Manufacturing the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) - ORIGINAL FOOTAGE
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2021
- Watch the Browning Automatic Rifle - or BAR - take shape, from raw forging to finished rifle, in this footage shot during the Spring of 1918.
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#BrowningAutomaticRifle #JohnMosesBrowning
Undoubtedly a number of relatives of these workers used the BARS in active service and on the battlefield. That knowledge likely helped motivate the workers. "I'm building this for my son, brother, husband, nephew."
Remember, everyone in this video has long since gone to meet their maker. Hats off to the talented machinists and craftsmen we see here.
I guess they all are dead now...
The rest of us already know this and don’t need idiots like you to tell us that. Why not just start with your second sentence and leave it at that?
@@samiam619 looks like the person who made that stupid comment is russian, need I say more? I agree with you though, just to be clear
When you are really afraid of dying and just need to tell it in a subtle way. LOL
Probably mostly German immigrant gunmakers ! Just like the ones Winchester employed to build all their pre -64 guns !
I love that the people that actually manufactured and made the parts dressed in ties and wore lab coats. They were craftsmen and women and the knew it
Im getting anxiety seeing ties and machine next to each other. Can't imagine the amount of accident that happens in the factory due to tie related accident. Men back then are just built different.
Somewhat agree, but shirt sleeves and ties can get caught in rotating machinery and drag the operator into them. That's why in Germany the machinists transitioned to sleeveless, one piece coveralls with no ties while in shop-too many accidents from clothing getting caught up in machinery.
Yeah I was cringing at all the neckties. Dressing well is great, but there's a time and a place and anywhere around machine tools is NOT it!
At the time of filming, this factory was literally a state of the art manufacturing facility!
Every step carried out by craftsmen, all machining carried out by hand, relying on the skill of the engineer working the machines!
Leather belt driven machinery, and every tolerance relying on the Operator to be precise.
Thankfully, manufacturing has evolved, and with it the working conditions of the employees.
It really is remarkable what they were able to accomplish.
1:25 Straightening barrels _by eye,_ now that's incredible.
Shadow straightening.
Gunsmith I used to use had one of those barrel straighteners in his shop, mostly as a curio. He let me play with it one day with a scrap barrel and I was amazed how easy it was to bend the barrel and then bring it back to 'true' per my eyeball.
Joey said he remembers when him and Corn Pop worked at that factory they test fired all the weapons themselves.
Savage :-).
Corn pop was soft as cotton
I thought one of those guys looked familiar.
Let's Go Brandon!
JOEY BABY!
Ive been a machinest for 45 yrs and remember as an apprentice the old boys wore a collar and tie under their overalls. They were very proud of their trades and skill levels. I got a smack 'round the earhole once for trying to go home with dirty finger nails.
I live on a farm and if you go home without dirty fingernails you get smacked for not working that day. 😆
Dirty hands are indeed proof of hard work. But going home with dirty hands was a no no. You had a shower and scrubbed your hands before you clocked out. My old journeyman asked me if I had a girlfriend? Then he asked me if she liked me touching her with black fingernails??
my father in law wore a tie to his production job every day. They all did. They wore clip-on ties for safety.
In 1918 these craftsmen, using belt driven machinery , created one of the most iconic masterpieces!!!
Good job gentlemen!!!
that John browning was a genius. not only did he design the rifle but he also pioneered many of the manufacturing processes at a time when the automobile was only a few years old.
What a cool job. Test firing a BAR.
Right!? Sign me up!
I guess after firing thousands of them it can get old…
Amazing the amount of machine work that went into that process. The development of the manufacturing tooling was truly a marvel. Manufacturing and industrial engineering at its best!
How did you think they were made?
I was quite surprised as well, I had always been under the impression that while I knew they were machined I just never realized the scale and size of the machines they used, I thought it was more hands on basic manual lathes and mills but as you can see at 4:10 frikkin automated mills! all be it analog automation but still very interesting and eye opening, always fun to learn more stuff about history and industry with these golden nuggets that are archived films like these
@Merle Dixon0311 yeah. They were in fact the majority of the industrial workforce. The able bodied men being under arms.
So, wise words Merle!
What is ironic/strange about the development of machining is that not a single machine-tool was beyond the technical ability of the Ancient Romans, Greeks, Indians, Chinese, etc.
Two things converged to make it happen:
The mass production of steel.
