It would not seem that BAR celebrated its fiftieth birthday last year, it would not be said because the basic project still remains one of the most brilliant solutions to the problem of constantly working a semiautomatic rifle chambered also for cartridges of considerable prestige. The studies launched in Herstal by the FN Browning group in the early 60s had taken a definite shape in 1966 when the first specimens were distributed on the market, immediately receiving an expected public consensus, certainly, but perhaps not even conceivable at the beginning. The design and execution had immediately guaranteed an almost total reliability, winning the favors of a clientele that had not found similar correspondence in the numerically very low competition of the time. The designs of military automatic weapons had been taken into due account so that the point of gas intake in the barrel, the moving masses, the spaces and times required for the firing cycle gave an excellent balance with the possibility of repeating the shots while maintaining easily the weapon in aim; the system of extraction and ejection, the accuracy of the details of the loader completed the work.
In the 90's BAR was given a notable reinterpretation by introducing the two Long and Short Trac versions for the two classes of cartridges underlying the .30-06 Sprg. and from .308 Win. The changes were mainly aimed at the stock, decidedly new after Benelli, the only Italian competitor in the sector, had made its debut with the Argo, a valid project supported by a futuristic aspect that had taken hold on the public. The mechanical base had not required updates except for detailed elements, but very comfortable, such as the shutter stop with empty tank and the external lever to close it together with a visual recall (red dot) to signal the incomplete advancement of the same if activated manually. The numbers speak for themselves: they have exceeded 1.100.000 pieces sold and we do not believe there is anything else to add.