Old 29er

As a BAR man in WW2 I like to add my comments on the use of the BAR.!st it was a holdover from WW1.It was heavy(20 pounds)and although pretty accurate it was not too popular a weapon.It was 30 cal.loaded from a 20 rd. magazine and was a gas operated and fired from an open bolt which left it subseptable to rain,dust,dirt and sand.The ammo belt had pockets for a dozen 20 rd.mags.which we stipped of all the tracer rounds and reloaded with AP rounds.These plus 2 or 3 bandoleers of 5 rd.clips for reloading plus 2 or 3 grenades,canteen,knife,combat pack came to aload we had to carry.The first thing we did with a new BAR was to remove and throw away the bipod.The reason was that it marked us as an automatic weapons man and a prime target.The BAR was considered as support for the rifle squad.Inthe German squad the MG42 was the fire base for the squad and the riflemen were the support.The MG 42 was with its 1100 rd.per min.rate was much more respected by us as the German squad leaders had MP40s.The BAR fired 600 RPMs vs. !!00 RPMs for the MG42.Which on would you rather have?