The M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle - In the Movies

#ww2 An overview of the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle as featured in numerous WW2 Movies

Movies featured:
The Highwaymen 2019
Live by Night 2016
Public Enemies 2009
Hacksaw Ridge 2016
Flags of Our Fathers 2006
Windtalkers 2002
Band of Brothers 2001
Pearl Harbor 2001
The Thin Red Line 1998
Saving Private Ryan 1998
Apocalypse Now 1979
A Bridge Too Far 1977
Dillinger 1973
The Bridge at Remagen 1969
The Devil’s Brigade 1968
The Longest Day 1962

[JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

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.

[masterbuilderproductions]

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.

[Guilherme-pstw]

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

[RedRuffinsore]

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.

[wonkeeeeee]

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

[transitionministries]

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
.

[wittwittwer]

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.

[Justsomeoneyoucouldhaveknown]

"A Japanese an Italian and a German soldier... all walk into a B.A.R."

[grimscribe]

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.

[jacqueschouette]

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.

[michaelholmes]

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.

[randyblackburn]

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 ‘s BAR would open up and drive them back . Daddy said that was the last man fighting that night and that he was a brave warrior.

[ykdchuk]

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.

[kugellehr]

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.

[BeefyRider]

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.

[johnlansing]

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 .

[reynaldoflores]

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.

[flailingelbows]

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.

[karlhaber]

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.

[geordiedog]

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:)