Colt Monitor and The Highwaymen

[LtDave]

Probably need a Super .38 Colt too.

[Bigghoss]

I was unaware of the Monitor, my first reaction was wait a minute, I thought they used BARs. Learning occurred watching the Forgotten Weapons episode!

He released a whole series of episodes on variations of the BAR in short succession, very cool stuff. And you'll probably want to check out Project Lightning too.

[Jim Watson]

Ithaca Auto-Burglar Gun, none of these hacksaw jobs.

[ralph]

I first learned what a Colt Monitor was in the excellent novel G-Man, by Stephen Hunter. I got very interested in it and bought an expensive book on the BAR by Collector Grade Publications titled "Rock In A Hard Place."

I thought I was over it after reading the book and realizing how mechanically complex it was, among many other reasons.

After seeing it in the promo for Highwaymen, that interest has returned in spades. After watching the video from Forgotten Weapons and seeing that detent that would screw with the operation of the safety.

I think a bit over 150 of them were produced, and when they do come on the market they command a hefty price. Here is a link to one that sold for $115K: https://www.rockislandauction.com/de...D1yBCz2q39_v9s

I watched the field stripping episode of "Project Lightening"last night, the idea was to take the bolt out of the gun, that's it..When the BAR's turn came up, I was shocked..one literally had to detail strip the gun just to get the bolt out..The Lewis gun they used for example was waaay easier.. I'm not going to spoil it for everybody by telling who the winner was, but, I was suprised..

[Ed L]

I watched the field stripping episode of "Project Lightening"last night, the idea was to take the bolt out of the gun, that's it..When the BAR's turn came up, I was shocked..one literally had to detail strip the gun just to get the bolt out..The Lewis gun they used for example was waaay easier.. I'm not going to spoil it for everybody by telling who the winner was, but, I was suprised..

Do you have a link to that episode of project lightening or some way that I can find it.

[idahojess]

Do you have a link to that episode of project lightening or some way that I can find it.

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ject-Lightning

It's a pretty good series to watch, particularly with a cold and snow outside.

[Ed L]

Thanks so much. I was able to find the video which shows the field stripping or detailed disassembly of the BAR at about 33.10 in. It wasn't as bad as I expected after looking at the diagrams, but it was bad enough. In order to access the bolt you need to detail strip the gun. I can see that John Browning was a mechanical genius--but the problem is, I am not.

[ralph]

Thanks so much. I was able to find the video which shows the field stripping or detailed disassembly of the BAR at about 33.10 in. It wasn't as bad as I expected after looking at the diagrams, but it was bad enough. In order to access the bolt you need to detail strip the gun. I can see that John Browning was a mechanical genius--but the problem is, I am not.

That's it in a nutshell..imagine what it would've been like in WWI, in a trench and you have a problem, and you have to take it apart.. To be fair though, they did say in the video that after WWI, there were some changes made to make field stripping much easier. Still, I'd bet some of these 1918 BAR's slipped through, and some poor sap in WWII drew the short straw, and got stuck with one.. I always thought the BAR was cool, but the reality is, it was obsolete during WWII, but, the U.S. did'nt have anything better..IMO, the BAR was outclassed by at least a couple of German light machine guns, and by the British BREN..

[SeriousStudent]

This is going to make me want to double down on finding a beater model 11 to turn into a whippet gun.

I gots a Browning Auto-5 with a Form 1 pending.

[Bigghoss]

I gots a Browning Auto-5 with a Form 1 pending.

I just checked Armslist for local model 11's. Found two that would be good. I really shouldn't right now though...