And Calculus.
Having owned a 1918A2 for many years I can tell ya the BAR was a work of art for it's time...... from and era never to be seen again.
Suertudo !!! Yo ni siquiera creó poder ver uno en mi vida.
Colt mfg?
I bloody hope we never see that era again. It was crap, for most people.
All those machines had to be set up, ran, maintained. Pride and craftsmanship. Now, injection molded plastics are a thing. Video of over 100 years ago...and their work still appreciated.
The mould-makers for injection formed plastics are just as dedicated, it's an extremely underappreciated form of modern craftsmanship.
@@kw9849 fair point that I will agree with. Someone has to make the mold.
Congratulations, excellent film , labor force at its best , how clean cut and serious are being doing their job , professionals all of them .
Just what I was thinking. My grandparents generation, I miss them....
I'm amazed at 4:26 that the operator seems to be using a hand aligned jig during a receiver drilling/reaming operation. That's probably the most critical component in this design and the process seems very uncontrolled. Also, lots of streams of variation-with operators running several machines simultaneously. The design had to be robust to handle everything that could potentially go wrong from a process standpoint. I'd love to see a similar video for the Browning M1917 Heavy Machine Gun, that would be great!
Interesting also was the belt driven turning machines, rather than using an electric motor. By WW2 most of that equipment was electric driven. As a recently retired Manufacturing Engineer in the auto industry I LOVE seeing these videos. Subscribed tonight. Well done!
Thanks for subscribing!
ua-cam.com/video/bobIA9avWxE/v-deo.html here's the video on the Browning!
@@HighCaliberHistoryLLC Hi, I saw that after I printed my message above. Great channel with tons of good information, many thanks!
@@pimpompoom93726 Thanks, Ken!
Another video gem. I think it is safe to say that even though that was an assembly line, each of those employees were still artisans of their craft.
I was surprised to see how many guys still wore ties/vests while working. A sign of the times obviously.
Thank you! And yes, it was definitely a very different time in terms of dress and the need to still be an artisan of sorts to finesse the machines properly.
And no safety glasses !
@@stevenrichards3699 And the guy doing the test firing didn't seem to be wearing any hearing-protection either.
I had the same observation, but then, I wonder: did they always wear ties or did they dress up the workers for the video? The labour situation being what it was in the early 1900s, I don't think factory workers, even highly skilled ones, made wages that allowed them to dress like this every day?
That was your norm dress attire, suits were your plain clothes
A lot of skilled machining went into the BAR.
Small wonder it looks so good.
And cost as much as it did
I originally from the town of Stratford, CT where we used to make firearms for living for hundreds of years in CT valley. We had Winchester rifle from factory the town of New Heaven. I know some Gun makers and gunsmiths who made and repair firearms from his 100 years farmhouse that had old latch from his basement. CT used to be a state of Firearms manufactured like Colt from Hartford, Strum Ruger from South Port and Hi Standard from Harden. We used to be a prime contractor for the government for M-16-A1 and Winchester Model 70.
@@johnmadow5331
Connecticut was the cornerstone of the modern USA, I really admire the entrepreneurial spirit and the bravery of its people. USA does not give the credit Connecticut deserves today, the precision valley of Vermont alone has driven the USA's development and the whole world too, by many innovations in machining techniques and introducing the interchangeable part concept which is the bases of all modern technology today. Their work is as important as the theoretical science work of Isaac Newton and his peers , it was a huge step forward in humanity's development.
The thing was indestructible but weighed a ton with its magazines. Seemed the little guys were slotted to carry it in service. Marines still have many thousands in storage.
I saw pictures of an 'undisclosed location' in England where tens of thousands of US Lend~Lease weapons, including BARs, were stacked like cord wood, in a fenced overgrown field (acres!), metal rusting away, walnut weathered by rain and bleached by the Sun!
Was really hoping that John Moses browning himself would pop up and photo bomb someone in the factory! Great vid. Thanks for sharing.
I like how men wore suits and and ties to work.. Very classy, roll up your sleeves and get to it!!!
Amazing seeing the setup of all that equipment running on distributed belt power.
Amazing. It would be interesting to see a video of the making of an MG-42 for comparison. Both clashed on the same battlefields ; milled early century technology vs stamped metal 1940s method.
The MG 42 was more stamped.....a true comparison would be with the MG 34....it was made all the way thru until the end. It too like the BAR was art in motion.
