
Browning Automatic Rifle - The year 2016 is coming to an end and it seemed good to underline how the date represents the half century of life of a shotgun that created a story: it was not the first rifled semiautomatic, the same company had produced in the years between the two wars his Mod. 35, but he was certainly the progenitor of the new way of conceiving such a project where the characteristics that decree a success go hand in hand: functionality, possibility of a wide range of calibers including those of considerable substance, design and executive accuracy, elegance and, lastly only for the list, a very favorable quotation. The US brand combined with the one that initially appeared on these rifles, the two letters FN have always been fascinating for gun enthusiasts in general, guaranteeing customers the set of winning features. If we go back to the early 60s, we will rediscover how the rifled barrel had a very limited scope with the northern regions as a catchment area, and of limited diffusion, perhaps a little more between Trentino Alto Adige, the mountain area of Veneto, Friuli and Venezia Giulia. In these cramped spaces the rifled with classic swivel and sliding movement were quite sufficient to perform the tasks to which they were called, but beyond the horizon of our Alps there had long been a very different ferment with a wealth of game and with ways of hunting unusual for us. : Northern Europe and above all the USA and Canada offered hunters very particular panoramas where facing certain types of game could require a more substantial armament than usual, while retaining similar calibers, but having a much higher speed of firing: in these only a semi-automatic mechanism, mounted in a rifle barrel, fulfilled the function. The opening of the areas of Eastern Europe and Asia, up to the distant Kamchatka peninsula, have motivated the use of such a weapon in many situations. The BAR immediately stood out as a prominent element in the specific sector for its technical qualities combined with a variety of calibers that initially started with the .243 Win. to get to the mighty .338 Win. Mag. To satisfy every need even on game of great size and marked robustness.
Mechanics
It is known how the FN or the Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre is one of the two European followers for the manufacture of military weapons, with a specific field among the light ones where automation is the basis of operation. The fame these products enjoy is based on the choice of raw materials, on extremely accurate processing and therefore on a proven reliability. It can be deduced that from these studies the hunting semiauto with the prerogatives of regularity of rearmament and, at the same time, of a usability and an ease of firing management, commendable and well known by users, naturally derived. For many years the closed prismatic castle was milled from a solid steel, subsequently the market demand was followed by opting for an ergal extrusion in order to significantly reduce the weight: the transition was possible thanks to the closing system that binds the seven-wing bolt directly in the breech of the barrel so as to absorb the greater amount of recoil between the two high-strength metal elements, discharging a minimum part of it on the castle. The kinematics starts from a nozzle made in the barrel about 35 cm from the start of the rifling, from which the gas taken vents into a cylinder where a piston moves, connected, through two sturdy rods, to the shutter, a cylindrical block composed of the carriage with lower longitudinal sliding guides, and by the rotating head, joined together by a pin that interacts with an inclined cam.

At the beginning of the cycle, therefore when firing, the head and barrel are joined and only the slide moves backwards: a few mm of travel and the peg moved by the inclined track rotates by about 60 °, releasing the locking tabs and allowing the entire bolt block to complete the stroke, eject the cartridge case, load the spring placed between the rods, under the barrel, and put everything back into the battery by taking the cartridge from the magazine. The details: the ejector is the usual spring pawl placed in the lowered face of the head, next to the firing pin hole, while the extractor, a basic element for the regular functioning of the semiauto, is composed of a considerably large recessed nail in one of the front fins and registered by an indestructible wire spring positioned as follows: a turn around the cylindrical base of the head, right angle and passage through a hole made under a pair of fins, insertion into the working nail, for greater safety, within a T-shaped seat and with orthogonal motion. We do not come to affirm that the anomalies are equal to the possibility that tomorrow the sun will rise from the west, but we are very close. In essence, the kinematics is based on these elements: advanced gas intake point to gain greater cleanliness and lower temperature (combustion is almost finished), less water hammer (the pressure diagram is already in the descent phase), masses of a certain entity and with a long stroke that absorb and distribute the energy better with a reduction in the sensation of recoil and wheelie. These are fatal factors to be able to repeat the shot keeping the rifle on target with some ease. The stock can be made of wood and some proposals on valuable specimens are extraordinary, as well as the synthetic to clear the mind of the hunter from any hesitation of mistreatment in the most adverse conditions that may arise: the fine checkering is replaced by panels in high-grip rubber, the gunsmith parallel to the snow tires in cars, so as to firmly grip the gun with muddy, wet hands or with gloves full of snow. The trigger is enclosed in an easily separable package for cleaning and in the latest version of the weapon called Mk3 the type is adopted Superfeather Trigger, with excellent characteristics of lightness, promptness and dominability: in the models where foreseen the safety works with a cross button placed in the rear prong of the guard, but in homage to current fashion, you can have the battery armament with the slide button placed on the tail of the breech, so the device also acts as an excellent safety. Remembering to disable it if you don't shoot or after shooting. The lever barely protrudes on the right side to release the bolt from the rear position, where it stops when the cartridges in the magazine are exhausted: this can be fixed or of the packet type, very sturdy, and is released by means of an arched button placed between the guard and caseback. Two more novelties of this recent model are represented by the interchangeable pads inflex and from the fully adjustable front sight, combined with the rear sight: in both there are references in colored optical fiber for a quick acquisition on any background or light condition.

The lines have changed a lot from the original ones that have held court for some decades and which still, in the eyes of not very young enthusiasts, maintain a class worthy of the style of JM Browning; those already adopted for some time in the Long Trac and Short Trac versions, for the two classes of .30-06 Sprg cartridges. and .308 Win., are daughters of modernity which, rightly, claims its limelight. Attention to aesthetics is a non-negligible component and having managed to impose this new look on a milestone like the BAR returns to the honor of the Herstal designers. From the castle, always of the closed type, to the stock, from the accessory lines to the conical or fluted cylinder barrel, the whole is a compendium of grit and functionality. As for the chambers, the offer on our market has been restricted to what the mass of customers actually requires: the .30-06 Sprg. it is always at the head of the preferences with the snare of the rediscovered 9,3 × 62, cartridge with a phenomenal stopping power together with a not annoying recoil; together we see the .300 Win. Mag., The .308 Win., The 7 × 64, the .270 WSM; among the many versions proposed today there are those millstones that satisfy a not negligible number of hunters.

To conclude
At the half-century turning point, BAR has largely exceeded one million pieces sold and this speaks volumes about the propaganda that the rifle has managed independently: the satisfied customer is always the best advertising vehicle for every discovery.