The BAR is a light support weapon of US origin. The BAR was developed by John Browning in 1917, was was actively used until the mid 20th century. The name BAR stands for Browning Automatic Rifle, but it is also known under the US military designation M1918.

The BAR is a box fed gas operated automatic weapon. Although classified by most as a light support weapon, it was conceived as an automatic rifle, just as the name implies. It features a large metal receiver with a short wooden forearm. The long barrel is fully exposed for better air cooling. Most BAR have a wooden stock, but the latest models were fitted with a plastic stock.

The BAR fires the .30-06 round from a 20 round magazine. Early versions were select fire. Later versions were fully automatic only, with a selectable slow and high rate of fire of about 400 and 650 rpm. Due to the weight and limited rate of fire the BAR is very controllable. The effective range is well over 400 meters against point targets.

The BAR was widely used before World War 2 and was actively used by various nations during World War 2, most notably by the United States. After World War 2 the BAR quickly became obsolete with the widespread introduction of battle rifles and general purpose machine guns. In some nations the BAR was used until the 1980's.