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BAR Question
HES21
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 12:45 AM UTC
I read somewhere that none of the US Rangers BAR gunners in WW2 bothered with the bipod because it was too heavy. Was this the case with the US Airborne too, or did they stick with it? Any help would be great!
redneck
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 02:34 AM UTC
I can’t speak for the airborne units but it appears many solders ditched the bipeds on the BAR due to the weight.
There for I would assume you could correctly depict almost any BAR gunner without the bipeds.
Johnston_RCR
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 03:03 AM UTC
It wasn't so much based on unit, as it was on individual preferance. Soldiers will be soldiers, and will tinker with everything and ditch anything they dont need to fight or eat. Especially with Airborne though, I wouldnt imagine very many gunners keeping the bipod on their BARs. Airborne troops will lose any weight they possibly can, so they can jump easier and move faster. Also, a lot of them probably didnt see the point when it was easier to use a nearby rock or windowsill, or sandbad as support.
erichvon
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 09:36 AM UTC
The BAR wasn't actually issued to Airborne troops as it was considered too bulky for para drops from what I've read. Nice weapon but too big.
Davester444
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 01:11 PM UTC

Quoted Text

The BAR wasn't actually issued to Airborne troops as it was considered too bulky for para drops from what I've read. Nice weapon but too big.



I believe the Airborne did have BARs, but they were not issued until Operation Market Garden. I may be wrong, though.

Dave
HES21
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 03:00 PM UTC
Thanks guys - I realise I have to think on a 'wider scale', as it was mainly due to their preferences, not just what their company did as a whole. (And its for Bastogne - I think your right about no BARs in Normandy for the Airborne!) Many Thanks again!!
nato308
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 03:04 PM UTC
BAR's - Although there are no paper trails that say BAR's were issued to para's, there is clear photographic evidence of para's with BAR's in Normandy. This has been debated by the historians, so much so that Mark Bando conceded that there were indeed para's with BAR's, but points out that there is no paper trails. So the debate remains did they jump with them? Or did they pick them up off another fallen soldier? As for the bipod, most were removed as in warfare it made the rifle more combersome, and more difficult to shoot than what it was worth.
pzkfwmk6
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Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 03:04 PM UTC
One of the main reasons the bipod was ditched was it readily identified you as a light machinegunner.
This is especially true in the pacific theatre, as the nips looked for anyone carrying something out of the ordinary.
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