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LOT 1567
Rare and Early Limited Production Ohio Ordnance Works/Colt Model
1918 BAR Semi-Automatic Rifle with Case and Accessories, Serial Number
“00107” - Serial no. C1918-00107, 30-06 Springfield cal., 24 inch round bbl., blue
finish, walnut stock. Manufactured by Ohio Ordnance Works Inc. under license
for Colt as a closed bolt, semi-automatic reproduction of the classic Model 1918
Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), with only 200 such rifles made in a special limited production serial run, this example
being number 107. Designed by the legendary American firearms icon John Moses Browning himself and adopted by U.S.
Ordnance in 1918, the M1918 BAR only saw limited front line use before the end of World War I. However, due to its lighter
weight in comparison to other full-size machine guns of the time, the M1918 could be carried and operated by a single
individual rather than the team required to operate the latter. This allowed to BAR operator to advance
with friendly infantry and lay down mobile suppressive fire from the hip, known as “walking fire”, making it
the first true squad automatic rifle in U.S. military history. After the Great War, the BAR’s portable firepower
attracted favor from both criminals and lawmen alike during gangland era of the 1920s and 1930s, being
the preferred arm for Clyde Barrow of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde bank robber duo. While undergoing
some improvements and revisions over the decades, the M1918 would remain the standard light machine
gun of the U.S. through World War II and the Korean War, before eventually being phased out in the late
1950s. Features a full high-polish blue finish and niter blue small parts in emulation of the original earlier
production M1918s, fixed blade front and M1917 pattern folding ladder peep rear sights, early style
conical flash hider, adjustable gas valve, “S” and “F” marked fire controls on the left side, the Colt address,
model, caliber, and “C1918-00107” serial number marked on top of the front upper receiver flat, along with a “rampant colt”
logo on top of the raised, dovetailed receiver insert. Fitted with a checkered forend, smooth walnut buttstock with smooth
blued steel buttplate, and a Ohio Ordnance Works polished blue magazine. Includes shipping box, extra blued magazine,
M1907 pattern leather sling with brass hooks, “rampant colt” embossed leather/plastic container, sealed cleaning kit, and
“Colt” embossed Negrini leatherette case fitted for the rifle and accessories.
CONDITION: Excellent overall, retaining 99% original blue finish remains with only a few light handling marks and sharp
checkering on the wood. Mechanically excellent. The case is very good with minor scuffing.
Estimate: 10,000 - 16,000
This Ohio Ordnance/Colt Model 1918 is
one of only two hundred produced in a
special production run.