it has sometimes been said that the m1918 or m1918a2 bar was used by symbionese liberation army (sla) members in a shootout with los angeles police. this happened on 17 may 1974. however, no sla members ever used such a weapon. this confusion happened because browning decided to call its semi-automatic hunting rifle the browning bar. the sla changed a browning bar hunting rifle to automatic fire. it was this weapon that was used in the shootout.