Colt Monitor
Overview
Colt Monitor
FBI special agent practices with the Colt R80 Monitor in 1936.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation -
© Public domain
Light machine gun
Description
Introduction
The Colt Monitor is a pre-World War 2 era automatic machine rifle of American origin. It was introduced in 1931 and aimed at law enforcement sales. The Colt Monitor was intended to be used by specialist officers in situations where they encountered heavily armed gangsters. Despite lacking commercial success, the Monitor became an iconic 1930's firearm that is featured in many novels an movies centered around organized crime the US prohibition era.
Design
The Colt Monitor is a specialized variant of the Colt Automatic Machine Rifle Model 1925. The Model 1925 is a commercial variant of the iconic M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle that features a pistol grip and shorter, dust cover, heavier fluted barrel and larger wooden forearm. Whereas hip fire techniques were standard practices on the battlefield, this was not acceptable for law enforcement use. The Monitor has a shorter and much lighter barrel to make it more portable and allow for shoulder firing. A large multi-slotted Cutts compensator was added to the muzzle to improve controllability of automatic fire. Sights were changed for firing at a more practical 200 to 600 yards.
Firepower
The Monitor is chambered in .30-06 Springfield and fed from a 20 round detachable box magazine. It is a select-fire rifle with semi-automatic and fully automatic settings. The cyclic rate of fire is about 500 rpm. The large Cutts compensator makes automatic fire from the shoulder somewhat controllable. When fired from the shoulder the effective range is much reduced when compared to later BAR models fitted with a bipod. The Monitor offered an unprecedented level of firepower at a time the vast majority of rifles were bolt action rifles.
Users
In 1933 the FBI adopted the Colt Monitor as their fighting rifle. The FBI purchased 90 of a total of 125 Monitors produced. The Monitor was offered for export sales but proved unsuccessful, unlike other variants of the Browning Automatic Rifle. Very few law enforcement agencies had the funding or the need to acquire heavy weapons like the Colt Monitor.
Details
Media
Colt Monitor
Right side view of a Colt Monitor. Note the shorter barrel and large multi-slotted compensator.
Source: Rock Island Auction House
Copyright: Copyright lies with original owner
Colt Monitor
Left side view of a Colt Monitor.
Source: Rock Island Auction House
Copyright: Copyright lies with original owner
Related articles
BAR M1918
The Colt Monitor is a variant of the Browning Automatic Rifle design that was first introduced as the M1918 during World War I.