They still make the Browning Automatic Rifle for civilian use too. Excellent rifle.
@@davemartani1529
Yea but the military and the civilian BAR's aren't even close to each other, the military BAR has a receiver that's massive compared to the civilian one.
They don't share any parts interchangeability whatsoever, only the name.
@@dukecraig2402 True and their barrels are longer than the civilian model. I don't know if the military has bought the new models, but they still use the original ones. What I know is that I like mine. I'm going to change the furniture on it to make it lighter.
Ohio Ordnance makes a "1918A3" which is a semiautomatic-only version of the 1918A2.
There is a hunting rifle called a BAR that shares nothing in common with the weapon here, other than the name.
8:24 has 8 racks of BARs, 20 to a rack = $8,000,000 worth of guns on todays market ! I get sick when I think of all the BARs the government destroyed, or just gave away to banana countries after they were out dated. Plus all the BARs , Thompsons, Garands, and 1911s laying on the bottom of the ocean after supply ships were torpedoed.
I just realized how sad it is that firearms have been lost like that. They took so mich time to make and the craftsman who made it were proud of their work but now they are lost on battlefields or in the ocean.
...yes, that's very sad...
...and a HECK of a lot of OTHER products had the same fate...
I wonder if the great grandkids of these folks have seen these videos. Something to be proud of.
That would be really cool if they have seen it!
No CAD/CAM here, these weapons were hand built by craftsmen.
I would love to have a BAR, even if it was de-milled to semi-auto only
Incredibly beautiful rifle always wanted to shoot one
They're a lot of fun!
You can shoot one at the machine gun shoot in Kentucky every summer. $1.00 a round !
The sheer amount of man hours it probably took to make just one is probably insaine. The BAR is by no means a simple gun to manufacture, and my hats off to those that put in their time to build them. They probably had quite a few noisy bars around the plant, with the number of people clocking off at the end of the day.
And they skirted a number of steps....
But that's ok, cuz if you understand the machining process, you'll know.
When a turner worked in an impeccble shirt and tie. Geniuses !!!
This footage is truly amazing!!
Isn't it!?
God bless John Moses Browning!
Just think, anyone back then could order one with zero paper work. When we were a true free nation...
i lived through that time...the advertisements were on the back of magazines...put your name and address on the dotted line...go to the post office... get a postal money order for the amount...send it off...the gun be at your door within 5 days...no police checks...no 'cooling off period' didn't have to produce id..Nothing...Absolutely Nothing...i tell it how easy it was to these boys today they think i'm lying
@@russellking9762 I wish we still lived in a time like that. The only world I know is this 21st century world. Thanks for the story Mr. King.
Great talents and fine machining ! Admire them in those days
Every county in USA needs one of these factories. Even today
Ties, belt powered tools... amazing.
Yeah, truly a different time.
I like this video of how BAR was made from the factory. John Moses Browning was a genius of his time.
If John Moses Browning didn't pass away in 1926, but instead was able to live long enough into 1930-1940. He would create his own assault rifle and battle rifle(post WW2 like FN FAL)
Alternate Timeline 1940:
In this alternate timeline, Browning was able to live long enough to work and innovate in small arms. When German introduce the StG44. Browning have a vision to create his own assault rifle. By using the BAR/Colt Monitor/FN Model D for base design including capture some examples of StG44 for study.
In, 1944, he introduce the BROWAR(Browning Assault Rifle/Automatic Rifle) 1944.
Note: Imagine, BAR mix with FAL. Fire selector like FAL, but based model are Colt Monitor/FN Model D. Less bulky and more slimmer. A carbine version with folding stock like Para FAL.
BROWAR 44
Design: 1944
Type: Assault Rifle
Caliber: .30-06
Weight: 4kg
Barrel Length: 16 inch Barrel
Magazine Capacity: 30 Rounds
Rate of Fire: 750 rpm
Following a successful of BROWAR. He introduce other variants. It was use during the Post WW2 and prove to be quiet effective.
BROWAR-C(Carbine)
Design: 1945
Type: Assault Rifle/Carbine
Caliber: .30-06
Weight: 3.3kg
Barrel Length: 10 inch Barrel
Magazine Capacity: 30 Rounds
Rate of Fire: 750 rpm
BROWAR-S(Sharpshooter)
Design: 1945
Type: DMR
Caliber: .30-06
Weight: 6kg
Barrel Length: 20 inch Barrel
Magazine Capacity: 10-20 Rounds
Rate of Fire: Semi Automatic
BROWAR-MG(Machinegun)
Design: 1945
Type: Light Machinegun
Caliber: .30-06
Weight: 8kg
Barrel Length: 18 inch Barrel
Magazine Capacity: 30 Rounds/75 Rounds Drum
Rate of Fire: 750 rpm
PS: If that really happen. We won't have AR15/M16 in our timeline.
Wonderful music and film thanks
Craftsmen giving all their talent and hard work and in return given thankless unsafe and hazardous working conditions without eye protection, guards on machinery and belts exposing themselves to debilitating injury without benefits or death
I love this videos!!!
Notice how well dressed they are. Many are wearing vests (coat removed) and long tie or bow tie.
Yep, definitely a different era for sure.
What precious video! XD
The milling department are rock stars.
Excellent tooling and lots of lubrication!
I had the honor of firing a full auto original I could actually hip fire it like it was
nothing you develop the respect of that 30-06 ammo really quick when your spitting it out at a rapid pace
No gloves or safety glasses and men wearing ties around lathes....gotta wonder how many injuries there were
Amen....lathes and the uncovered drive belts withing inches of shirt sleeves. OSHA would have have a stroke (or kittens).
Showing up to work on the line in a starched collar shirt and tie. How cool is that!?
pride
I enjoyed this video. I know that was the thing back then , but I can't get over wearing a suit and tie in a manufacturing environment .
That was the go team 💪
Man...how factories have changed. No guards on those spinning belts and sharp tools, and nary a pair of safety glasses anywhere.
my dad carried a bar in rotc in pasadena california,yes rose parade california
This is really amazing! You look and see the various types of tooling and machinery used back then along with the techniques, it’s fascinating! I have to wonder though with the kind of hand craftsmanship they had then compared to the CNC and AUTOCAD types of manufacturing that exists today, which is ultimately going to produce the better product of weaponry?
Probably the precision engineering of today if we are talking about the very top end.
Definitely CNC. A lot of this stuff was rigged up in jigs for these guys. It was as pushbutton as CNC is now but broken into many more steps.
Excellent video....... subbed ya.
Thank you!
When America made things and good things, proud to make them proud to be one.
7:07 didn't knew that Theodore Roosevelt was making them guns.
I've always been so focused on the machinery that I never noticed the resemblance until now!
@@HighCaliberHistoryLLC haha... He kinda look similar. Thanks for the wonderful content and the effort you put in it. Subbed!
Thank you!
Makes ya wonder how many of those ended up at the bottom of the ocean on D-Day.
Back then guns were a work of art, even the simplest of one's like the 98k Kriegsmodel. Now they're just plastic molded, made with no care, each faceless.
Most are but not all.
I encourage you to look up a Sako Bavarian or a Weatherby Mk5.
Mass produced yes, lost craftsmanship no.
New guns are recycled beer can receivers , with plastic stocks and fore ends, covered in plastic camouflage tape. Sickening ! priced at $1,000 ! Disgusting ! Give me a blue steel, walnut furniture, pre 64, any time , any day ! I hunt ducks with my 1985 Remington 1100 mag, pheasants with my 1926 vintage Winchester model 12, and deer with my Winchester model 70 ( 1956) , 30-06 . Old guns have a soul ! Hunting with them is holding history !
They knew how to get it done ✅ and that’s more than I can say about workers today
Back when people cared about their craft and took pride in their work.
Lots of handguns don't have external safeties, maybe explain/offer another option such as a "NY trigger pack" install service or other trigger weights. modifications.
The B.A.R. was very good in it's day.
It was being used up until the Viet Nam "conflict".
I had the chance to handle a real 1918 model and it's HEAVY!
18+ pounds + amunition.
It doesn't sound like it's that much but believe me, just holding one for 15 minutes and it got heavy.
Imagine carrying one + amunition for the 5 + years of WWII.
The modern M 60 is more manageable.
The BAR is cool
It's nice to hold a classic weapon.
Yea they're monsters.
That was an awesome video! I know if I worked there all I'd be thinking about was how I was going to get one out the door. 🙂
Thanks for watching!
in the 50's and 60's you could actually buy guns like these through mail order and have it delivered to your door...no police check...nothing...Lee Harvey Oswald brought the Mannlicher Cacano 6.5mm that (supposedly) killed Kennedy for i think $15 bucks....
