In April 1938, work was started on an improved BAR for the U.S. Army. Early prototypes had bipods that were put onto the barrel. It also had a special mechanism to make the rate of fire less. However, in 1939 the Army
Final development of the M1918A2 started on 30 June 1938. The M1918A2's buttstock (the part of the gun which sticks out at the back) is about one inch longer than the M1918 BAR buttstock. Late in the war, a handle was put onto the barrel to carry the weapon around.
Because the companies did not have a lot of money, the first M1918A2s were just older M1918 BARs that were changed. A small amount M1922s and M1918A1s were also changed. After WWII started, it was tried to make more M1918A2s. However, the World War I tools used to make the M1918 were either worn out or could not be used with modern machines. In 1942, there was not enough wood to make the buttstocks, so a black plastic buttstock was made for the BAR. Firestone Rubber and Latex Products Company made the plastic buttstock for the U.S. Army. This was brought into service on March 21, 1942.
In 2008, one company made a modern, semi-automatic version of the Browning Automatic Rifle. This was called the 1918A3 SLR ("self-loading rifle").
When the war ended, Colt Arms Co. were given the Browning patents to make the BAR that was not given out during the war. This allowed Colt to make the BAR for sale to civilians. This BAR was called the Colt Automatic Machine Rifle Model 1919. It was first made up of M1918s from the contract with the military which were not delivered. It was one of several Colt BARs. However, the weapon had a high price. It was also not very useful to civilians. Because of this, it did not sell much. Ad Topperwien was a famous shooter of the early 1920s. He bought one of the first Colt BARs to shoot things out of the sky. When the National Firearms Act of 1934 was passed, civilian BARs were restricted. Machine guns for U.S. civilians were banned in 1968. Also, making machine guns for U.S. civilians was banned in 1986.
Clyde Barrow, a gangster, liked the army's M1918. He got his BARs by robbing the Army National Guard. Barrow taught his girlfriend Bonnie Parker to fire the M1918 as well.
Automatic weapons were becoming more popular with gangsters in the United States. Because of this, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover told the FBI to train agents with automatic weapons. Examples were the Thompson submachine gun and the BAR. The FBI bought its BARs from Colt. Colt sold 90 BARs to the agency. Some of the FBI's BARs were sent to FBI offices. They were to be used as support weapons if they were needed. The rest were kept at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. They were there for training. Colt sold another 11 BARs to the U.S. Treasury Department in 1934. 24 guns were sold to prisons, banks, security companies and police departments.
It has sometimes been said that the M1918 or M1918A2 BAR was used by Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) members in a shootout with Los Angeles police. This happened on 17 May 1974. However, no SLA members ever used such a weapon. This confusion happened because Browning decided to call its semi-automatic hunting rifle the Browning BAR. The SLA changed a Browning BAR hunting rifle to automatic fire. It was this weapon that was used in the shootout.
When it first came into service, the M1918 was supposed to be fired from the shoulder. It was meant to be a rifle that could give both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. The M1918 was first given out in September 1918.
As well as being fired from the shoulder, M1918 gunners were given a belt which had pouches on it for the magazines. They were also given a sidearm.
The BAR was not used much during World War I. This was partly because of the Armistice, and also because the U.S. Army did not want the enemy to be able to capture an M1918. 85,000 BARs were built by the war's end.
In between World War I and World War II, the M1918 was given to all U.S. naval landing forces. The weapon could be found on board most U.S. ships. Each BAR had a spare barrel. Big ships often had over 200 BARs on board. Many of the U.S. Navy BARs were still used until the 1960s.
When the threat of a new war rose, U.S. Army Ordnance realized they did not have a squad light machine gun that could be moved around easily. They tried to use the M1918 BAR as a light machine gun when the M1918A2 was brought into service with the U.S. Army on 30 June 1938. The BAR was given as the only automatic gun for a squad of eight soldiers. All men were trained how to use the BAR in case the gunner(s) were killed or injured. At the start of the war, most BAR teams were two or three people. These were a gunner and one or two assistants who carried extra magazines for the gun. By 1944, some units' BAR teams were just one person, with the other people in the squad carrying ammunition.
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata called River Plate in British English is a river in Argentina. It is an estuary made from the Uruguay River and the Paraná River. These rivers are on the border between Argentina and Uruguay. It is about long.
The Río de la Plata widens from about at the inner part to about at its mouth. Buenos Aires is on its western shore. Montevideo is on its northern shores.
The Río de la Plata is home for the loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, the rare La Plata dolphin, and many species of fish.
The first naval battle of the Second World War was fought near the River Plata. The Kriegsmarine "pocket battleship" "Admiral Graf Spee" was engaged by the Royal Navy cruisers, , and off the estuary of the River Plate in December 1939.
The German ship retired up the estuary with a crippled fuel system and put into port at Montevideo. A few days later, rather than fight outgunned against the British, she was scuttled in the estuary. This engagement was part of the early Battle of the Atlantic skirmishes.
Paraguay River
The Paraguay River is a major river in south central South America. It goes through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. It is about long. It starts in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It ends when it joins the Paraná River north of Corrientes. The biggest city on the river is Asunción, the capital city of Paraguay, which is located at its meeting with the Putumayo River.
Bermejo River
The Bermejo River is a river in South America. It flows from Bolivia to the Paraguay River in Argentina.
The river is long. The Bermejo is not able to be travelled on.
Colorado River (Argentina)
The Colorado River is a river in the south of Argentina. The man-made "Embalse Casa de Piedra" dam is on the river. It starts on the eastern slopes of the Andes. It ends in the Atlantic Ocean just south of Bahía Blanca.
Templo Libertad
The Templo Libertad is a synagogue in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the home of the Argentinian Israelite Congregation and the Jewish history museum.
Beth Yaacov Synagogue
The Beth Yaacov Synagogue is a synagogue in Madrid, Spain. It is the main center of the Jewish community of Spain.
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America. It goes through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It is long. It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is a shortened form of the phrase "para rehe onáva". It is a Tupi word that means "like the sea".
It starts where the Paranaiba and Grande rivers join in southern Brazil. It joins the Paraguay River and continues south, where it merges with Uruguay River, before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.
The surubí and the sábalo are fished on the river.
There are many dams along the river. The Yacyretá and Itaipu are used for hydroelectric power.
Pampas
The Pampas are fertile South American lowlands. It is from a Quechua word meaning "plain". It covers more than . That include parts of Argentina, most of Uruguay, and the southernmost Brazilian State. The climate is mild.