Great weapon if you didn't have to carry it very far. The weight was necessary for it to be fired in the full auto mode. Usually in short bursts. Give it to the biggest man in the squad and hope he can shoot straight.

Here is another John M. Browning invention. It was a heavy weapon, over 16 pounds and was air cooled, gas operated (this means that gases from the fired cartridge operate the mechanism), magazine fed automatic rifle although it could be fired semi-automatic because of a selector switch. It fired from an open bolt. That means that you cock it by pulling back the bolt until it locks open. Pulling the trigger releases the bolt, that slides forward, loads a cartridge, chambers it, locks and fires.

The military introduced in late in World War I to replace unsatisfactory weapons that the Doughboys were using.

The Army intended it to be an automatic rifle but it wound up in many cases being a light machine gun. Its effectiveness was limited in that respect because of its twenty round magazine. The 30/06 cartridge packed a real wallop and it was fairly popular with the troops. It was used through Korea.

If you've seen the flick, "The Sand Pebbles," the character played by Steve McQueen, used the BAR. In the final climatic scene, he uses it very effectively. As numbah noted, Bonnie and Clyde preferred the BAR. It was a popular law enforcement gun also.

Heavy is an understatement. The high rating is for the .30-06 cartrige. It had a punch that the Thompson couldn't match. Thats why Bonnie and Clyde, the FBI, and many GI's loved it. It could lay down a decent volume of fire and had enough power to lay 'em out.

The US squad automatic weapon during WW II. I lugged one of these in basic training in '62, and really enjoyed firing it - very stable. I did not enjoy lugging it, however - a lot heavier than the Garand. A comment on tboneya's comment about the Bonnie & Clyde connection - I believe that one of the weapons that they were hosed with when they were ambushed was also in fact a BAR.