The BAR: Browning’s Battlefield Sledgehammer designed at tail end of World War I.
Published: 12 June 2025
By Ajita Sherer
via the Loadout Room website
bar
Let’s discuss the Browning Automatic Rifle, the mighty BAR. The gun that showed up to war, kicked the damn door in, lit a cigar, and told the rest of the squad, “Follow me, boys, I’ll lead you to Berlin.”
Invented by the patron saint of American firearms, John Moses Browning, the BAR (specifically the M1918) was designed at the tail end of World War I. The goal? Give doughboys something man-portable that could spit .30-06 hate downrange while maneuvering, a “walking fire” concept that turned trench warfare on its head. And even though WWI ended before the BAR could really flex, it was just getting warmed up.
Forged For War: The Birth of the BAR
The year? 1917, and America had just been dragged into the meat grinder that was World War I. While the Europeans were struggling with bolt-action rifles and artillery that was closer to a catapult in functionality, the U.S. Army wanted something different. Something that could move and shoot in the horror and chaos of trench warfare.
Enter John Moses Browning, the Leonardo da Vinci of weapons design, except for instead of the Mona Lisa, he built things that could put holes in fascists from 600 yards. Within three months of getting the Army’s request for a man-portable automatic rifle, Browning delivered the prototype that would eventually become the M1918 BAR. For the record, 90 days is about the time it takes our modern defense leaders to decide on their latest death by PowerPoint presentation.
The BAR was tested at the Springfield Armory and was immediately adopted after outperforming the French Chauchat (which was a jam-prone cheese grater with a trigger.) The Army placed an initial order for 12,000 rifles, and by the time the war ended, 102,125 BAR’s had been produced, though many wouldn’t see action until WWII.
→ Read the entire article on the Loadout Room website here:
External Web Site Notice: This page contains information directly presented from an external source. The terms and conditions of this page may not be the same as those of this website. Click here to read the full disclaimer notice for external web sites. Thank you.
