The BAR saw extensive service in both World War II and the Korean War and saw limited service in the Vietnam War. Īlthough the weapon did see very little action in late 1918 during World War I, the BAR did not become standard issue in the US Army until 1938, when it was issued to squads as a portable light machine gun. 30-06 Springfield cartridge, though the limited capacity of its standard 20-round magazine tended to hamper its utility in that role. A variant of the original M1918 BAR, the Colt Monitor Machine Rifle, remains the lightest production automatic firearm chambered for the. The US Army, in practice, used the BAR as a light machine gun, often fired from a bipod (introduced on models after 1938). The BAR never entirely lived up to the original hopes of the War Department as either a rifle or a machine gun. This is a concept called " walking fire"-thought to be necessary for the individual soldier during trench warfare. The BAR was designed to be carried by infantrymen during an assault advance while supported by the sling over the shoulder, or to be fired from the hip. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia. Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), (World Directory of Modern Military Warships),, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. was used in the generation of this content site is 100% curated by humans. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. The FN MAG became widely available in 1958.©Ģ024 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols The "Military Factory" name and logo are registered ® U.S. Even then, the m/37 existed in a reserve role within the Swedish Army inventory for a number of years. Regardless, the m/37 remained in a frontline role until the adoption of the excellent Belgian Fabrique Nationale FN MAG General Purpose Machine Gun of 7.62x51mm NATO standard caliber during the post-World War 2 "Cold War" years. A prototype belt-fed variant was experimented but never brought to service. Older m/21 marks were brought up to the new standard when possible.īy this point, the m/37 now truly fulfilled the light machine gun role, save for its limited 20-round magazine which was never addressed. As such, Carl Gustafs ended producing the m/21 under its new designation of KG m/37 in 1937, promptly adopted by the Swedish Army in turn. The wooden handguard of the original BAR was subsequently dropped. The attached carrying handle facilitated handling of the hot barrel during the process. Thusly, Carl Gustafs Stads Gevarfaktori (now Bofors) took to developing a quick barrel changing function to the m/21 which allowed the operator to replace the barrel by managing a simple latch at the front of the receiver. Initial reactions were positive though the m/21 held a propensity to overheat its barrel assembly through prolonged fire. The 20-round detachable box magazine was retained - a limitation of the M1918 series as a whole. The largest change, however, lay in the conversion of the internals to fire the Swedish Army's 6.5x55mm "Swedish Mauser" cartridge. The m/21 evolved the base M1918 (as the export "M1919" by Colt) design by adding a pistol grip (as opposed to integral grip along the shoulder stock) and a spiked bipod assembly for support fire. Like many other nations of the period, the Swedes looked to the M1918 to fulfill the squad automatic weapon role for its value in high volume suppression of enemy positions. The Belgian concern of Fabrique National began license production of the famous M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in 1920 and its first export mark became the KG m/21 (or "Kulsprutegevar Model 21") developed to Swedish Army specifications.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |