M1918/M1918A1/M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle

1918/M1918A1/M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle

The M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle and its variants remained in service with the US military for nearly four decades. This is a testament of the BARs reliability in combat from across battlefields of Europe and Asia under the most extreme conditions.

The success of the M1918 is in its creator, John Browning. It first appeared in 1917 and was designed to be used at the small unit level. Its firepower was critical, especially with an infantry armed with bolt action rifles. It could be fired in the semi-automatic mode or full automatic. In 1937 the weapon was updated and a bipod added. This became the M1918A1. In 1940 a version that only fired full automatic was adopted. This was designated the M1918A2. Although it only fired full automatic, it had two rates of fire, slow and fast. Ranger units were impressed with the BARs ruggedness and excellent rate of fire. They used the M1918A1 and the M1918A2 during WWII and Korea.

By Tim Davis

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