Anyone have any experience with the Ohio Ordnance Works M1918A3 BAR?  Interested in good and bad.  

Thanks,
Todd

They are good, fun, and heavy!

IM Evil_Ed for a full product evaluation.

He and his dad have one. He let me try it out one day this week. I'm guessing that, dressed out with a full mag of 30.06, and the bipod installed, it comes in at around 24 lbs. That's good for soaking up the recoil. It really facilitates fast recovery between shots. On the downside, and despite my best impression of Steve McQueen in the "Sand Pebbles", I had to take it out of my shoulder every third shot while in the offhand position to rest, due to the weight! Time to go back to the gym with Hans and Franz to get pumped up!
   

My only comment is that they're cool. Never been able to get my hands on one but would love to shoot it. Don't think I would ever own one though.

Id buy one just to round out my US WWII collection if I had the spare cash...of course Id rather get the real deal .

Cheap 06 is hard to find these days.

 Whatever you do:  DO NOT EVER FIRE A REAL ONE!!!! For after you have done so...the universe is all the more pale when you realize, "Goddammit, I can't take it home with me!"

 I, for one, have never been the same.  Maybe we need a BARANON.

Quoted:  Whatever you do:  DO NOT EVER FIRE A REAL ONE!!!! For after you have done so...the universe is all the more pale when you realize, "Goddammit, I can't take it home with me!"  I, for one, have never been the same.  Maybe we need a BARANON.

Hell, watching the Dillon machinegun video was enough.

I got to put one mag through one once, and Ive had the bug ever since. That nice slow pop-pop-pop-pop sticks with you

That's a fact, me pops has one, and I'm looking at picking one up for myself. That way I won't feel bad when I accidentally drop it He has the bakelite-stocked version. (If/when I get one, it'll be all wood.)

It's one big heavy sucker, but man, it's more accurate than I am, and it's just...cool. It's a bit heavy to fire offhand; I guess practicing a lot with it would help that. The recoil is more of a solid push instead of a sharp thump, like on a Garand. I think my underfolding AK recoils more.

It's a genuine BAR parts kit, all WWII or so manufacture (mine has a barrel date of July of 1945)...the only non-original part is the receiver, as far as I know.

Ejection is positive and vigorious. It'll come back and kiss the receiver, but it's suprisingly constant in it's ejection path.

The ONLY PROBLEM with mine...is light strikes. I'm guessing because the trigger group springs are some 50+ years old...they kind of got weaker over time. Out of all the rounds we fired out of it, I think we had a combined total of close to 8 light strikes, out of I'd guess 50 or 60 rounds through it. That's something that's probably easily fixed, though.

Because it fires from a closed bolt, slapping home a full 20 round mag takes a good smack to make it seat. I usually download to 19 rounds; it makes seating the mag easier. It'll seat with 20 just fine, but it'll take more than a light tap to seat the mag with the bolt closed

There is no bolt hold open.

Takedown takes some getting used to, but it's fairly uncomplicated. It's pretty easy to clean, suprisingly. It doesn't get very dirty in the receiver area, and with the proper scraping equipment, the gas area cleans up in no time. (Basically just scraping down a plug, etc.)

It's still not completly broken in yet (less than 500 rounds through it, total), but I'm betting it only gets neater with age/use.

If you can afford it, pick one up. Mags are dirt cheap, .30-06 surplus is available, and nothing quite looks as cool as a BAR when it's held at hip level, ready to sweep as it was designed and invented to do.

Too bad it's not open-bolt/full-auto

Dammit!  You made me cry!!!

 I'm a big BAR

Could we have some pics please?

Quoted: Could we have some pics please?

Ohio Ord

Okay, so they machine their own receiver, why is it so expensive? If it was a third of that price, I'd seriously consider one. But, for what they are asking, I'd have to go for a .50 BMG.

Quoted: Quoted: Could we have some pics please? Ohio Ord Okay, so they machine their own receiver, why is it so expensive? If it was a third of that price, I'd seriously consider one. But, for what they are asking, I'd have to go for a .50 BMG.

"The difference between men & boys, is the price of their toys." If you want to play, you have pay.

I once knew an old Chief deputy in Georgia who was in his late teens during the "Bonnie & Clyde" era and had been trained by some of the men who faced this brand of thug. He carried a BAR in the trunk of his car with probably 20-25 mags loaded with ball, tracer and AP. I got to shoot it a couple of times myself...mucho fun...and I DAMN sure would not have tried running a roadblock where he had set up!

He is long gone now, and I often wonder where that old war horse is today.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Could we have some pics please? Ohio Ord Okay, so they machine their own receiver, why is it so expensive? If it was a third of that price, I'd seriously consider one. But, for what they are asking, I'd have to go for a .50 BMG. "The difference between men & boys, is the price of their toys." If you want to play, you have pay.

