Candidate
for the worlds first Assault rifle
With World War I in full swing, the need for a lightweight, man-portable machine gun was becoming more and more critical.
Machine guns were considered to be in the same category as a mortar crew or artillery battery, namely a fixed asset that was placed on the battlefield and then never moved. But when one attack after another broke through the enemy lines and then failed to hold the ground, they gained due to a lack of firepower, the generals decided that they needed a machine gun that could move with the troops as they advanced.
The Browning Automatic Rifle (officially designated the “Rifle, Caliber .30, Automatic, Browning, M1918″) soon found its way into the American trenches and was credited as being a pivotal piece of equipment in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of late September 1918 which led to the Armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month ( remembrance day in the Commonwealth ). One of the rifles was issued to John Browning’s son Val who was serving in the American infantry in France and demonstrated its abilities in action. The rifle impressed the troops and officers on the ground as much – if not more than – the politicians and the BAR was here to stay.
But while the .30-06 cartridge is a great round for killing enemy soldiers, it’s an extremely heavy and bulky cartridge. The largest magazine issued to the BAR crews was a 30-round magazine, and then only in anti-aircraft functions. Twenty-round magazines the size of waffles were the standard load , and the small capacity magazine combined with the heavy ammunition was just too much to carry. In addition, in order to fire that heavy and powerful ammunition, the gun needed to be over-engineered to take the strain of full-auto .30-06. That over-engineering led to a rifle that’s extremely overweight by today’s standards.
Edited with permission from Nick Leghorn Thetruthaboutguns.com October 9, 2013
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