a video on the b.a.r. I see the true use of the design. If fact, if just changing the magazine to a better metal, and making it hold more rounds, it would have been more effective. I know a lot of people talk about not changing barrels, but I have never hear of any situation where changing the barrel was needed. Just like the M1A thompson, this weapon needed a little finesse to operate correctly.
The film The Deadly Mantis was the first time I saw the BAR in action. It was a different kind of weapon that was very noticeable. The BAR was seen twice in the film. In the film Dillinger with Warren Oates, the famed shootout at the hunting lodge scene where John Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette(played by Michelle Phillips) is firing a BAR to aid in covering Dillinger’s escape for a moment, but there was a cut and she is firing a Thompson machine gun. I have heard that because the BAR fired a 30-06 round, it could punch a hole in a cement wall.
Good video. One suggestion, which you touched on but maybe should go into a bit more. Because US was only side in WW2 with standard semi auto rifle (while everyone else had bolt action rifles), the US didn't need the BAR to provide the same volume of fire as the Germans did with the MG42 or Brits did with the Bren for a US squad to possess the same firepower (and there was limited ammo so a squad could only have so much fire power). Also I have read, but not sure it is true, that in practice US squads almost always had more than one BAR as US troops were so well supplied that an extra BAR could always be found..
Yes you're right about that last one. to give you the rundown: within US company/battalion organization there were always so many M1 carbines, BARs and Thompsons available, however this was on paper. In the end companies had more of these weapons in their inventory than they were supposed to have so they gave out extra to rifleman platoons. That's why in US army squads on paper you would only have 1 Thompson, but in reality you would have 2 to 3 per 11 men. US marine corps was a bit different. In early 1944 they just said: "the heck with it" and gave every squad as much firepower as they could give them which meant 3 BARs, 3 Thompsons and a few carbines per 13 men.
I knew a guy many years ago that carried a B.A.R. around on Iwo Jima. He was originally assigned an M2 Flamethrower but would have breathing problems when using it. So much so that they switched out the flamethrower and gave him a B.A.R. instead. Other than the weight, he said it was an excellent weapon and one he remembered very fondly.
The first time I saw a BAR was not in a movie but a TV show - in the TV show "Combat" one of the main characters, Pvt. Kirby, carries a BAR with a bipod, I remember being really really impressed with it when I was a kid, the way it looked, the way it sounded
It also had commonality using the 30:06 round of the Springfield/Garand. But did always wonder why they didn't get a 30rd-40rd mag or a 50rd drum factory. Some gangsters welded 2 20rd mags together.
Weight could have been an issue. The rifle was already considered heavy even with a 20 round magazine. The 30-06 rounds are heavy, and adding a 50 round drum would have made it even heavier and more unwieldly.
no-one mentioned the sharp corners on the butt, in the prone position it would cut into the clavicle something fierce In Marine ITR , so when I got to (helicopters) the M-60 was so much more welcome.
As a former SAW/mk48 gunner, I never understood the idea of a 20 round magazine in the BAR and FG42 made any practical sense. 20 rounds goes quick, especially going rapid fire, hell, even sustained. Yes I understand the weight constraints (trust me, I had no less than 1000 rounds on me/in my assault pack), but as a squad support weapon, 20 round magazines don't add up imo. Thank God for link.
Similar background here, i think the general idea was that it was able to be carried and utilized by only 1 guy, and could be used in a way similar to a over-sized M1 Garand. In comparison to the other machine guns the Army had access too like the M1919 or M2 Brownings it was a far more portable weapon. That being said i have the same criticisms, 20 round magazines greatly limit rapid fire capabilities, which defeats the point of having a machine gun at the squad level in the first place.
The BAR was fielded when most Infantry carried Bolt Action Rifles, w/5 round internal magazines. So, a BAR had four times the ammo, and could fire full automatic! Machineguns in the 1920's to 1940's weighed 60 to 100 pounds. The MG42 was a remarkable innovation! Nobody else had anything like it.
It's not about "being in shape". Ounces equal pounds, pounds equals pain. The US military has a continued bad habit of overburdening its infantry. It's VERY common for those that retire to leave with back injuries, bad knees and a life long of pain from carrying the literal tons of weight they force on you.
@@Excalibur01 Marius's Mules.. The Marian reforms did something similar to the Roman army, they did away with the baggage trains and made the soldiers carry everything they needed.
I like the BAR. Its a quirky weapon. It was made way before "Battle Rifles", rifles with semi or full automatic fire with larger magazines were made. Its like an M14 Rifle made 40years earlier. It used magazines at the time when exposed Stripper Clips and Bolt-Action Rifles, or bulky Machine Guns were in use. It could have been great but it was developed so late it didint have much action during World War 1. As a Light Machine Gun the BAR wasnt very good, but at the time no light machine guns were. They usually relied on magazines with odd shapes and much lower ammunition capacities. They couldnt use belts like medium-Heavy machine guns. Still some had greater capacities than the 20mag of the BAR, such as on the Lewis Gun and its 47/92bullet pan magazines.
My dad got to carry and use one as a private in the USMC, circa 1951 - 1952 in Korea. Was it heavy? Yes. But it had stopping power. Odd fact - at one time you could buy a B.A.R. and/or a Thompson sub-machine gun directly from Sears through their catalog. Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie & Clyde fame) used a sawed off B.A.R.
It's pretty hard to cut down the barrel of a gas operated action. Impossible if you want it to work. It needs the gas port and return. There's plenty of photos of Barrow gang firearms. Have you seen a sawed off B.A.R.?
@@stevek8829 Yeah, Clyde Barrow's "Scattergun," he cut all the way down to the gas tube. You can see on literally any picture of the BAR that the gas tube doesn't extend all the way down the barrel. His rifle also had a shortened gas tube, regardless.
NEVER “bar”… “B-A-R”…🙄. Trust me, an owner. Just…no… Also, in WWII combat, the bipod went bye-bye immediately. Often, the flash hider as well (especially in Pacific theater combat). The carry handle…MAYBE very late war Pacific theater (Okinawa…possibly). And yes, stupidly heavy, far too small magazine capacity, and no ability to change barrels. Quick field strip and cleaning…forgetaboutit! Arguably, a lousy SAW, but cool as could be! Steve McQueen in “The Sand Pebbles”…no footage of that?!?
The B.A.R. is my fav of the WWII rifles. In case anyone is interested, here are my other Top 11 favorites: (1) airplane: B-17. (2) general: James Doolitte. (3) air group: 8th US Army Air Force. (4) army or marine group: Patton's 3rd Army. (5) European theater battle: D-Day. (6) Pacific theater battle: Guadalcanal. (7) TV series: Combat! (8) movie: Saving Private Ryan. (9) C.M.O.H. winner: John Basilone. (10) rifle: B.A.R. (11) fav B.A.R. man in a TV series: Pvt Kirby in Combat!
