You meet a better class of people shooting weekends Neighbor set up a BAR

[indy1919a4]

So must say that when you go shooting at the range on Sundays, one meets a whole better class of shooter.. Met with a friend for some overdue trigger time and to see if he could get his Ortgie to work. (Moral of that story do not take an Ortgie apart at the range).

But the guy in the booth next to us had set up a full service BAR at the range.



Of course my friend immediately went up to the guy and asked if he could shoot one of his BARs, he would let him shoot his Ortgie.. You should have seen the look that guy gave him.. But it worked.. Much to my chagrin there was my friend laying down suppressing fire while yelling for Little John and Cage to stay down while he and the Sarge got them out??? Not quite certain what that was about.. But he was happy.

Had fun looking for Ortgie parts right after my friend says "look how easy this gun breaks down"

But after some new springs and a good shot of oil that little rascal was shooting both ball and Hollow point ammo with no issues.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

View attachment 857273

Of course my friend immediately went up to the guy and asked if he could shoot one of his BARs, he would let him shoot his Ortgie.. You should have seen the look that guy gave him.. But it worked.. Much to my chagrin there was my friend laying down suppressing fire while yelling for Little John and Cage to stay down while he and the Sarge got them out??? Not quite certain what that was about.. But he was happy.

A looong time ago there was a TV show called Combat about a squad fighting in Europe. Kirby was the BAR guy in the squad so I imagine he was "channeling" that character.

 

[AlexanderA]

I assume these are OOW M1918A3 semiautomatics? (I've built two of them, using their receiver kits.)

It's not a good idea to install the carrying handle, like on the gun on the right. This will wear the finish on the barrel, in no time.
(BTW, there's an anachronism in the movie The Longest Day. In the scene where the Rangers are attacking Pointe du Hoc, the BAR gunner has a carrying handle on his weapon. Carrying handles weren't issued until well after D-Day.)

Note the variations in the bipods. The gun on the left has the early legs (wingnuts on the bottom) mated to a late head. The gun on the right has the late legs (wingnuts at the top of the legs) mated to an early head. The owner should at least swap the legs and heads.

ETA: Definitely semis. You can tell by the additional trigger guard mounting pin, barely visible in the picture, just behind the trigger.

 

[Tommygunn]

A looong time ago there was a TV show called Combat about a squad fighting in Europe. Kirby was the BAR guy in the squad so I imagine he was "channeling" that character.

Mid 1960s. The series is available as a boxed set of DVDs from Amazon, for those who may be interested.

 

[Riomouse911]

The first time I fired a magnum rifle I was a 16 year old kid who was watching a husband and wife shoot their Interarms Mark X .375 H&H at the public range in Carson City, Nv.

The husband asked me if I wanted to shoot it... I recall I fired at a target and hit just a tad high at 200 yds. I still have the fired shell caring he gave me in my cartridge collection box.

Sometimes meeting good folks on the range make great memories. I’m sure the ones you and your buddy made as that BAR was fired will last a lifetime.

Stay safe.

 

[indy1919a4]

Mid 1960s. The series is available as a boxed set of DVDs from Amazon, for those who may be interested.

I do not know if this is proper but it looks like you can watch them on the You of tubes channel for free..

 

[indy1919a4]

Sometimes meeting good folks on the range make great memories. I’m sure the ones you and your buddy made as that BAR was fired will last a lifetime.

Stay safe.

Well I tell you, do not know about me, but from the way those guys were looking and pointing at my friend, I think he left a memory with those guys..

 

[fpgt72]

I assume these are OOW M1918A3 semiautomatics? (I've built two of them, using their receiver kits.)

It's not a good idea to install the carrying handle, like on the gun on the right. This will wear the finish on the barrel, in no time.
(BTW, there's an anachronism in the movie The Longest Day. In the scene where the Rangers are attacking Pointe du Hoc, the BAR gunner has a carrying handle on his weapon. Carrying handles weren't issued until well after D-Day.)

Note the variations in the bipods. The gun on the left has the early legs (wingnuts on the bottom) mated to a late head. The gun on the right has the late legs (wingnuts at the top of the legs) mated to an early head. The owner should at least swap the legs and heads.

I have been lucky enough to play with a few different older "machine guns" and I have to say they are a ball on the one hand and meh on the other.....I will try to explain.

There is a huge giggle factor in about anything I have shot that keeps spitting out bullets as long as you hold the trigger....some are much more easy to hit with then others, not much difference there......where the meh come in is it is a bit of a one trick pony.

Now I don't own any so this is just my view as a non owner.....

It is fun for a while, as long as you are not on a two way range, but (I) always fell into well....this is fun but how much did I just spend there. And how quick did that just go.....even reloading I sit there and think...how long would it have taken me to load that many.

Now along the lines of what others have said if they still are priced at 1980's levels....yea I might have one for the giggle factor....but now.....no way.....just too much for what it is.

