Doing some test firing for MLV

Kirk Stovall · Post by **Kirk Stovall** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:35 am

With his newly aquired BAR, I was more than eager to test it's capabilities in the field. I took it cottontail hunting and it passed with flying colors.

This rifle is nothing if not an absolute blast to shoot. Carrying it is nothing for the weak either!

Ray Newman · Post by **Ray Newman** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:20 am

Kirk: carrying a BAR is a chore, more burdensome w/ a full BAR belt -- 12 loaded magazines @ 1 lb 7 oz. each--plus a canteen.

Don't forget immediate action: pull, push, tap, aim fire -- pull the operating rod to rear, push the op rod forward, tap up on the magazine bottom, aim, then fire.

Prone position, hinged butt plate up, bipods down, slow cyclic rate of fire is very effective in the hands of a skilled BARman.

Some opine that the BAR was God's gift to the Marine Corps via John Browning....

Macon Due · Post by **Macon Due** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:03 pm

My Uncle was a BAR man in Korea and always said he loved the BAR.
Dad always said he preferred his Springfield 03 though [WW2] and his M-1 carbine in Korea.
Macon

Kelley O. Roos · Post by **Kelley O. Roos** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:19 pm

Kirk,

Show off

Kelley O.

Gussy · Post by **Gussy** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:00 am

Well, how many shots did it take to kill that charging bunny?? Use the whole magazine??

Kirk Stovall · Post by **Kirk Stovall** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:29 am

As a squad leader and past special forces sniper, anyone knows ammo conservation is a priority. 12 magazines may sound like a lot, but 240 rounds can be extinguished in short time in a firefight.

Shooting semi auto and with calculated shots, accounts for many dead enemy (rabbits) and coming back with unfired ammo.

Kenny Wasserburger · Post by **Kenny Wasserburger** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:42 pm

A few months back I had to honor to be a pallbear for my Cousin Jack Marchent. Jack Ranched just 8 miles north of my folks ranch for many years till health forced him to Retire.

Bunk as we called him carried a BAR in Korea for 18 months of heavy combat. He loved the BAR. He very seldom spoke of Korea, But on the rare occasion spoke very highly of the BAR and The M1 both.

His Son JD Made a special request to hold up the burial a week so that his two Cousins, Kenny and Ben Wasserburger could attend to be the two front casket bearers. I felt very very Honored. We made sure that windy day that the flag was not blown off the casket. Bunk was burried with full Military Honors. I took 1 day off and drove down in the night and then drove back to Gillette after a long day of services in Hot Springs SD then the internment in Lusk Wyoming. My Brother Ben Drove all the Way from Bismarck ND also.

Young people today have no Idea, what those men went through for our Country.

The Lunger

Tasmanian Rebel · Post by **Tasmanian Rebel** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:12 pm

The dad of a friend of mine here in town carried a BAR in WW2 in the Pacific. He didn't start out with that gun but said whenever the current BAR user in the platoon would open up on the Japs they would concentrate their fire on whoever was shooting that gun at the time and subsequently there was a high attrition rate of BAR user(s). He died of natural causes a few years ago but would steer clear of anything made in Japan-Hondas and Toyotas included. He lost a lot of friends who were shooting BARs in his unit.
Keith Lay

RMulhern · Post by **RMulhern** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:37 pm

Damn near got killed by one of those....with a VERY STUPID 2nd Lt. on the buttplate of one! Our team was getting ready for a match at Benning and our range was adjacent to the BAR range. Well....we're sitting down at the 200 yard line before the match commenced checking over our rifles/etc. and all at once...there are patches of dirt kicking up all around us. Our ole Sergeant Major Thurston M. Broadus hit the dirt and I very shortly followed suit! Someone yelled..."what's that"....and Ole Sarge hollered back..."hit the dirt you idiots...those are bullets!" It was all over in about 5 seconds and when Ole Sarge got up...his face was cherry red and he had a supreme case of the 'RED AZZ'! His next words were..."Mulhern, Vinson, Baumann, follow me"! We took off for the front of the range, rounded the protection berm and Ole Sarge found the 2nd Louie pretty damn quick and when he finished chewing his azz out to a fair you well he put the Lt. in a brace and we marched forthwith to Regimental Hq. which was about 4 blocks north...the Lt. in the front and Ole Sarge calling cadence all the way. Right through the front doors we went.....up one flight of stairs and Ole Sarge didn't even stop at the Major who was at the desk outside the Commanding General's office....right through his door and up to the CGs desk...like he owned the place!! Sergeant Major then proceeded to tell the CG what had taken place...and that said Lt. DID NOT EVEN HAVE A RED FLAG run up to designate a HOT RANGE! At this time...the Lt. received another azz chewing from the CG and was relieved of his duty!!

