Designed by John Moses Browning, the M1918 Browning automatic rifle came late in World War I, but didn’t see widespread deployment until World War II and the Korean War. It served until the early years of the Vietnam War, where it was superseded by the M60 GPMG.

Ohio Ordnance Works has made a name for itself reproducing a high-quality semi-automatic 1918A3 variant that is a near-ringer for the old war veteran designed by Browning.

This, however, isn’t your granddaddy’s BAR.

Robert Landies III (above) is a Marine Sgt. and the Special Projects Manager at Ohio Ordnance Works who decided that the BAR needed a 21st Century upgrade, and the result is something that looks like a heavily-modded AK from a distance, but which is a beast all it’s own… and I do mean it is a beast.

Chambered in .30-06 (as it should be), the rifle feeds from a proprietary 30-round magazine.

The rifle weighs in at a cool and stout 12.5 pounds, and thanks to a combination of its weight and a hydraulic dampener in the stock, recoil is less than that of a .223. Landies III showed me video of it being fired in slow-fire and rapid fire, and even one-handed, without any appreciable recoil at all.

The rifle has Picatinny rail everywhere you would want it, a barrel with lightening cuts (and lightening cuts in the receiver as well), and it threaded for brakes, flash suppressors, suppressors of your choice.

If you’re familiar with the original, you’ll note that they reconfigured the bolt release so that the operator can drop a magazine and hit the bolt release with his trigger very quickly and get right back into action.

We’re going to be keeping on close touch with Ohio Ordnance Works, and will put some more information out there as it ramps up for a production run.