 

[Speedo66]

There is a huge giggle factor in about anything I have shot that keeps spitting out bullets as long as you hold the trigger....some are much more easy to hit with then others, not much difference there......where the meh come in is it is a bit of a one trick pony.

I would agree, I fired a few at a Knob Creek machine gun shoot in KY. Interesting once, but not something I'm really into long term. Sort of like JetSki's, one ride and I'd had enough.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

So must say that when you go shooting at the range on Sundays, one meets a whole better class of shooter.. Met with a friend for some overdue trigger time and to see if he could get his Ortgie to work. (Moral of that story do not take an Ortgie apart at the range).

But the guy in the booth next to us had set up a full service BAR at the range.

View attachment 857273

Of course my friend immediately went up to the guy and asked if he could shoot one of his BARs, he would let him shoot his Ortgie.. You should have seen the look that guy gave him.. But it worked.. Much to my chagrin there was my friend laying down suppressing fire while yelling for Little John and Cage to stay down while he and the Sarge got them out??? Not quite certain what that was about.. But he was happy.

Had fun looking for Ortgie parts right after my friend says "look how easy this gun breaks down"

But after some new springs and a good shot of oil that little rascal was shooting both ball and Hollow point ammo with no issues.

OMG, Im so Jelly! (as my kids would say)

I had an almost identical experience with a fella at the range who had not one, but two, Israeli semi-auto M2HB belt fed .50s set up one day. He very generously let me bang off 10 rounds from his Ma Duece, but graciously declined to shoot my wimpy little M1a...........

 

[shootstraight57]

I generally go to a public range during the week here in Pa. I have gone a few times on a Saturday or Sunday and found that during the week you see more older guns. I would see the same people and have become good friends with them. Whenever someone has a problem with a rifle or pistol there is always somebody there to help. During the week at the range there are more open ranges to pick from.

 

[Ed4032]

Spock was in Combat.

 

[AlexanderA]

I have been lucky enough to play with a few different older "machine guns" and I have to say they are a ball on the one hand and meh on the other.....I will try to explain.

I have to say that the BAR is particularly bad as a machine gun. I used to own a full-automatic Winchester BAR, and it was certainly a letdown. It didn't take much for the barrel to get glowing hot, and that's even with the limited 20-round magazine slowing the sustained rate of fire. I ended up selling it when I downsized my collection.

A light machine gun needs a quick-change barrel and a belt feed -- characteristics of the M60, the successor to the BAR. (The M60 also has its share of shortcomings, but that's another story.)

The BAR actually makes sense as a semiautomatic. That was part of Browning's original concept, and there was even a proposal within the Army, in the 1920's, to convert the guns to semiautomatic only. That proposal went nowhere, because by that time the Garand was already in development. The main drawback of the BAR as a semiautomatic is that it's just too heavy.

Anyway, the semiautomatic Ohio Ordnance Works M1918A3 is not all that far-fetched as a concept. Too bad that that gun is so damned expensive. I think I have about $4,000 in each of my two.

 

[bannockburn]

indy1919a4

I would say with two BARs to choose from, it was a most excellent range day!

Little bit of Combat trivia: Vic Morrow hated carrying the Thompson around, saying it was too heavy. Eventually they built him a lighter weight prop gun, made mostly out of wood, for those scenes when he wasn't firing it. He still would have preferred an M1 carbine but Rick Jason already had dibs on that (although there was an episode titled "The Squad" where Morrow had an M1 Carbine and "A day in June" where both Jason and Morrow had M1 rifles)!

 

[Tommygunn]

Spock was in Combat.

Spock was in STAR TREK. Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, guest stared in an episode of COMBAT!

 

[Tommygunn]

indy1919a4

I would say with two BARs to choose from, it was a most excellent range day!

Little bit of Combat trivia: Vic Morrow hated carrying the Thompson around, saying it was too heavy. Eventually they built him a lighter weight prop gun, made mostly out of wood, for those scenes when he wasn't firing it. He still would have preferred an M1 carbine but Rick Jason already had dibs on that (although there was an episode titled "The Squad" where Morrow had an M1 Carbine and "A day in June" where both Jason and Morrow had M1 rifles)!

Rick Jason was handed the Thompson on first day of filming. He was an avid hunter and reloader, and familiar with carrying around a weapon for a long time, so he refused and asked for "the lightest weapon" they had. That's how Lt. Hanley wound up with the carbine, where in reality a Lt. would more likely have a Thompson than a Sgt.

Yes, a wood Thompson was built for Vic Morrow. He also refered to the real 1928 Thompson as a "jammomatic." The carbines, Garands, BARs, and German weapons seemed ok with blanks and barrel restrictions ....but for some reason that dang TommyGun jammed up a lot.