I saw this in the the morning, and thought about it today. I guess it really isn't that much after all. It's a little higher than I'd like to see.
Unfortunately, the house needs remodeling done first.

A friend of mine has a dream (obsession is more like it) of acquiring two of those.  We would then shoot the Rattle Battle at Perry like it originally was done; two BAR's and four 03 Springfields.  He actually talked to some the CMP people about it this year. They haven't called us back yet to make arrangements but its only been a couple of months.........

I tried explaining to him that Ohio Ord probalby wasn't going to loan us the guns to do it, but hope springs eternal.

Would be cool tho.  Pretty sure we could get our picture taken if we pulled that one off.  

I have one and am completely satisfied.  The rifle is capable of 1 MOA with match ammunition!  I have experienced no "light strikes", failure to feed, or failure to extract/eject.  The rifle is heavy and somewhat difficult to shoot off-hand, due to it's bulk. The only MINOR issue is the 6-7 pound trigger pull, which can make target shooting a bit more challenging.

If you have the cash to spend, I would strongly recommend you get one.  Believe me, you will not regret it!

[Homer drooling] Hmmmmmm....the Rattle Battle with BARs and bolts.....Hmmmmm [/Homer drooling]

Quoted: I have one and am completely satisfied.  The rifle is capable of 1 MOA with match ammunition!  I have experienced no "light strikes", failure to feed, or failure to extract/eject.  The rifle is heavy and somewhat difficult to shoot off-hand, due to it's bulk. The only MINOR issue is the 6-7 pound trigger pull, which can make target shooting a bit more challenging. If you have the cash to spend, I would strongly recommend you get one.  Believe me, you will not regret it!

I need to call them still and explain the problem to them...I've heard their customer support is awesome.

Now to find a way to pay off my CC debt, while scraping together 3+k for one...

Evil-Ed, I did have a problem with some surplus ammo I shot.  The ammo had the shoulder set too far back and it exhibited, what one may call a "light strike", in that a couple rounds required two attempts to fire.  The problem with this ammo was rather easy to identify since the primers were halfway out of the cases after firing.  After I noticed this little feature I measured several cartridged and found the set back shoulders.  Cannot recall off hand who's ammo it was so I shall not say, for now anyway.

BTW, their customer service is awesome.  You might want to discuss a M1918A2 with them if you are serious about acquiring such a weapon.  I have seen them on their shelves before.  Be prepared to shell out a significant chunk of change and you will be in for a relatively long wait before you receive approval.  Personally, I prefer the A3 over the A2 for the serious shooter.  The A2 is fun, but is nowhere near as accurate as the A3, even if you A2 is a Marine issue selective fire.  Besides, it is far to expensive to feed and requires too much discipline not to burn up barrels.

Quoted: Evil-Ed, I did have a problem with some surplus ammo I shot.  The ammo had the shoulder set too far back and it exhibited, what one may call a "light strike", in that a couple rounds required two attempts to fire.  The problem with this ammo was rather easy to identify since the primers were halfway out of the cases after firing.  After I noticed this little feature I measured several cartridged and found the set back shoulders.  Cannot recall off hand who's ammo it was so I shall not say, for now anyway.

Well, I know for a fact it's not the ammo...it was the primo Danish surplus that the CMP and Ammoman sells. It's about as good as surplus .30-06 gets. I fired piles of the same lot through a Garand (and even a Johnson rifle), without any light strikes. The light strikes fired just fine when fired out of another rifle, or cycled through the BAR again. I'm almost positive it's just a weak spring somewhere...

BTW, their customer service is awesome.  You might want to discuss a M1918A2 with them if you are serious about acquiring such a weapon.  I have seen them on their shelves before.  Be prepared to shell out a significant chunk of change and you will be in for a relatively long wait before you receive approval.  Personally, I prefer the A3 over the A2 for the serious shooter.  The A2 is fun, but is nowhere near as accurate as the A3, even if you A2 is a Marine issue selective fire.  Besides, it is far to expensive to feed and requires too much discipline not to burn up barrels.

Which one is this, the A1918 that they list on their web site? The main difference that I can see is the checkering on the wood forend, no carry handle, and the lack of a bipod...?

Yeesh, a lot more moolah for that, too. Wonder what the other differences are?

Thanks everyone for the information.    

Todd

I love MINE!

Thanks for the pics guys! I seriously need to get one now. How much longer will Ohio Ordnance works make them? I kinda think of them as a limited run gun, but they have been out for a few years now. I think the 1918A3 BAR would look killer next to my two Thompsons, the 1927A1 and my M1! Damn if only I still had my Garand!

Ok, I talked to OOW, looks like their A1918 model is the WWI incarnation of it, using original WWI parts, it seems. WWI barrel, handguard, gas regulator, rear sight, buffer, buttplate, and trigger group. And, no bipod or front sight cover. The whole rifle is blued, not parked.

Hrm! That sounds neat