b.a.r &shotgun - ww11

[mcsnead17]

i have a photo of a infrantryman that use a bar for sniping is this possible?next question did they use shotguns during world war 2?

 

[sd0324]

Have not heard of a B.A.R. used for sniping,not a very controllable weapon,but might have been.......shotguns definitely used where needed.

 

[Dan Morton]

Definitely seen photos of Marines in the Pacific using shotguns. Can't tell you where. Try an image search on Google.

BARs as sniping weapons - That sounds pretty doubtful, but I'm not an expert. Certainly you could model its use from a concealed position. Both were also used in WWI.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Luis R.]

Don't know about BAR used for sniping, but it might have been the case. I somewhere read about a US soldier succesfully using a .50 Browning MG for long range sniping in Korea. That may mean soldiers used what they had at hand.

About shotguns, if I'm not wrong the Geneva Convention forbids the use of multiple projectile rounds (buckshot, dum-dum's, etc.). Maybe that's why shotguns, which were in use, are scarce in period pics.

 

[poetwarrior]

The B.A.R. 1918A1 was a select fire weapon being both semi & full auto. The A2 version was full auto. I don't know if it was ever mounted with a scope. It's not impossible, but it probably was not used as a sniper weapon. Yes shotguns were used in WW2 and are still used today.

 

[GunNut]

Originally posted by Luis R.@Sep 14 2006, 04:21 AM
Don't know about BAR used for sniping, but it might have been the case. I somewhere read about a US soldier succesfully using a .50 Browning MG for long range sniping in Korea. That may mean soldiers used what they had at hand.

About shotguns, if I'm not wrong the Geneva Convention forbids the use of multiple projectile rounds (buckshot, dum-dum's, etc.). Maybe that's why shotguns, which were in use, are scarce in period pics.

The most famous M2 .50 used for sniping was in Viet Nam. Charles Hathcock used it to pick off personell at extreme ranges and was a legend. He nailed the longest shot of all time (I think, at least in Viet Nam) with the .50 taking out a VC kid on a bicycle. The .50 was equipped with an unertl scope. Hathcocks record shot stood until the recent Iraq war. I think it was a Canadian with a Barret M82 .50 that broked the record two years ago.

BARs are indeed highly collectible, but very expensive to own in semiauto form. In the US registered full autos are scarce, but can be found if you have the cash.

Any weapon can be used for sniping, there is really no such thing as a "sniper rifle", the sniper is the man. If a BAR fired accurately enough it could easily be pushed into a sniping role from a defensive position, but would likely be judged too cumbersome to fulfill the traditional scout/sniper team role. Then again, Barrets are used today by some sniping teams and they are much heavier. The most common is still the slassic military version of the Remington 700 in .308 Winchester (7.62x51 NATO)