I’ve had the pleasure of handling one a few years back, and this is coming from a 5’10 170lbs guy that loved being a SAW gunner for my section. I do not envy the man that would have to carry a rifle that heavy on long marches. That thing was heavier than sin.
@@sol2544 Oh yeah man I've held one before and it's not fun, not only are you stuck with very kit but very heavy kit that under preforms compared to other infantry anti armour weapons
@@CCrK611 at least you can fire it indoors, makes for great urban combat. If the jerries invented the piat then fighting through any german town would have been a nightmare
@@sol2544 Fair enough that is true, in training in the army I did fire the M72 outdoors on the range and the back blast on that was wild let alone how deaf you'd be if you tried firing it indoors. Even with ear plugs I was hearing ringing, I couldn't imagine how bad dudes ears bothered them back then
I really like the look of the BAR and it's role in a squad as a support weapon. I heard that there was a 40-round box magazine option for anti-aircraft usage but this option was discontinued in 1927. I guess it was too heavy and cumbersome? If I'm wrong, let me know.
The BAR has always been my favorite Allied weapon of WW2. I think its only drawback is its 20 round magazine. It would have done really well with a 30 round magazine.
The Poles had a nice upgraded model from FN Belgium called the Wz.28. I agree with you though, but the soldiers from what I've read liked them. German and Japanese squads didn't really have an equivalent. They had a dedicated LMG and rifleman like the US but not automatic riflemen. Not until the STG came out anyways. So it must have been good to have that edge over the Axis.
I've read several books on US Navy submarine action during WWII. While our subs were armed with 5" or 6" deck guns, for the most part they had little or no anti-aircraft defenses. Some subs used BARs with 30 round magazines to defend agains air attacks. While the .30-06 cartridge is only marginally effective agains aircraft, it's better than nothing. They also had Tommy guns on subs in .45ACP which I image were even less effective against air attacks.
I've received many comments about the B.A.R. never being referred to as a "Bar." Though B.A.R was certainly far more common than Bar or Browning Automatic Rifle, soldiers nicknamed and shortened everything. They also came into contact with people from across the country and the world be them Canadians, Australians, Brits etc who had twice as many weird names for things.
Here are two wonderful interviews with Korean War vets who refer to the B.A.R. as the "Bar" once in each video, which is fine, I doubt anyone cared.
ua-cam.com/video/IvBHjKvbfVw/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/I1jcCp4jrSI/v-deo.html
Smoking snakes!
B.A.R. not Bar. Even the Koreans during the korean war called it B.A.R. or A.R. not Bar nor Arrr.
JSDFでは、ベテランの先輩たちは BAR または ビーエーアール と言ってました🙋
no footage of Kelly's Heros with this gun using bi-pod
Johnny in Highwaymen the Colt Monitor or BAR usually say that it could fire atleast 30 rounds per magazine but it cut short of the ammunition meant up to 20 for the army as because it needed to be bulky weight and even down time needed to reloaded that's why it's a SAW or LSW Light Squad (Support) Weapon, Squad Automatic Weapon or Automatic Rifleman theoretical for it well the BAR is meant for Support with a company of M1 Garands to follow up shots this meant that they could have reign supreme over the battlefield as they could return fire while the both the BAR and M1 Garands could fire atleast faster than the Germans could do the Germans emphasize their tactic around the MG42 but have few or more ways to exploited that's why it has a weakness if the MG42 is taken out
My neighbor used a BAR In the Philippines in 1944/45, and he said he was surprised he was given it (5’7”, very skinny, quiet religious man from Utah.) he was asked if he knew about squad ammunition bearers, and when he replied “yes”, they said “Well you’re it.” He said that on a good day he would carry between 50-60 pounds of ammo, grenades, and water. He was sent before his squad to clear out any Japanese that were off of the nearby path before his squad advanced. He turns 96 in February 2022. Awesome man.
Thank you for sharing that story.
It seems the people who took the most shots at them live the longest...Maybe we all need to be shot at by a Machine gun while trying to fight it to live longer.
There's a couple things that don't add up with this story. First, the cartridge belts worn by BAR gunners had either 6 or 8 pockets for the 20-rnd magazines. An ammunition "bearer" is not the same as a BAR gunner. I can't think of anytime where a single soldier or Marine carried an additional "50-60" pounds of ammunition for the BAR. Second, the BAR gunner was a support member of the rifle team, they wouldn't send them out in front of the squad because its the very nature of it being an automatic rifle that the squad is counting on for suppressing fire.
@@jeffburnham6611 he would carry ammo for the WHOLE squad. Garand clips, Thompson mags, etc. He would also carry water for the squad. And he wouldn’t be sent necessarily ahead, but he and a spotter would be out off the trail while the rest of the squad was on the trail.
@@masterbuilderproductions Still doesn't add up. A rifleman was an ammunition bearer. You never make a squad member with an already heavy weapon and it's ammunition an ammo bearer for the whole squad.
One thing that movies tent not to cover is how quickly a BAR magazine is emptied. You had to reload it constantly in battle. In the movies they tend to spray it for quite a while before reloading
I think it is fair to say, that this is true for every firearm that Hollywood gets their hands on. A C7 even on semi empties itself pretty quickly.
Hollywood magazines:
How many rounds does that thing hold?
Answer:
Yes.
The BAR had two fire modes, well realistically they are speeds. One setting is 600rpm and the other is about 400rpm. Not saying this means the magazine doesn't empty out quickly.
Works great in nazi-zombies, though.
Yes and in the westerns, in the movie " Open Range " I saw his revolver fire 16 times in one firing sequence, damn I want one. Llol
@@TheBucketBrigade 20 rounds at 600 rpm is 2 seconds lol
"A Japanese an Italian and a German soldier... all walk into a B.A.R."
"and they got wasted"
@@jerrysmooth24 you beat me to the punch line!
Three Nazis walk into a B.A.R. The fourth one ducked at just the Reich time. 😁👍
All three are then carried out.
Early 1970s marching chant: " I don't want a B.A.R.,
I just want a candy bar".
My Dad was a BAR man in France, Luxembourg and Germany in WW2. He said the FIRST thing a BAR man did was to remove the carrying handle and bipod and throw them in the woods. He said you shot single shot or in 3 round bursts because the first thing the Germans did was go after the automatic weapons.
Factually, that's incorrect! I was told by a WW2 Veteran who fought in Normandy as a BAR gunner and he said I quote: "the German's were petrified of the BAR"!
As far as dumping the tripod is bs that was BS bc of many reasons esp in subzero weather there was at time no cover and the gunners had no choice but to shoot laying down! That vet that told you must of picked up the BAR from the battle field which was common it was called, "next man up"! Thanx
@@michaeloliveri2577 "that's incorrect,I WAS TOLD" do your own research.or people will see this and assume your just taking someone's word for it.
