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BAR magazine pouch -- what is it?


thunderw21
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Reading through the March 17th, 1945 issue of "Army Talks" magazine I saw the following quote in the combat tips section.

 

A Browning Automatic Rifle magazine pouch hooked to the cartridge belt provides a convenient place to carry three grenades.

What is the BAR magazine pouch? Sounds like it's a stand alone pouch that can be slid onto or hooked to a pistol belt or cartridge belt.

 

Does anyone know?

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I would assume that they mean one side of the standard BAR belt. It is common to see these made into bandoleers as well.

 

I don't know of any other BAR magazine pouch.

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There were field expedient items as well.You will often see photos of the Rangers in North Africa or Italy wearing the meat can pouch off the model 28 packs as a pouch attached to a ammo or pistol belt.

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I would say that is possible. It took some looking, but I did find my WW1 BAR bandoleers. Unfortunately there is not an easy way to attach the bandoleer to anything, it really needs to be carried as a bandoleer.

 

post-11957-0-52278700-1450028607.jpg

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Two frags fit each pocket, it is a tight fit, but they do fit.

 

Due to the short strap on the bandoleer, I think it would be difficult to wear and quickly retrieve a grenade from the bandoleer. I'll get one of BAR belts and see if that would be easier to attach to a cartridge belt.

 

BTW if anybody has a photo of this happening I would like to see it.

 

Peter

 

post-11957-0-62549700-1450028874.jpg

post-11957-0-33545800-1450028875.jpg

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I would agree that surplus Bandoleers are a good interpretation of that notation.

There was a spate of these around years ago, virtually all of them in mint condition, so it would appear that there may not have been a whole lot

of demand for them to be used in their intended function...just a theory.

Picked up a couple of colorful examples, both made by the Long Company in May of 1918...

post-3226-0-19780400-1450199884.jpg

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I did some experimenting and have found a way to easily attach a BAR belt to a cartridge belt. I do want to be clear that I have no evidence this was actually done. I simply approached the problem as a soldier looking for a way to make this work without a lot of effort.

 

First is the back side of WW2 era cartridge belt followed by the back side of a 1942 dated BAR belt.

 

post-11957-0-31777000-1450240938.jpg

post-11957-0-65801100-1450240958.jpg

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As soon as you see the back of both belts, you'll probably quickly come to the same conclusion I did ... just weave the belts together much like the modern MOLLE connection.

 

I used the connector belt between the cartridge belt halves to weave them together.

 

post-11957-0-58179400-1450241385.jpg

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With the two belts weaved together the BAR belt hangs naturally below the cartridge belt allowing reasonable access to both.

 

post-11957-0-09348500-1450241599.jpg

 

post-11957-0-64876600-1450241646.jpg

 

What I noticed is that the belt that connects the two halves of the cartridge belt was too short to attach two halves of the BAR belt to the cartridge belt. Attaching one half of the BAR worked well with the exception it interfered with attaching other things to the BAR belt such as canteen, first aid kits, etc although they could still attach to the BAR belt.

 

I'm sure someone else could come up with a different way of attaching.

 

I welcome your thoughts.

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Let's dissect the quotation.

 

'A Browning Automatic Rifle magazine pouch hooked to the cartridge belt provides a convenient place to carry three grenades.'

 

The first few words, 'A Browning Automatic Rifle magazine pouch...', I think most-likely refers to a single pouch cut from a BAR belt. The next few words, '...hooked to the cartridge belt...', could mean either with an M1910 belt hook secured to the back with a billet of stitched canvas, or as simple as a piece of wire poked through the back of the pouch and through the eyelets of the cartridge belt. At least that's what comes to mind when I read the quote.

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Hello,

 

on this photo, taken on Okinawa island, you'll see the Marine BAR rifleman wear a combination of half BAR belt on the left and half rifle belt on the right plus a BAR bandoleer ... very original combo, isn't it ?

 

E

 

 

post-17306-0-66522500-1450525674.jpg

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With the two belts weaved together the BAR belt hangs naturally below the cartridge belt allowing reasonable access to both.

 

BAR belt hanging from cartridge belt back small.jpg

 

BAR belt hanging from cartridge belt small.jpg

 

What I noticed is that the belt that connects the two halves of the cartridge belt was too short to attach two halves of the BAR belt to the cartridge belt. Attaching one half of the BAR worked well with the exception it interfered with attaching other things to the BAR belt such as canteen, first aid kits, etc although they could still attach to the BAR belt.

 

I'm sure someone else could come up with a different way of attaching.

 

I welcome your thoughts.

To simplify on this, you could use wire between the lower eyelets of the cartridge belt and the upper eyelets of the BAR belt half to hang it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Was thumbing thru the 25th Division WW2 history book and found this photo of a soldier at Balete Pass 1945. If you look below the cartridge belt, it appears there are at least two BAR pockets. It also looks like there is a strap in front of the pockets that could be from a BAR bandoleer rather than a BAR belt. Unfortunately this scan is from a book and the photo isn't well lit.

 

Peter

post-11957-0-01278500-1452930042.jpg

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[quote name="sgtpeter" post="2053480" timestamp="1450028920

Two frags fit each pocket, it is a tight fit, but they do fit.

 

Due to the short strap on the bandoleer, I think it would be difficult to wear and quickly retrieve a grenade from the bandoleer. I'll get one of BAR belts and see if that would be easier to attach to a cartridge belt.

 

BTW if anybody has a photo of this happening I would like to see it.

 

Peter

 

Perhaps this is what led to the development of that five pocket grenade pouch that hung from the belt?

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