Mystery M1918 BAR

[DLansky]

I have been presented with the opportunity to purchase a Colt M1918 BAR. the gun has a number of features that are different from a typical M1918 BAR. the rear sight has no side protective wings. the barrel ends right after the gas block. it is not threaded and has no flash hider. the barrel is not dated and there are no ordinance marks. there are no swing swivels. the gun is not marked Browning Automatic Rifle or Browning Machine Rifle. there is no reference to patents. rather, in the place you would typically see the makers mark and serial number, it is hand stamped (not roll stamped) "Colt Pat. Fire Arms" and "Hartford, Conn". for the serial number it is hand stamped "XM" and then a five digit number.

 

is this a prototype or an early commercial model? any help would be appreciated. thank you.

[darrylta]

Have you looked in Jim B's book?

-Darryl

[Sandman1957]

Have you seen the form 4? Is it registered as a Colt? Post photos when you can.

What type of stock and forearms are on it.

[DLansky]

I am waiting on the forms. it is currently on a form 4 in Connecticut. the seller indicates that the form 4 and the form 3 from his dealer when he bought it both show Colt as the manufacturer. it has a checkered wood fore grip and a wood stock. the gun is blued as opposed to having a black oxide or parkerized finish. there is no bipod. I will try to post a few pictures

[emmagee1917]

The earliest prototypes were open top ( you can see the locking shoulders ) and a sliding safety / selector on the top right . Later ones were normal closed top with ejection port style and the rotory selector with stops introduced at the same time . All had barrels longer than the gas cylinder ( as known , anyway ) ,most with rear sights without wings ( look like '03 springfields to me ) , and no flash hiders . Colt did not make a lot of them , so I think the serial number might have been added after registration was required . Winchester made the production models , and they were pretty much standerdized by then . The lack of patent info is understandable , the govt. put a hold on the patent's approval till after the war . Didn't want unfriendly eyes to see them. I'd say the barrel has been cut .

Pictures are a must .

If you're thinking about buying , Ballou's book is a must have.

Chris

[emmagee1917]

PS.....wood foreend and stock , blued finish , no bipod would all be correct WW1 era features . No sling swivels noted till Winchester's first production.

Chris

[DLansky]

unfortunately the pics are larger than 4mb each and will not upload.

[DLansky]

ok. I re-sized the pictures. please let me know what you think.

BAR 1.pdf

BAR 2.pdf

BAR 3.pdf

BAR 4.pdf

BAR 5.pdf

BAR 6.pdf

BAR 7.pdf

BAR 8.pdf

BAR 9.pdf

BAR 10.pdf

[emmagee1917]

This looks to be a later prototype . Still pre-production though.

The barrel is the correct length and the muzzle looks correct.

The reciever is the later closed-on-top with the rotary selector and safety stop button .

The foe end is a bit funky , don't know about those holes nor the cut by the reciever and the step down in the wood .

The early gas tube had several holes just aft of the gas adjustor which I don't see here . Does this already have the three left / three right up by the barrel ?

Anything behind those holes ? Maybe a gasport trial run ?

That is the early prototype rear sight .

Either a very rare real deal ( I think it is ) or a very well executed fake .

Might see if you can get ahold of James Ballou .

Chris

Edited July 24, 2014 by emmagee1917

[DLansky]

Emmagee 1917, thank you for your comments. how might I get a hold of Mr Ballou? I will see if I can get pictures of the areas you questioned.

[darrylta]

Go to browningautorifle.com/contact/ to get Jim's site.

He is also a regular at the WWIIBARMAN forum.

 

For some reason I was not able to copy/paste the link.

 

Interesting gun, like Chris says, it may be the real deal.

 

Good luck,

Darryl

[Mongo]

I noticed several differences int he receiver. The charging handle is also vety different than what was adopted. Very interesting piece of history.

[emmagee1917]

I sent him an email through Armor Press . I know he has been having health problems that has held up his new book for a few years now . I hope he's up to viewing this . Would be nice if this could get into his new book , too.

Chris

[dalbert]

David,

 

It has the same rear sight as what Ballou notes was the "first of four top-eject prototypes." The barrel length is also the same, and it was not threaded, either.

 

I'm leaning toward a testing prototype, maybe one of several similar guns. Just my guess...

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

[21 smoker]

This looks similar to one of 4 `prototypes` that were displayed at the Creek in 2007?....Jim Ballou,Bill Douglas and myself viewed them up close. Those gentlemen had owned some of those particular examples at sometime in last fifty years....and may shed some light on this one.

[FrankSPPD]

Definitely check with Bill Douglas. A great person to talk to.

 

I have seen other Colts from the old Engineering Vault that were hand stamped in the same manner as your BAR with the old X serial number. There was a big difference in the GX and X serial numbers, and I believe that it had to do with US Government or Colt proprietary design patterns. You still see Colts done with X serial numbers for prototypes and Experimental guns for US Government funded contracts done with a GX serial number.

 

There was a gentleman in Connecticut that had several registered Colt machineguns with the same markings (BARs and a 1917 watercooled) that were hand stamped. All were supposedly sold out of the Colt Collection at the CT State Library - in the deal that caused so much controversy back in the 1970's, and cast so much of the Colt military prototypes into private hands, which is a godsend to some collectors.

 

Extremely interesting BAR. Now is anyone can find the new in the white Colt BAR that was used as the pattern for the other manufacturers, it was supposed to be hand built and still in the white, and unassembled. I heard about it from a gun collector friend, when I was assigned to the Groton Sub base. I never got duked into the network up there to get to see it, but I did get to see and fire a bunch of the machineguns stored at the Hartford PD and CT State Police.

 

Congrats on your find!