There are many pictures and videos from ww2 showing the Carrying Handles and Bipods removed
Why is your account more believable than James one which was told to him by his father?
@@michaeloliveri2577 Instead of being caustic and confrontational wouldn't it be better to be respectful, especially when it concerns a man who's father served during the Normandy invasion? How about something like this: "Kudos to your father for his service, he has my respect. FWIW, a WWII vet gave me a different take on the subject. He told me the Germans were petrified of the BAR, now that doesn't necessarily mean they didn't try to take out that shooter first, just that they wanted to avoid that particular weapon. Another thing he said was, in his experience, the tripod was left on the BAR because it facilitated better sighting when the gunner was forced to quickly lay down, the frigid weather didn't provide for too much cover. This is just another point of view but I'm sure different people handled situations in the way that best suited them. Just something to consider, it has to bearing on the veracity of your comment"
my grandfather was part of the Brazilian expeditionary force in Italy during the WW2 and was a B.A.R operator, I realy love his badasses pictures holding this beautiful weapon
A "Smoking Snake"? That's awesome! My thanks to him for his service in an often overlooked, but very difficult theater of the war in Europe.
@@Tekisasubakani yes man! thanks for the recognition!!!
@@Guilherme-ps3tw So, story you might like. A few years ago I had a new co-worker that was Brasilian, her family had moved to the US in her late teens. She wasn't really aware of the Smoking Snakes so I told her the whole story and she really enjoyed it. I ended up making an avatar for her, I took the Smoking Snake logo, gave it sunglasses and replaced the word "Brasil" with "Lide Com Isso", which if I remember correctly translates to "Deal With It." She got a real kick out of it!
Bro love your grandad did that but honestly your profile pic be on fleek
Sabaton did a song about them.
Another proof of how brilliant John Browning was. The BAR isn't the ultimate Assault Rifle or light machine gun but it was a step in it's development. I was an Armorer in the Marines from 1966 to 1970 & was lucky enough to play with this peace of history. Semper Fi
.
Ubique!
Good man Semper Fi
I'd really like to know what an armorer does. Could you help inform me of those duties?
@@cdjhyoung The armourers job on the movie set is probably no different than our armouer on the police department. They make sure that the weapon is in good order and can be operated safely. In the army they were called weapon technicians. Simply put they are mechanics for firearms.
If something has a serious malfunction or failure the armourer can repair the weapon and the work can be certified so that the firearm can be put back in service without sending it to the manufacturer.
@@kellybreen5526 Thanks for the information. I was most interested in the military application of the term. In my parlance, the armorer would be the weapons 'mechanic' for the unit.
A friend of my dads fought in ww2 as a bar operator in the battle of the bulge. He told my dad a story once. BARman was in a foxhole at night, and his partner jumped in the foxhole without letting him know. BARman turned and unloaded the entire 20 round magazine in a few seconds, hitting only the wall of the foxhole next to his partner. He said that neither of them slept that night afterward.
I was a Marine in the early to mid-'60s. We were not issued BARs, but fired them for familiarization at ITR, Camp Geiger. One of the reason that they were so heavy is because of the buffer in the stock, which greatly reduced recoil. It was relatively "gentle" when fired from the shoulder. We also practiced disassembly and reassembly of the weapon. Later, when I was an AR man in 3rd platoon, G co, 2/2, FMF, I carried an M-14 with a selector switch.
About the movies: It took but a few rounds through a BAR to get the barrel too hot to touch. After firing, if it was done using the bipod, you reached UNDER the rifle and picked it up by the forearm. If you picked it up by the top, you got a blister from the web of your hand to the edge of your palm. We called it a "BAR hand." In some movies, I've noticed scenes where the BARman emptied several mags at enemies, and had a squad meeting immediately afterward. The BARman is kneeling, with the barrel of the rifle against the right side of his neck. Had it been a REAL scene, he'd have had a BAR neck.
To change the rate of fire on a BAR, there was a rotating cap with holes of various diameters at the end of the gas cylinder. To change the rate of fire you had to rotate that cap; the larger the hole that lined up with port of the gas cylinder, the slower the rate of fire..
The BAR did not have a bayonet lug.
Ok that was an awsome explanation thanks!
My grandfather was a marine in the early 60s and he was still issued M1s until his unit not long before he got out, got issued M14s. He told me stories of shooting the BAR. Dont remeber if he said issued or not since I dont know when the BAR was replaced by the M60 in Marine service
Im glad you covered this. After reading up on stories of GIs who used the BAR, I've come to realize it doesn't deserve the bad rep it seems to have garnered in modern times. It was actually a pretty amazing weapon. It's a poor LMG but as you suggest, troops made use of it in different ways by lightening it. Almost all of the BARs I've seen in historical photos do not have the bulky bipod. Also I have heard that the Germans would try to kill the BAR gunner first when engaging American squads. That tells you something about the BAR's effectiveness.
The fact that it took only a 20 round magazine is a very serious drawback though...
I don’t think Ian of Forgot weapons helped in his early vids he slammed the BAR but I think he’s come around to it
@@panzerivausfg4062 not at the time it was made
You should look on UA-cam for an American TV series called “COMBAT”. Plenty of BAR action where the guy tends to fire it always on its side 🤷🏻♂️
@不過我拒絕 だが断る It's an automatic rifle, sometimes referred as LMG.
It would be useful to have more rounds for supressing fire
My grandfather carried the BAR in France during WWII. Said he was the skinniest guy in his squad, but had the heaviest gun. He never talked about the war, I shudder about what he went through. Made it home without a scratch, but I know it took a toll on him mentally and psychologically. I miss him terribly.
My uncle was 5FT. 5 In Marine in the Korean War . Guess who got the BAR that's right the smallest guy in the squad platoon and company. 3 years later got to come home. NEVER touched a gun again. Also verified that Marine doctrine was in only three marines out of a squad survived an engagement they all were keeping the BAR's .
I was on .y first Westpac cueise in 1967-68 on the USS Cleveland, an amphib. ship. We picked a marine infentry battalion. I noticed that the men carrying the radios and squad weapons (M 60s), were the smallest men in the platoon. I asked one of the Gunny Sargents why the smalles marines were assigned to carry the the radios ans the M 60s. His response was, "because they.make the smallest targets".
While my father was training stateside during WW2 he learned mountain climbing Assault at Seneca Rock West Virginia, one of the guys in his company froze up high on the rock and had to be helped down. My father wondered if the guy would freeze up in combat but this GI was issued B A R and proved to be fearless and formidable during bitter house to house fighting in German Saarland.When my father was wounded along with many of his company by a machine gun and rifle fire on a rail yard in Fraulatern they retreated into a switch house . During the night when the enemy would attempt to slip into their perimeter J...........k ‘s BAR would open up and drive them back . Daddy said that J...........k was the last man fighting that night and that he was a brave warrior.
Sand Pebbles was my first ‘contact’ with BARs and also with the concept of the ‘BAR Team’. Plus it’s Steve McQueen so it’s just super cool.
Great video as usual. I’d say “keep it up” but you’re clearly doing that:)
In "Hell is for Heroes" (1962) James Coburn also wears one.
@@rolfagten857 Another very cool fellow.
@@geordiedog1749 McQueen played a cool sarge indeed!
@@rolfagten857 I must watch it again. It’s a great film.
I don't remember him with a BAR in that movie, only an M1. Now I have to rewatch. It's one of my favorite books and movies.
My first platoon commander was a Marine Gunner who was at Guam, Iwo Jima and the Chosin Reservoir. He said that the bar gunner, when using suppressing fire on an objective, would turn the BAR on it's side and let the natural ability of the muzzle to rise to sweep rounds evenly across the target.
I DO THE SAME THING WHEN I PEE...
I'm not entirely sure that's how recoil works, sounds like a war "story" to me.
@@marco8414 Tell me that you have never fired a rifle or handgun before without telling me you have never fired a rifle or handgun before. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
how the hell did he particapate in all three of those battles
@@ethanmcfarland8240 He was in the 3rd Marine Division for the invasion of Guam and Iwo Jima. Between the wars, the USMC shrunk like the rest of the US military and he got assigned to the 1st Marine Division and that's how he got to Korea.
In his book, "Shots Fired in Anger", John B. George said that the BAR was an awful light machine gun but when used properly as an automatic rifle, had no equal at the time. And as an infantry Lieutenant in the Pacific, he ought to know a thing or two.
My father was a "Section Leader in charge of a light machine gun section of 15 men" infantry in the Pacific. He carried a BAR and was passionate about the virtues of that gun, it's reliability and firepower. I put the part in "" because I literally copied it off his separation papers. He was with the 37th, he fought in the Solomons and Philippines.
@@beckyfrogers that's really cool!
According to Ian McCollum, the best variants of the BAR were not American: Polish wz.28 and Belgian FN model D, which featured gas-block mounted bipods and actual pistol grips.
As seen on C&Rsenal and Forgotten Weapons collaboration series, the BAR was designed rather quickly, without much thought given to quick field stripping. You basically had to disassemble the whole gun to get it field stripped. US units in WWI had their BAR's taken away for fear of Germans capturing some and were instead given French Chauchats chambered in .30-06. These "american" Chauchats were badly manufactured, leading to unreliability and thus unpopularity with the weapon, compounded by its very wonky ergonomics.
John Pershing made that decision as he did not want the BAR going into combat in small numbers, fearing that the Germans would capture some, reverse engineer them, and place them into production. Difficult to believe but true.
With all due respect for McCollum and C&Rsenal, don't garner your opinions of design, manufacturing, and use on their historical efforts. It is but a piece of information seen through the lens of time and their interpretation of what they read in books written by those who read other books. Much of the information from these UA-cam sources is opinion and out of context (and often not accurate as many of our opinions are). That the firearm was designed as it was by J. Browning in the teens of the last century is astounding. What firearms are "best" is a non-contextual discussion since tactics and strategies usually decide the outcome of armed conflict. I appreciate their efforts and enjoy watching their programs. Thanks again.
The word of our Lord, Gun Jesus, amen
My grandfather was a BAR gunner on Okinawa with the 1st Marines, only a company over from 'The Pacific' show 'characters'. He was an absolute crack shot, but since he was also the biggest man in his unit (Oklahoma/Kansas farm boy, but only 5'10), he was given the BAR. He had a pistol grip made and installed on the LST while sailing over which made it more controllable.
My father was issued the B.A.R in the marines 1950 he mentioned how heavy it was . He also was 5 ft 10 and wasn't a big guy . He shot exspert during boot camp training . His company just arrived in Korea when the war was over . They were there during the prisoner exchange then off to Japan to finish his tour. He also mentioned going to Nagasaki and Hiroshima he said both citties had been completely rebuilt by the time he had arrived .
@@kevinmcfadin2141 i had the pleasure of shooting two magazines through one in Las Vegas, at a hefty cost. It was worth it to see what these guys had to put up with. Cheers sir!
We used to live in Okinawa during the late 90's. Beautiful place now but horrible back in the day. Used to find 30-06 brass from WWII while scuba diving. They still find unexploded ordnance on occasion. You just don't go tromping around in the woods.
@@wes326 , I use to work with a guy who during his time in US Marine corps was stationed on Okinawa during the 1980s, while exploring one of the caves, he found the rusted remains of a Japanese bolt action rifle, and was able to take it home with him, I got to hold it when I visited his house, TRULY an amazing piece of history, as well as the Smith and Wesson 1917 revolver his great grandfather carried during ww1.
I fired the BAR during Infantry Training at Camp Geiger. It was not a hard weapon to control; it has a buffer group in the stock to absorb mush of the recoil. The M-14 on full auto, however, is another story.
I remember listening to a Vet (I believe talking about the battle of Sugar Loaf Hill) who recounted the BAR after a guy was moving to fill in the dead BAR gunner’s position, he remarked along the lines of ‘I said I hoped he knew how to use it’ As in, using it in single shots instead of automatic so the BAR fire blended in with M1 fire since Japanese positions would target BAR Gunners.
I like that the two fire settings mean you can empty the 20 round mag in .75 seconds, or .85 seconds.
It drives me nuts that in modern movies they have WW2 a soldiers handling their weapons like their 21st century soldiers.
The B. A. R. Terrified enemy soldiers immediately, and they avoided those areas of the battlefield where B. A. R. Automatic rifleman were located.
The Viet Cong hated them.
One of the few drawbacks of the BAR was how quickly it consumed ammo.
The gunner and his assistants had to lug a huge amount of heavy magazines with them into battle.
Had the honor of talking a few times with a Veteran from WW2 Europe . He spoke on and on about the courage of the ammo runners for a BAR holding the Germans up . Thing was that after his death I found out that he was the BAR man the runners supplied . It was said that he was at the vacation resort named Bastogne . Miss him .
"Dad why is my sister name Rose"
"Because your mom loves Roses"
"Thanks Dad"
"No Problem BAR"
5 German soldiers walk into a BAR
It was a Browning experience 😅
Iowa lot to travel. If they had the BAR would have run out of ammunition before it shot all of them
Browning
I met Old School people who carried that weapon as their weapon, and they all say good things about it with the only bad thing they had to say was it was limited to a 20 round magazine. The accuracy of this weapon was without question great.
You missed a good BAR clip. The late Steve McQueen uses one in The Sand Pebbles.
Barry
This is the one I was waiting for.
Made " famous "in the television series Combat . Jack Hogan as Kirby and his weapon of choice the B A R .
I was still waiting for Kirby to show up in the video.
Did you ever notice that Kirby was the biggest guy in the squad?
