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Accessories, Class III/NFA C&R Fully Transferable Machine Gun - Serial no. 249778, 30-06 Springfield cal., 23 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/parkerized finish, walnut stock. This is an outstanding example
of a World War I production Browning
Automatic Rifle (BAR) as manufactured by the Marlin-Rockwell Corp. in 1918, subsequently
updated in the World War II era with the M1918A2 changes. The Marlin-Rockwell patent was applied for in April of 1915, two years
before Browning applied and three years before the Browning patent was granted. These BARs are considered the original Squad Automatic Rifle (SAR) at the platoon and infantry squad level and played a significant role on the battlefield during World War I, Korea and even into Vietnam. The original design for this rifle was developed by John Browning in 1917 to meet the requirements for a fully-automatic rifle for the infantry squads during World War I. They were intended to
be man portable in the field versus the heavier 1917 and later 1919 medium MGs, that could lay down volumes of fire power for frontal and flanking assaults. They were produced by three companies, Colt, Winchester and Marlin-Rockwell with only approximately 85,000 being
produced before the armistice. They were an exceptionally well made machine gun that were robust and functioned flawlessly. Due to the high recoil of the
30-06 round in the full automatic mode, almost all were subsequently modified in the post war years to function with a dual rate of fire; either in a slow rate of 350 rounds per minute or in the normal full-
automatic mode. This specific model of BAR is an original World War I manufactured rifle with the post World War I or prewar World War II modifications to a 1918A2 configuration. This later configuration, as noted allowed the rifle to be fired in a slow rate of fire mode by rotating the selector lever to “F” for the 350 rounds per minute or moving the lever to the “A” for full automatic. The additional modifications were that a barrel mounted bipod was added with a short flash hider and the buttstock was modified by adding a hinged buttplate that that allowed the firer to rest this on top of his shoulder and a small plate was added on the underside of the buttstock in which a monopod for elevating the rear of the buttstock was added. The top of the receiver is marked with five lines as follows: “BROWNING AUTOMATIC RIFLE,/--U.S. MODEL OF 1918--/MFD. BY. MARLIN-ROCKWELL CORP./ 249778/--PATENT APPLIED FOR--” there is also a small “Eagle Head 20” proof and ordnance bomb proof also on top of the receiver. The front end of the barrel is marked “M/ordnance bomb/12-18”. On the right side of the receiver there is a small British “Crown / GP” acceptance proof from the London proof house, which may indicate that this was an early World War II British Lend Lease Weapon.
350
LOT 1492
Desirable British Proofed Marlin- Rockwell Corp. U.S. Model 1918 BAR Browning Automatic Rifle with