Firearms: A vet provides a little history lesson for the rest of us

VET: Well, the unofficial name for the AR, or "Automatic Rifle," introduced at the tail of WWI, and used extensively in WWII and Korea, was "Browning Automatic Rifle." It was designed by John Browning of Ogden, Utah, the son of Mr. Browning Sr., and his second wife (they were Mormons.) John the junior was the most prolific firearms designer of all time, designing, light, medium, and heavy machine guns, shotguns, handguns, repeater rifles and carbines, and automatic rifles, of course.

The "Army .45," (semi-automatic pistol) which was the standard military sidearm in US forces from the year of Reagan's birth, and often called the "1911," for the year of it's adoption, was a Browning design. It was superseded by the Beretta, in 9mm, in 1985, in order to have a pistol that used NATO standard ammo. (By that time, all .45's in government inventory were at least 40 years old.) The "tunnel rats" in Viet Nam used to go into Viet Cong tunnels, with their 1911 Colts (Colt had the original contract to build the Browning design.) Just a handgun, against Victor Charlie. It was famed as a 'man-stopper.' (Thank goodness for the tunnel rats.)

Some of the most popular shotguns produced by Remington and Winchester were designed by John. The most popular deer rifle ever (Winchester 1894)-ditto. The more powerful Winchester '95 was designed by him, also; and, it was carried by Teddy Roosevelt with the Rough Riders, who charged up San Juan Hill, Cuba, in the Spanish-American war, 1898. (He eschewed the less effective Krag-Jurgenson rifle of standard army issue.)

So, in WWII, "our boys" carried the .45 pistol, designed by Browning, generals carried the Colt 1908 pistol, designed by him, select infantry carried the BAR, as the light machine gun, or 'SAW' as they call it today. (The SAW is the Squad Automatic Weapon.)

Infantry automatic weapons teams used the Browning medium machine gun, water cooled, or air cooled versions. Airplanes sometimes carried them; but, most of our fighter planes, and bombers as well, carried a brace of Browning .50 caliber machine guns, designated "M-2," and known to troops today as the "Ma Deuce." It is still performing in the new millennium in Iraq and Afghanistan. The .50 cal. ammunition is also used in the current heavy sniper rifle, built by Barrett.

In World War II, and Korea, our fighter planes often carried 6 Browning .50 ca. machine guns. Bombers such as the B-17 carried 10 to 12, depending on version. B-29's carried a dozen.

Today, 90% of semi-automatic pistols made use the principles developed by Browning, at the turn of the century (1900.) Clones, with some modifications, of his 1911 design for the military, are produced by a couple of dozen firms. And special operations units use somewhat modified versions of his 1911 design-yet. So do SWAT teams.

So, except fro the M-1 Garand, semi-automatic rifle (a wonderful piece at the time) the M-1 carbine, and the Tommy gun, Browning designed all of the firearms we used in World War II and Korea. And many civilian arms, long, short, and smoothbore, produced by Colt, Remington, and Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre, of Aquitania. (Commonly known as "FN.") Browning's last design was the Browning Hi-Power pistol, which was used since 1935 to date by many of our allies, including Canada, Australia, in Britain to an extent, and many others I cannot remember. It, too, is still in production, as are many knock-offs, or clones, from many nations.

Until a few years ago, the standard Soviet sidearm was officially known as the Tokarev, named for its designer. It had some improvements on Browning design, although it was much less effective (puny cartridge.) Among Russian citizens, however, it was known as a "Browning." What a tribute!

So, you see, if Mormons had been limited to one wife, before John was born, we might have been fighting WWII and Korea with vastly inferior weapons. We will never know; but, sometimes it is better to just let people do whatever they do best...a sound conservative principle.

Ma Deuce knows.

P.S. Although a 1918 design, done in a jiffy, the BAR was more powerful than most light machine guns, although it did not have great firepower. (Only a 20 round box magazine.) But, it did not need a crew, except to help carry ammo. It was popular with our troops in WW II. My late uncle, who was a musician, composer, and accountant, carried one in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Germany, in the big one. Later, he settled in Reseda, Cah-lee-FWAR-nya.

NON-VET: A Ma Deuce was the gun that Audie Murphy used to fight back the approaching German Infantry on the burning Tank Destroyer. Supposedly it's reasonable accurate up to a mile and the bullets can travel up to four miles.

My only experience with a BAR-1918 is in a number of video games. It always seems like you run out of ammunition faster. I prefer the SturmGewehr-44 over the BAR or the Thompson. The MP-40 isn't half bad either. But of course that is based on some programmers interpretation of what they are like to fire.

VET: Sure, the Sturmgewehr had a firepower advantage, as its larger magazine capacity enabled a higher effective rate of fire, compared to the BAR:

Muzzle velocity 2,247 ft/s
Rate of fire (Cyclic) 500-600 rounds/min
Feed system 30-round detachable box magazine

Muzzle velocity 2,800 ft/s
Rate of fire (Cyclic) 600 rounds/min (Depending on model)
Feed system 20-round detachable box magazine

So, you must be more judicious in firing he BAR; but, when you do fire, your range and penetration outclass the Sturmgewehr. Of course, in fairness, the purposes of each were not identical. But, against light armor, the Sturmgewehr takes second place.

The Sturmgewehr is usually considered to be the first "assault weapon."

I, of course, disagree. The BAR was the first successful "assault weapon." You just could not run very fast with an 18 pound automatic rifle. The only difference between the BAR and modern assault rifles was that the BAR fired full power .30-06 ammunition. So, its long range capabilities are now considered frequently irrelevant, and might produce a weapon difficult to control in automatic fire. But, the control issue was addressed, inadvertently perhaps, by the large configuration of the weapon, including a receiver machined out of a large billet of solid steel. Thus, the control characteristics were enhanced be the weight of the weapon.

The BAR was designed in WWI, when standard infantry rifles of most nations were .30 caliber, five shot repeaters, loaded using stripper clips. A 20 round box magazine was 2.5 quantum leaps ahead of everything else on the battlefield. The German Sturmgewehr was developed in the 1940's, over a quarter century later.

To put that into perspective, note that WWII, often considered to last from 1939 to 1945, began with 500 pound blockbusters, and ended with atomic bombs. Infantry rifles went from bolt action repeaters, to semi-automatic and selective fire weapons, from stripper clips to box magazines.

Aircraft went from partially fabric covered surfaces over frames, to stressed skin frameless designs, starting with the DC-3, or C-47, as the army Air Corps called it. Engines went from radial piston engines, to V-12's with turbochargers and fuel injection, to jets. Aircraft went from open bay gunners, to remote control firing from pressurized cabins, as in the B-29.

Six years is a century, during wartime. So, in my view, the Sturmgewehr was significantly innovative, using newer metal fabrication techniques; but, it was a natural development of the BAR, lighter, and with less muzzle velocity, so as to be more easily mastered.

Everything from America is bigger and better. Of course, Obama will cure
that.