@@johnh.tuomala4379 You are mistaken. Pvt. Little John was the tallest!
@@reynaldoflores4522 I guess my memory fails me. It was a long time ago. All I remember about Little John was that whenever Lt. Hanley needed to go somewhere, it was Little John who drove the jeep.
@@johnh.tuomala4379 COMBAT! - the TV show - is available to watch on You Tube. Gives a chance to relive and refresh your memory of their story lines. Kirby was the of shifty character that could speak fluent French - a very useful skill. Big John was the poor bloke that got to drag the BAR around with him.
fact, the first German during World War II was killed with a B.A.R rifle during the defense of the Polish post office in Gdańsk
That procession of nuns walking nonchalantly while the soldier unloading the Bren at the enemy.
Hahaha....yeah, that was in The Longest Day (1962).
Every Dad's Army fan knows that nuns are really Nazi parachutists!
@@HO-bndk Hahaha.....aka Fallschirmjäger
Talk about putting your faith in God LOL
Very sporting of the Jerries to hold their fire while the sisters were crossing the street.
Check out the 1966 film "The Sand Pebbles" with legendary actor and Marine Veteran, Steve McQueen. The B.A.R. has two major scenes, the boom river battle, and during the rescue of US citizens.
And, Steve McQueen actually qualified with the B.A.R. Marines.
Oh, yeah, I remember that now. Steve McQueen toting that BAR around that Chinese "villa" in the last scene. That's that I always imagined how the badass Navy of before World War II looked like. During the Boom River battle, you can see old Steve firing the BAR on it's side to allow the tendency of the muzzle to rise to sweep rounds across the target.
My sainted mother took me and my younger brother to see this movie at the drive-in after it came out because one of the women who she worked with told her it was a good movie. Maybe for adults, but not for children. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
comparing the BAR and Bren makes more sense than comparing the Bren and Mg 34
Dad carried a BAR from D-day +1 frim France, Belgium and to Germany. They had one per squad. Yes, they ditched the bi-pod immediately. Usually 3-4 sec bursts were all you could do. But...in a fire-fight, the German's would listen to find out where the BAR was and then go for it first. He didn't enjoy that. He was the largest guy in the squad so he got the unfortunate job of lugging it around.
Thanks for sharing this! I hope he made it out okay?
Dad said that his squad ‘s BAR man thru his bipod over a hedgerow in France and when his Sargent discovered it gone he made him double back and retrieve it . I don’t know if he ditched it later or not but things got so hot when they entered Germany I doubt that it would have been an issue .
Not a movie, but an American TV series I came across on UA-cam just before Covid lockdown (so ended up watching the whole series, b&w and colour), called “COMBAT”.
Plenty of BAR action where the guy almost always fires it on its side 🇺🇸🤷🏻♂️
Watched it first hand as a kid in the 60's. Don't know what I would make of it now. Rat Patrol was a must watch back then also.
I too watched COMBAT! religiously as a kid with my WW2 veteran father. "Saving Private Ryan" is like one big COMBAT! episode, the similarities are quite remarkable.
@@johnknapp952 Give it a go, you’ll find every episode for free right here on UA-cam
@@johnknapp952 I’ve not seen it yet but Rat Patrol is on UA-cam also 👍🏻
My dad earned the right to carry the BAR into Normandy. 115R. 29ID he shot x-pert with the M-1 Carbine at Ft. Polk in 1944.
On this one, my dad said when you went through the rifle range with this weapon, you would do it at a walk with pop up targets. Since you had to fire at the targets in rapid secession, you had to lean back while firing the weapon. If you did not, since it recoiled forward, you would end up running in the course as it pulled you forward.
Glad to see some battle order poster representation in here when showing the rifle squad layouts
my Father had one in korea 51-52. Loved it. said the carbine didn't have enough punch. Heavier and the ammo weighed a lot more but no problem. the weapon of choice in the INFANTRY
The BAR figured in "The Sand Pebbles", seen in the naval landing party where the USN has to sling arms and return to their gunboat, then in the hands of the mutineers during the siege of the San Pablo, then again with Steve McQueen setting up a BAR position at the start of the San Pablo's final battle, and finally, it was a major player with Richard Crenna and Steve McQueen during the climactic battle at the end. In Band of Brothers they correctly eliminated the BAR from Easy Company in Normandy - the original TO&E for a parachute rifle company did not include the BAR, but some were apparently "acquired" by some paratroopers before D-Day. The BAR does correctly appear in Easy company for the Holland drop, as he T)&E was modified in the summer of 1944 to add the BAR to the parachute rifle company. Ut was the USMC that about 1945 adopted the organization of three fire teams in each rifle squad, each built around a BAR gunner. The multiple squad BARs show up in John Wayne's "The Sands Of Iwo Jima" (where the BAR is commonly seen)
Nice man and about auto rife and logic gun
The BAR is such a badass gun. I mean just imaging walking and running into this while in combat.
Would it be possible to see a video the Ju87 Stuka. If you don’t want to it’s ok.
Heavy piece of steel
Hard to manuver while fast aiming for sure but still would choose for accuracy
Produced in Poland, a significantly modified BAR named RKM wz 28 was a standard equipment of the Polish Army in 1939.
Well selected clips. But for me, the definitive BAR scenes are in "The Sand Pebbles" with Steve McQueen.
My dad fought in North Africa and Italy in WW2. Everyone on the squad loved the BAR, but nobody wanted it right next to them. They drew enemy fire like flies to....poop. Plus, like lilaolf said, they burned through ammo. Not as much as the MG39s the Germans used, but enough that everyone carried extra ammo for it.
I think it brilliant that the Garand rifle and the B.A.R. used the same ammo. One a superb infantry semi-auto rifle, the other a light machine gun used in the same unit as the Garand to give a rifle squad that much more firepower and provide extra cover when needed.
The 1917 and 1919 machine guns also used the same (30-06) ammo.
In 1962 while serving with an Air Police Squadron in France, our squadron trained on the BAR during a night fire exercise. I was impressed with its accuracy, but the weight was an issue for regular security use. The M2 Carbine was the standard issue for sentry guard duty. It was fully auto with a 30 round clip and the weight was light enough for an 8 hour guard shift.
Damn, l lived outside an Air Force Base in France at that time, my dad was a pilot. I was young, but l remember the security on the base, it was tight, my dad said you guys were the real deal.
Maybe apocryphal, but I was told that it was unofficial Army practice to assign the scrawniest man in a platoon the BAR, because hauling it around would "develop" him. One old veteran, WW2, told me that they learned to "lose" the bipod because, at a distance, it identified the BAR man and put him at the top of a snipers' "to do list."