The most amazing thing about this was as I was standing there in the CGs office as a witness....I was thinking...how the hell is the Sergeant Major getting away with bursting into the CGs office unannounced??

When I asked him about this later he said...."I WAS HIS FIRST SERGEANT IN KOREA WHEN HE WAS A CAPTAIN!!"

As for the BAR....I'd rather shoot that dude than anything in the inventory!! One sweet machine it is!!

GST · Post by **GST** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:37 pm

Back in the 70's I had a job with the Texas Highway Dept. in the sign shop in Austin. We were putting green Scotchlite sheeting on 4x8 plywood panels to finish out I-10. The old man I worked with was a BAR man for the Army in the Pacific. As I found out he was the second highest decorated Texan from WWII, just behind Audie Murphy. His name was Joe Petrasek. As I remember he said he got some medals for running across a mine field with some other men to put satchel charges up to some Jap pill boxes that were shooting machine guns at them and then had to run back though the mine field.
He gave me a paper bound book that Browning made in the 1940's with all of the Browning models from the begining. Under the picture of the BAR he had written "my pal sn-xxxxx". I can't find that book now for the life of me and I fear it is gone.
My father was in the 399th Infantry in Germany and told me some German lit upon them one night with one of them MG whatevers. he said that with tracers it shot a solid streak of light and sounded like a coarse peice of cloth being torn. He hit the ground and the guys on both sides of him were got. The BAR man took out the German MG. Daddy's main bitch about a BAR was everybody had to carry ammo for the BAR man plus all of their M-1 bandoliers, rifle and whatnot.

GST

GST · Post by **GST** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:59 pm

As I also remember Joe sold me my first Single action Colt .45. 1899 vintage. Barrel was worn oval, Black grips were worn smooth but it came with an old black Mexcin loop holster and about 3/4's of a box of blue lable Western cartriges. All for the enourmos fee of $50.

GST

MLV · Post by **MLV** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:36 pm

I've got to confess because Kirk didn't tell you, but my BAR isn't a "real" BAR. It is semi-auto only. They're made by an outfit called Ohio Ordnance Works and I've been told everything on them except the receiver is original GI. The receivers are new made and instead of firing from the open bolt they fire from a closed bolt.

I spent so much money on my subgun collection there wasn't enough left to buy a "real" BAR, nor anymore guns I was willing to part with. Good "real" BARs start at about $25,000.

On the Iwo Jima trip the veterans said that when a Marine was hit and carried back on a stretcher his personal weapon went with him. That was except if it was a BAR. They all stayed and someone else threw down their M1 Garand or M1 Carbine and picked up the BAR.

MLV

Peep Sight · Post by **Peep Sight** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:08 pm

[quote="Kirk Stovall"]With his newly aquired BAR, I was more than eager to test it's capabilities in the field. I took it cottontail hunting and it passed with flying colors.

Kirk is responsible for the following

Thanks a lot. Those kinds of guns get me really excited(that doesnt sound good). I got this one for deer hunting, its a whole gang in one

This is a pick from New years. I love the tracers. I didn't get to finish the belt, kinda caught a patch of woods on fire. It is only semi-auto as well, but still a blast to shoot. It is 30lbs. without a tripod. I have a replica '44 willys MB to carry it on if I get tired. It is my more efficient way to spend money.
What happened to this being a black powder, single shot rifle forum?

Beruisis · Post by **Beruisis** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:14 pm

The BARs perform well on armadillos in Texas too.
B

bobw · Post by **bobw** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:19 pm

MLV I think the semi auto version was a good choice. They have a fairly low cyclical rate anyway. And the legal advantages of the semi auto status over weigh the full auto advantages as a gun for the shooting end of it for your interests. I remember checking one out on a class 3 dealers table at a gunshow 30 some years ago. I was talking to one of the dealers help and asked if they ever tested them out. He said sure" we shoot them all to make sure they work right and etc". The dealer had a lot of different autos on his table and I asked if he had shot them all? "Yeah" ,he said. So I asked which is your favorite? He said, "the 16 is fun and even your girl can shoot it" . "While on the other hand the thompson was great too". But he shook his head and said" the BAR is the best". Not about to leave that statement alone, I said how come? Well he looked at me and said "because when a BAR talks everybody listens" didn't follow that at the time, but later got to hear one talk and instantly understood what he meant. Keep those military hardware articles coming Mike and thanks. bobw

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Doing some test firing for MLV

Doing some test firing for MLV

BARs!!

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