Welcome to right this moment’s Photo of the Day! The Colt Monitor was a pioneering automated machine rifle launched in 1931, designed to offer legislation enforcement officers with considerably better firepower when confronting closely armed prison gangs in the course of the Prohibition period in the USA. Primarily based on the Colt Automated Machine Rifle Mannequin 1925 which itself derived from the long-lasting M1918 Browning Automated Rifle, the Monitor featured a shortened and lightened barrel, a Cutts compensator muzzle brake, and sights adjusted for shoulder firing at ranges of 200-600 yards. Chambered for the highly effective .30-06 Springfield cartridge, it was fed from 20-round removable field magazines and able to each semi-automatic and full-automatic hearth round 500 rpm. Whereas the compensator allowed considerably controllable automated hearth from the shoulder, efficient vary was lowered in comparison with a bipod-mounted BAR. In 1933, the FBI bought 90 of the whole 125 Displays produced, however with most police forces missing funding for such specialised firearms, the Monitor noticed restricted adoption regardless of providing revolutionary firepower. It nonetheless turned an iconic weapon from that period.
“That is an exceptionally uncommon early Colt Mannequin R80 Monitor, totally automated, C&R registered machine gun. This was an early Twenties model of the Colt Browning Automated Rifle (BAR) that was produced and offered in very restricted numbers to varied legislation enforcement companies, primarily out East. It was principally an improved and barely redesigned model of the unique Browning design that included a small pistol grip on the rear of the decrease receiver for higher dealing with, in lieu of a pistol grip sort buttstock, a shorter forend, and a barely shorter barrel (solely 18.5 inches) making it simpler to deal with in addition to a redesigned three-position gasoline regulator/plug and a very new and redesigned muzzle brake/flash hider. As famous, these had been marketed to legislation enforcement companies, particularly the early FBI and sheriffs to be used in combating the varied gangsters terrorizing the Midwest banks. Their primary worth was that the police and sheriffs finally realized that the usual Thompson SMG in 45 ACP couldn’t at all times penetrate the heavy metal fenders and automotive our bodies utilized by the auto trade within the Twenties and 30s. Nevertheless, this mannequin was chambered within the significantly extra highly effective 30-06 caliber which made it extraordinarily efficient in combating the varied prison parts within the US.”
Lot 2586: Totally Automated Colt R80 Monitor BAR Machine Gun. (n.d.-a). Rock Island Public sale Firm. {photograph}. Retrieved March 7, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/element/75/2586/fully-automatic-colt-r80-monitor-bar-machine-gun.