The rifle alone was $12.88 and you could get it with a scope (which he did) for $19.95 and 108 rounds of 6.5mm was an additional $7.50 - but I don't know that he bought ammo that way, too.
i understand....but it's the 1920's...the employees...(for the most part) are as honest as the day is long...today....those things would be walking out the door by the pallet load
Many Colt M1911 came home one part a time in lunch boxes, you can't fit a barrel in a lunch box, or they would have done it.
Building a premium killing tool takes skilled hands...
@Merle Dixon0311 "it is simply a tool, the hands that hold it decide what it does"
Well, it's not like you can drive it to the grocery store with the kids, right? It is a single- purpose designed "tool", it does one thing and one thing only in a highly efficient manner- it kills.
@Merle Dixon0311 "...a gun is a killing machine"
You just made my point for me, you aren't too far removed from suckling at a mother's breast, it seems.
No MIM parts in those fantastic weapons.
To think what an original 1918 BAR goes for now forty to fifty thousand in the U.S..
Que lindo video histórico muy bueno 👍
Interesting how many machining operations went into the BARs, compared to their ultramodern counterparts made in Germany for the Wehrmacht with stamping, riveting and welding with machining kept to a bare minimum.
Wouldn't it be amazing to see how they made Firearms in factories in the 1800s? BSA, Mauser or even Styer?
Back when our country was great because of the people who cared.
How would you like to have one of those racks full of finished product.
Love all that moving machinery and men wearing ties.
Yeah, definitely no OSHA!
Wish I had one of these, to me it was one of the best designs, If the M1 Garand would have come with a 20 round mag that would have been the best battle rifle...
Make that a 20 round detachable mag, and the Garand would have been an awesome battle rifle.
There are prototypes that exist
Colt Monitor I wish i had one.. or even try it at range🇺🇸❤️ , not seen here in EU
Wonder how many were hid away after ww2
@@lindascott1874 Ww2 guns had pipod’s like a light light Mg.
Monitor was light weight USA LE version only. FBI armory D.C. Saw one 1987. Ww1 are also neat. Have anice day.
now I understand why America is a super power...they got all the tools they need.
BAR.......Bad Ass Rifle
How was the reported performance of the rifle when it did see combat in late 1918?
The gun performed exceptionally well in World War I, despite making its battlefield debut on September 13, 1918 - less than two months before the end of the war.
Is that the very first live, laugh love sign behind the barrel forging guy?!
Hardworking fit looking workers. Interesting that some of the men wore ties while operating milling machines.
No OSHA, that's for sure!
that’s why clip-on ties were invented. no joke. it was a safety item.
Any film on the filling of the ammunition
Not that I have found.
At 5:35 is like a jump scare haha.
Amazing that the barrels are made of smaller stock and the breech end is upset to accommodate chamber etc.
true economy of material when good steel was rare and expensive
First forging process is knowing could well be that "Upset" forging process...or maybe "Open Die" forging...
Beautiful Thanks for sharing.
No eye protection no ear protection no mask! No OSHA! Good!
Thanks for watching!
I guess back then wearing safety glasses wasn't a requirement in a machine shop.
Было интересно посмотреть!!!
Bonny & Clyde..Rifle :)
Very educational how do you get all that old footage?
Most of it comes from the National Archives or the Library of Congress.
Yeah when machinist knew their trade and didn’t rely on a computer or a CNC machine yeah those machinist are long gone
America 🇺🇸
Wouldn't you love to fire one of those?! I know I would!
They're a ton of fun to shoot!
@@HighCaliberHistoryLLC would love to just once!
I’ll take two!
How tge hell did you find this?...Great vid, my favorite gun is the b.a.r
Lots of hours poring through file footage from the National Archives.
All done with drive belts
Was that the Colt factory?
Winchester
can you imagine wearing a tie around all of that machinery?
that’s why clip-on ties were invented. not kidding. it was a safety item. my father in law wore one every day to his production job. they all did.
Bar
sure as shit no one works this efficiently these days
👍
👍
It was a simpler time..... Guys worked fast , quiet and they didn't have time for things like lunch.
CLYDE BARROW'S FAVORITE GUN...
A long time before OSHA.
Is this Colt, Winchester, Marlin?
Winchester