In 1946, my dad was deployed to Tokyo, Japan as part of the occupational forces, Army infantry. In 1950, when Korea was about to be over -run by the Korean Communists, he was immediately rushed to Pusan, Korea to hold the perimeter. In the rush, his glasses were broken so the Army handed him a BAR and and placed him in the line. At the time he was paper pusher at The Tokyo PX and kept laughing as he told me how his combat experience started. He survived all the way to the Yalu river and "the gauntlet" and was sent home in 1952 after his 3rd combat wound, bringing my Japanese mother and me with him to Winter Park, Florida. Thank you Dad, America, and John Browning !
How old are you homie?
@@daniellap.stewart6839 I'll be 72 in a few months.
My dad was in the Army Engineer Corp in the Pacific from 1942-1945 and I enlisted in October 1966...when I came home the first thing he asked me was "Did you get to fire the BAR"?...He said it was a terrific weapon. I guess he felt it was so good we should have still been using it. He never asked me about my M-14 or M-16. He also asked if I got to use the Browning .50 caliber and yes, we've been using that forever. They're still around.
@@jaybodenstein609 i would think the m14 was a better weapon than the BAR no? slightly less powerful but 30 rd magazine plus much lighter fully auto.
I was thinking of that Bonnie and Clyde movie right before you showed the clip. That was the most recent BAR I have seen in film. It was truly ahead of it's time. Browning was a mad genius.
Browning automatic rifle true classic weapon every war movie had real life it's always been cherish
The B A R was not a very effective weapon, It was too heavy and had too small a magazine capacity. The Czech designed Bren Light Machine Gun was far superior with a 30 round magazine and a barrel that could be changed in seconds for the sustained fire role.
My grandpa used this weapon in the U.S. Army and the Missouri National Guard in the mid to late 50s he said that he had a hard time getting of the 3 round burst when on faster rate of fire.
We are the poggie bait filth marines
We can’t keep our rifles clean
We don’t want a B.a.r.
We just want a candy bar.
Here's to the greatest BAR gunner in film & TV: PFC William Kirby, King Company from Combat!
In 1965 during post-boot training camp I got to fire a few rounds as the Marine Corps was in transition to other guns. Never saw it again except in Vietnam in 1968.
You did a good job covering the issues with the BAR.
The BAR was an *_AUTOMATIC RIFLE_* not a Machine gun. It was never a machine gun and the American Army's attempt to turn it into a Squad Machine Gun - was a mistake. What they should have done - was make more 1919's - which were perfectly good *_belt fed_* light machine guns.
The original concept behind the BAR - was that the weapon would be a light enough automatic weapon that could go into the enemy position with the assaulting troops - rather - than staying back and creating a base of fire.
When the assault force entered the enemy position - the machine guns supporting the assault would have to cease fire to avoid hitting their own troops. At this point - if the Assaulting unit did not have a light automatic weapon they could take into the enemy position with them - then they would not have an automatic weapon.
Another weapon that was designed with this role in mind was the Thompson Sub Machine Gun.
As to "Walking Fire" that was just stupid and no one did that. What you did do - was advance by rushes - where part of the unit would provide covering fire while the other part advanced. The advancing unit would go to ground and begin putting fire on the enemy position while the other unit advanced, leap frogging the unit now putting fire on the enemy.
Now - you have a flawed definition of a "Light Machine Gun" in which a "Light machine gun' is a magazine fed, rifle caliber weapon. That is an unfortunate definition. All of these weapons were ... less than good. First off - they had 30 round magazines that were only half again as good as the 20 round magazine for the BAR. So ... yeah ... it had another 10 rounds but ... you still had to change magazines a lot.
Now - as far as it goes - when it came to someone laying in the dirt and swapping magazines for the gunner whenever it ran out - you could do that fairly well with a BAR. You had to do it more often than for a Bren Gun but ... it really didn't make that much difference. What DID make a real difference - was a belt fed weapon that could have 250 rounds or more in a belt. Here the Germans had their MG-34 and MG-42's - and the Americans had their M1919's.
People think that the German guns were better but that's not really as certain as people make it out to be.
The Germans idea - was that they had a weapon with a very high rate of fire. One German WWII MG-42 Gunner described the weapons functionality as being like a long range shot gun. You'd fire 3 rounds at a single target - and that gave you a good chance of hitting it. Then - with the barrel heating up because of the high rate of fire - and - the fact that you had a light barrel - the weapon had a Quick Change Barrel what could be swapped out with a spare fairly quickly. The problem with this gun - is that it used to much ammunition - and the Germans were always running out.
The Americans Idea - was that you had a heavy barrel that did not heat up as much and a much slower rate of fire. It was still a machine gun and could put out a goodly amount of rounds - but - the Americans felt that they didn't want it to have as high a rate of fire as the MG-42. This had nothing to do with the design. The aircraft version of this machine gun - with the same basic design - had about as high a rate of fire as an MG-42. There were in fact a few Marines who got their hands on some of these Aircraft Guns and modified them, by such as adding a rifle stock - and used it in combat with some success. The reasons that the infantry 1919 didn't have the rate of fire of this aircraft gun - was that the Americans didn't want it to. It would use up to much ammo - and - when that custom gun was used - the people using it had to repeatedly make trips back to restock their ammunition because the gun went through it so fast - the same problem the Germans had.
Now another aspect of the German vs. American machine gun was that they had bi-pods and the 1919's had a small tripod. The small tripod , carried by the gunner, could be plopped down where the gunner wanted to establish his firing position - and the Assistant Gunner - who carried the machine guy - would mount the gun and load a belt of ammo. This could all be done very quickly - and once it had been - provided a better mounting point for the machine gun with a better traverse than that of a bipod.
The 1919 could of course change it's barrel - it just took a few minutes to do it - whereas the quick change barrels on the British and German Guns could be changed in seconds.
Another difference between all these weapons was the number of people needed to support them. The more ammo they could put out - the more ammo carriers they needed. Someone had to carry spare barrels as all but the BAR Teams carried them. You could change the Barrel on a BAR but ... this was a maintenance thing - not something you would do in the field.
The BAR, Bren Gun, M1919 and the German Machine guns - all had advantages and disadvantages. None were "better" than the others - they were just different. All of them were used successfully. They just needed troops that understood how the weapon functioned best - and used it for it's advantages - while working to mitigate it's disadvantages.
The proper way to use the BAR - was in small fire teams - with 2 or 3 BARs per squad, which with the Squad Leader's Sub Machine Gun gave then Marines 4 automatic weapons and 9 semiautomatic weapons. One advantage of this - was that you had to take out 3 BARs if you were the enemy - whereas for the Germans - they had ONE Squad Machine Gun - and if they lost it - they fell back as it was the primary source of fire power for their squad.
Another factor here - is that other than patrols - these weapons were not used by single squads going against each other. In a full on attack - or defense against one - you'd have Platoons, Companies, Battalions or more involved. Here - there were any number of other units that would be involved and each nation had theirs set a little differently. The Americans, for example, had "Weapons" Platoons and Companies where their heavier infantry weapons were - with the unit commander deciding where he wanted these weapons employed at any given time.