Actor Vic Morrow lacked the last joint of his trigger-finger. A prosthetic was made for when close ups or stills required it, but he fired the Thompson with his middle finger.

Oh....one more thing; A wood mock up B.A.R. was made too. The owner of the real one (rented by the producers) didn't want it dunked in mud. I'm sure Kirby enjoyed carrying around the wood gun more than the real one .....

 

[indy1919a4]

indy1919a4

I would say with two BARs to choose from, it was a most excellent range day!

!

Oh it was, and there were 3 to choose from, the 3rd is leaning on the table.

 

[AlexanderA]

Oh it was, and there were 3 to choose from, the 3rd is leaning on the table.

That third one has a bit more wear on it. You can see clearly where a carrying handle wore the finish on the barrel (just above the screw holding the forend). I guess that one was also a semiautomatic?

All three of these guns have the late-type gas regulator. (That's definitely post-WW2.) If using a unmodified gas regulator in a semiautomatic gun, you have to set it, at a minimum, on the largest of the three openings, because the OOW semiautomatic action takes a lot more gas to run than the original FA action. (The action has to cock the M1 carbine-style hammer, something that isn't present in the FA design.) OOW modifies gas regulators by opening up all three of the orifices.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Had to check out this post to determine whether you meant the furniture for serving beverages, the classic JMB-designed autorifle or the generic Southern idiom for members of the family Ursinae. I could imagine any of the three being cause for a weekend social gathering in which rifles are discussed.

Come to think on it, setting up a bar of the Southern idiom summons a vision of a very, very long range turkey shoot style gathering. Now I need to go watch Gary Cooper play Sargent York again.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Spock was in STAR TREK. Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, guest stared in an episode of COMBAT!

Off topic, but I liked it when Nimoy did a guest spot on the Untouchables as a mob muscle, delivering a bomb I think.

BTW, Spock wasn't Nimoy's first role as an alien -- he did a non-speaking part in the 1952 Zombies from the Stratosphere serial. Great period stuff!

 

[indy1919a4]

[QUOTE="
Come to think on it, setting up a bar of the Southern idiom summons a vision of a very, very long range turkey shoot style gathering. Now I need to go watch Gary Cooper play Sargent York again.[/QUOTE]

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Spock was in STAR TREK. Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, guest stared in an episode of COMBAT!

If I remember correctly, he played a Japanese officer, no? Or was that one of the "Outer Limits" episodes he starred in?

Rick Jason was handed the Thompson on first day of filming. He was an avid hunter and reloader, and familiar with carrying around a weapon for a long time, so he refused and asked for "the lightest weapon" they had. That's how Lt. Hanley wound up with the carbine, where in reality a Lt. would more likely have a Thompson than a Sgt.

Yes, a wood Thompson was built for Vic Morrow. He also refered to the real 1928 Thompson as a "jammomatic." The carbines, Garands, BARs, and German weapons seemed ok with blanks and barrel restrictions ....but for some reason that dang TommyGun jammed up a lot.

Actor Vic Morrow lacked the last joint of his trigger-finger. A prosthetic was made for when close ups or stills required it, but he fired the Thompson with his middle finger.

Oh....one more thing; A wood mock up B.A.R. was made too. The owner of the real one (rented by the producers) didn't want it dunked in mud. I'm sure Kirby enjoyed carrying around the wood gun more than the real one .....

Ive often wondered about the muzzle device fitted to Hanley's carbine-

it doesnt look like a blank-firing attachment. My Inland has a similiar thing brazed on-

Its only purpose I can fathom is as a crown protector- a function it certainly does well.

 

[indy1919a4]

Ive often wondered about the muzzle device fitted to Hanley's carbine-
View attachment 857355
it doesnt look like a blank-firing attachment. My Inland has a similiar thing brazed on-
View attachment 857356View attachment 857357
Its only purpose I can fathom is as a crown protector- a function it certainly does well.

Looked into converting m1 carbines to shoot blanks for movie props.. especial in das Olden days.

Was actually looking at converting an m1 carbine so that it would shoot blanks like they would in 1960s movies.

Many of the movie blanks come in 1/2 blanks and 1/4 blanks. The lighter the load the better for the actors ears and the cameras sound recording equipment. But the lighter the load you risk gun jams during the filming. If you want a good example, watch the battle scene in "Hell is for Heros" when Steve Mcqueen is storming the Pill Box.. watch how many times he has to recycle that grease gun.

What they did was weld a washer type device down in the barrel to restrict the gas flow and lets the gun work the gas system..

Now there are many ways of setting up guns to fire blanks.. But this was the way it was done for several studios in the day.

Needless to say I could not do it and left the gun shoot live ammo.. At the time live ammo was cheaper to get then blanks.

 

[Hillbillyz]

 

[AlexanderA]

That picture is unusual in that it shows an unmodified M1918 being used in WW2.