# U.S. Rifle Model 1918 Browning Automatic .30, SN 12701 (Springfield Armory NHS, SPAR 3565)

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/nps-spar-3565-bar-m1918/

NPS museum catalog record for a Colt-made Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, described as the "First production Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle off the Colt production line." It illustrates the rifle type traced from National Guard armories to the Barrow gang in 1933.

The catalog says the rifle was donated to the Armory on 22 July 1943. This rifle has no crime history. It illustrates the model: the 1933 Bureau of Investigation reports trace Browning automatic rifles of this type from National Guard armories to the Barrow gang, and the serial numbers of those guns are in the [report of 1 September 1933](/items/fbi-vault-barrow-weapon-trace-1933-09-01/).

**Object:** Rifle, Model 1918 Browning Automatic, .30, serial number 12701  
**Maker:** Colt (Hartford, Connecticut); designer John M. Browning  
**Date:** 1918  
**Provenance:** donated to the Springfield Armory museum on 22 July 1943  
**Appears in:** NPS catalog, SPAR 3565

## Sources

- National Park Service, Springfield Armory National Historic Site (NPS Museum Collections): https://museum.nps.gov/ParkObjdet.aspx?rID=SPAR%20%20%20%203565&db=objects&dir=CR%20SPAR