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I always loved it in COD2. It had such an impactful sound and hefty handling. Felt like Doom guy :-)
I find it sad and funny that every “Tough Guy” in WW2 films holds the BAR. Think about it, (Hacksaw Ridge, Saving Private Ryan, and Windtalkers)
In Windtalkers we see the guy with a 3 pocket bandolier instead of the regular M1937 ammo belt, it's an interesting piece of equipment that was used in the interwar period and very early during WW2 and from what I've read it was not worn by the gunner but the rest of the BAR team to carry more ammo as it burned through magazines super quickly.
On pictures of the western front you can also see GIs armed with M1s but carrying a BAR ammo belt and their rifle ammo in a bag or bandoliers, indicating they were part of the fire support team.
Last lil piece of info that I think is pretty cool, all soldiers in a squad were familiar with the BAR but the 3 men BAR team received additional training in firing and handling the weapon so if your gunner got hit at least you had two other guys that were just as familiar as him to take over the weapon. Also at the end of the war the Army decided that the BAR gunner would be upgraded from pvt. or pfc. to cpl. The reasoning behind that is that it was a specialized role. It was also to promote small level leadership so the team could function as its own entity but still answer to the squad leader or assistant squad leader.
Three Nazis walk in to a bar.
All kidding aside, the Swedes modified this gun into what is probably the most unsung LMG in history. Chambered in 6.5x55, belt fed, and a quick change barrel. Probably the best light, or general purpose machine gun of its time.
*Laughs in Polish.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_wz._1928
Great overview of a classic weapon. What Pvt. Reiben says in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, that his BAR "tried to drown me," is a testament to how heavy that gun must have felt after carrying it around for extended periods. I've never handled one, but if it is close to the same weight as a Bren gun is, it would become a bit of a back breaker after awhile. Nice job.
I had a chance to fire the m-18 Bar in the states. a very good rifle but very heavy about the same as a M-60. Was handed the m-16a2 in vietnam. tonka/matel it was called. wint for the m-60 in 7.62 51 4th div. 10 armored.
2:35
I honestly just like to call it full auto and fuller auto
Every time I see a video on the b.a.r. I see the true use of the design. If fact, if just changing the magazine to a better metal, and making it hold more rounds, it would have been more effective. I know a lot of people talk about not changing barrels, but I have never hear of any situation where changing the barrel was needed.
Just like the M1A thompson, this weapon needed a little finesse to operate correctly.
Also it was in 'The Sand Pebbles' with Steve McQueen firing it with his usual flair.
The film The Deadly Mantis was the first time I saw the BAR in action. It was a different kind of weapon that was very noticeable. The BAR was seen twice in the film.
In the film Dillinger with Warren Oates, the famed shootout at the hunting lodge scene where John Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette(played by Michelle Phillips) is firing a BAR to aid in covering Dillinger’s escape for a moment, but there was a cut and she is firing a Thompson machine gun.
I have heard that because the BAR fired a 30-06 round, it could punch a hole in a cement wall.
If using armor piercing ammo
My grandfather was a Marine BAR gunner in Korea. Thanks for the content, man!
The FN mag /m 240 is a B.A.R. action converted to belt feed by flipping it upside down. So, the B.A.R. is still serving.
Good video. One suggestion, which you touched on but maybe should go into a bit more. Because US was only side in WW2 with standard semi auto rifle (while everyone else had bolt action rifles), the US didn't need the BAR to provide the same volume of fire as the Germans did with the MG42 or Brits did with the Bren for a US squad to possess the same firepower (and there was limited ammo so a squad could only have so much fire power). Also I have read, but not sure it is true, that in practice US squads almost always had more than one BAR as US troops were so well supplied that an extra BAR could always be found..
Yes you're right about that last one.
to give you the rundown: within US company/battalion organization there were always so many M1 carbines, BARs and Thompsons available, however this was on paper. In the end companies had more of these weapons in their inventory than they were supposed to have so they gave out extra to rifleman platoons. That's why in US army squads on paper you would only have 1 Thompson, but in reality you would have 2 to 3 per 11 men.
US marine corps was a bit different. In early 1944 they just said: "the heck with it" and gave every squad as much firepower as they could give them which meant 3 BARs, 3 Thompsons and a few carbines per 13 men.
I knew a guy many years ago that carried a B.A.R. around on Iwo Jima. He was originally assigned an M2 Flamethrower but would have breathing problems when using it. So much so that they switched out the flamethrower and gave him a B.A.R. instead. Other than the weight, he said it was an excellent weapon and one he remembered very fondly.
Do you remember the Marine's name?
Do you remember his name?
The first time I saw a BAR was not in a movie but a TV show - in the TV show "Combat" one of the main characters, Pvt. Kirby, carries a BAR with a bipod, I remember being really really impressed with it when I was a kid, the way it looked, the way it sounded
I love that show. And Kirby has always been my favourite character.
To heavy for an automatic rifle, too light in ammo capacity for a LMG. Kind of a misfit weapon.
Problem with being a rushed weapon and experimental weapon from WW1.
It also had commonality using the 30:06 round of the Springfield/Garand. But did always wonder why they didn't get a 30rd-40rd mag or a 50rd drum factory. Some gangsters welded 2 20rd mags together.
Weight could have been an issue. The rifle was already considered heavy even with a 20 round magazine. The 30-06 rounds are heavy, and adding a 50 round drum would have made it even heavier and more unwieldly.
There a few ww1 photos of a 30 rnd anti air mag in a bar
no-one mentioned the sharp corners on the butt, in the prone position it would cut into the clavicle something fierce In Marine ITR , so when I got to (helicopters) the M-60 was so much more welcome.
As a former SAW/mk48 gunner, I never understood the idea of a 20 round magazine in the BAR and FG42 made any practical sense. 20 rounds goes quick, especially going rapid fire, hell, even sustained. Yes I understand the weight constraints (trust me, I had no less than 1000 rounds on me/in my assault pack), but as a squad support weapon, 20 round magazines don't add up imo. Thank God for link.
Similar background here, i think the general idea was that it was able to be carried and utilized by only 1 guy, and could be used in a way similar to a over-sized M1 Garand. In comparison to the other machine guns the Army had access too like the M1919 or M2 Brownings it was a far more portable weapon. That being said i have the same criticisms, 20 round magazines greatly limit rapid fire capabilities, which defeats the point of having a machine gun at the squad level in the first place.
I think every BAR man had an ammo carrier assigned to him. To carry the extra magazines.
The BAR was fielded when most Infantry carried Bolt Action Rifles, w/5 round internal magazines.
So, a BAR had four times the ammo, and could fire full automatic!
Machineguns in the 1920's to 1940's weighed 60 to 100 pounds.
The MG42 was a remarkable innovation! Nobody else had anything like it.
