# What kind of gun is this in the picture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2008, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289 "2008-09-19T11:18:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/1 "2008-09-19T11:18:08Z")
[here](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/USMC_Okinawa_Thompson.JPEG) is a photo of Marines in World War II in Okinawa. The man on the left has a Thompson gun. The guy on the right - what is he holding there? Is that some kind of short shotgun with an external box magazine? Some captured Japanese weapon that I don’t know about? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/2 "2008-09-19T11:41:23Z")
Looks to be a [Browning Automatic Rifle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Automatic_Rifle). ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/3 "2008-09-19T11:44:26Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > [here](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/USMC_Okinawa_Thompson.JPEG) is a photo of Marines in World War II in Okinawa. The man on the left has a Thompson gun. The guy on the right - what is he holding there? Is that some kind of short shotgun with an external box magazine? Some captured Japanese weapon that I don’t know about? Looks like a [BAR](http://tri.army.mil/LC/cs/csi/m1918bar.jpg), or [Browning Automatic Rifle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Automatic_Rifle) to me. It was the light machine gun in use for both world wars, the Korean conflict and saw limited use in Vietnam. It was replaced by the M60, which fires a similar caliber round and was based on the German MG series. The M60 was later replaced by the Squad Automatic Weapon, or M240. ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/4 "2008-09-19T11:44:33Z")
To my untrained eye that looks like a [BAR](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1918_Browning_Automatic_Rifle). ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/5 "2008-09-19T12:07:50Z")
Wow, can’t believe I missed that. I’ve always known what a BAR was - I’ve seen them in movies, in video games, and I’ve seen real ones in person. But for some reason, because of the foreshortened perspective of the image, and the angle of view, I thought that it was something else. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/6 "2008-09-19T12:09:28Z")
It is definitely a BAR. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/7 "2008-09-19T12:23:04Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > The M60 was later replaced by the Squad Automatic Weapon, or M240. Nitpick: The Squad Automatic Weapon is an M249. It fires a 5.56mm round. The M240 has no name other than “Two Forty”. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/8 "2008-09-19T12:24:20Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > …The M60 was later replaced by the Squad Automatic Weapon, or M240. The M249 SAW augmented the firepower native to the Rifle Platoon when the M16 went to three round burst. It is situated with each fireteam (I may be wrong, it may be with the Squad). The M60 remained in inventory in the Weapons Platoon as it did before. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/9 "2008-09-19T13:55:20Z")
So, is the guy on the right, the BAR tender? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/10 "2008-09-19T14:05:37Z")
He’s the Bargainer. ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/11 "2008-09-19T14:07:48Z")
[QUOTE=BMax] It was the light machine gun in use for both world wars, the Korean conflict and saw limited use in Vietnam. It was replaced by the M60, which fires a similar caliber round and was based on the German MG series. The M60 was later replaced by the Squad Automatic Weapon, or M240. [/QUOTE] Minor nitpick - actually M60 construction borrowed a lot from German [FG-42](http://world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl11-e.htm), getting only feeding system from MG-34/42 (and a little modified one). ---
**Author:** ![WillSantini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@WillSantini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillSantini)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gun-is-this-in-the-picture/464289/12 "2008-09-19T15:14:17Z")
> [@UncleBill](#): > > The M249 SAW augmented the firepower native to the Rifle Platoon when the M16 went to three round burst. It is situated with each fireteam (I may be wrong, it may be with the Squad). The M60 remained in inventory in the Weapons Platoon as it did before. Yes, the M249 SAW is assigned to each fire team.