BAR was Kirby's weapon in 'Combat!' - check that 60's series out.
Heavy.. I can imagine how much better you would be in shape running around with that.
It's not about "being in shape". Ounces equal pounds, pounds equals pain. The US military has a continued bad habit of overburdening its infantry. It's VERY common for those that retire to leave with back injuries, bad knees and a life long of pain from carrying the literal tons of weight they force on you.
@@Excalibur01 Marius's Mules.. The Marian reforms did something similar to the Roman army, they did away with the baggage trains and made the soldiers carry everything they needed.
I like the BAR. Its a quirky weapon. It was made way before "Battle Rifles", rifles with semi or full automatic fire with larger magazines were made. Its like an M14 Rifle made 40years earlier. It used magazines at the time when exposed Stripper Clips and Bolt-Action Rifles, or bulky Machine Guns were in use. It could have been great but it was developed so late it didint have much action during World War 1.
As a Light Machine Gun the BAR wasnt very good, but at the time no light machine guns were. They usually relied on magazines with odd shapes and much lower ammunition capacities. They couldnt use belts like medium-Heavy machine guns. Still some had greater capacities than the 20mag of the BAR, such as on the Lewis Gun and its 47/92bullet pan magazines.
My dad got to carry and use one as a private in the USMC, circa 1951 - 1952 in Korea. Was it heavy? Yes. But it had stopping power. Odd fact - at one time you could buy a B.A.R. and/or a Thompson sub-machine gun directly from Sears through their catalog. Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie & Clyde fame) used a sawed off B.A.R.
It's pretty hard to cut down the barrel of a gas operated action. Impossible if you want it to work. It needs the gas port and return.
There's plenty of photos of Barrow gang firearms. Have you seen a sawed off B.A.R.?
@@stevek8829 Yeah, Clyde Barrow's "Scattergun," he cut all the way down to the gas tube. You can see on literally any picture of the BAR that the gas tube doesn't extend all the way down the barrel. His rifle also had a shortened gas tube, regardless.
My dad was assigned to that BAR during the Korean war !
Second
NEVER “bar”… “B-A-R”…🙄. Trust me, an owner. Just…no…
Also, in WWII combat, the bipod went bye-bye immediately. Often, the flash hider as well (especially in Pacific theater combat). The carry handle…MAYBE very late war Pacific theater (Okinawa…possibly).
And yes, stupidly heavy, far too small magazine capacity, and no ability to change barrels. Quick field strip and cleaning…forgetaboutit! Arguably, a lousy SAW, but cool as could be! Steve McQueen in “The Sand Pebbles”…no footage of that?!?
I'm open to this opinion but give me a reason or two?
lots of machine gun recently
I'll hit you with something fresh in a few days bro
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq im not complaining
Here's good joke. A Nazi walked into a BAR. End of joke.
Kind of funny that i always thought the BAR is a assault rifle as a kid
Fair enough, we all probably thought the same at some point
They would have been better served by a Bren gun in 30.06.
The B.A.R or as I like to call it: the full auto Garand
The B.A.R. is my fav of the WWII rifles. In case anyone is interested, here are my other Top 11 favorites: (1) airplane: B-17. (2) general: James Doolitte. (3) air group: 8th US Army Air Force. (4) army or marine group: Patton's 3rd Army. (5) European theater battle: D-Day. (6) Pacific theater battle: Guadalcanal. (7) TV series: Combat! (8) movie: Saving Private Ryan. (9) C.M.O.H. winner: John Basilone. (10) rifle: B.A.R. (11) fav B.A.R. man in a TV series: Pvt Kirby in Combat!
As far as i know, many soldiers didnt want to carry the BAR because it was an extremely loud weapon and way too heavy.
Why do you think the same cartridge would be louder from a BAR than an M-1 or Springfield '03?
As a kid in the 60's , I fell in love with the B.A.R. while watching "Little John" on the tv show Combat.
Always looked forward to the boom,boom,boom.
best firemode switching ever!! there's only full auto and fuller auto!!!
I don't know what its like to really fire this weapon ...but it's fxxxxn effective in medal of honor!!🤪
This rifle was a formidable weapon.
Should have showed Steve McQueen in San Pebbles
I’ve had the pleasure of handling one a few years back, and this is coming from a 5’10 170lbs guy that loved being a SAW gunner for my section. I do not envy the man that would have to carry a rifle that heavy on long marches. That thing was heavier than sin.
The men carrying Piats probably had more to complain about haha
@@sol2544 Oh yeah man I've held one before and it's not fun, not only are you stuck with very kit but very heavy kit that under preforms compared to other infantry anti armour weapons
@@CCrK611 at least you can fire it indoors, makes for great urban combat. If the jerries invented the piat then fighting through any german town would have been a nightmare
@@sol2544 Fair enough that is true, in training in the army I did fire the M72 outdoors on the range and the back blast on that was wild let alone how deaf you'd be if you tried firing it indoors. Even with ear plugs I was hearing ringing, I couldn't imagine how bad dudes ears bothered them back then
The pre-1930's Thompson Sub-machine Gun, the AK-47 and the 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle are my very favorite small arms guns!
I really like the look of the BAR and it's role in a squad as a support weapon. I heard that there was a 40-round box magazine option for anti-aircraft usage but this option was discontinued in 1927. I guess it was too heavy and cumbersome? If I'm wrong, let me know.
I’ve heard it was just too long for use prone which is how a large automatic weapon like the BAR is used 90% of the time.
The 60's TV show COMBAT! kinda made fun of the army. The smallest guy, Kirby, carried the BAR. The biggest guy, Little John, carried a Garand.
The BAR has always been my favorite Allied weapon of WW2. I think its only drawback is its 20 round magazine. It would have done really well with a 30 round magazine.
It was good when it was designed but by ww2 it was outdated in some ways and could have been replaced with something more adequate.
The Poles had a nice upgraded model from FN Belgium called the Wz.28. I agree with you though, but the soldiers from what I've read liked them. German and Japanese squads didn't really have an equivalent. They had a dedicated LMG and rifleman like the US but not automatic riflemen. Not until the STG came out anyways. So it must have been good to have that edge over the Axis.
@@CC-8891 the British bren was probably better for the lmg role. I assume the BAR was serviceable and reliable and able to do the job.
They could have done better with 50 or 100 round drums. Like a Lewis gun.
@@reynaldoflores4522 would have made it a very heavy and unwieldy weapon. But, 30 round magazines would have been better.
I've read several books on US Navy submarine action during WWII. While our subs were armed with 5" or 6" deck guns, for the most part they had little or no anti-aircraft defenses. Some subs used BARs with 30 round magazines to defend agains air attacks. While the .30-06 cartridge is only marginally effective agains aircraft, it's better than nothing. They also had Tommy guns on subs in .45ACP which I image were even less effective against air attacks.