John Browning

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This article is about John Browning the American weapon designer, and not John Browning the pianist, or John Browning the football player.

John Moses Browning (January 21, 1855 – November 26, 1926), born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of weapons which were used in the U.S. military for decades in the 20th century. He is sometimes referred to as "the patron saint of automatic fire." He is credited with 128 gun patents—his first (for a single shot rifle) was granted October 7, 1879.

From 1883, Browning worked in partnership with the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and designed a series of repeating rifles and shotguns, most notably the Winchester Model 1887 and Model 1897 shotguns and the Winchester Model 1885, Model 1886 and Model 1894 rifles, all of which are still in production today. Until his death in 1926, Browning designed weapons for Colt, Remington, his own company and Fabrique Nationale of Belgium. Whilst working on a self-loading pistol design for the latter company he died, in Liege, of heart failure.

Several of his most notable designs are still in production today. The most notable include:

• The Winchester Model 1887 lever-action repeating shotgun;
• The Browning Auto-5 semi-automatic shotgun of 1902;
• The Browning M1910 semi-automatic handgun;
• The Colt Model 1911 semi-automatic handgun;
• The Model 1917 water-cooled machine gun;
• The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) of 1918;
• The Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun of 1921.

The 9mm self-loading pistol he was working on when he died was eventually completed in 1935, by Belgian designer Dieudonne Saive. Released as the Fabrique Nationale GP35, it was more popularly known as the Browning Hi-Power.

The Colt 1911, Browning 1917, and the BAR saw action in World War I, World War II and the Korean War, with the 1911 going on to serve as the United States's standard military sidearm until 1986; a variant is still used by special operations units of the USMC and FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, and the design is very popular amongst civilian shooters. The Browning Hi-Power would have a similarly lengthy period of service outside the United States, and remains the standard sidearm of the United Kingdom's armed forces. The M2 heavy machine gun is still in widespread use throughout the world.

In 1977 FN acquired the Browning Arms Company which had been established in 1927, the year after Browning's death.

Perhaps the most famous individual Browning-designed firearm was a Browning M1910 handgun, serial number 19074. In 1914, the pistol was used by Gavrilo Princip to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, an event which sparked off the First World War. The pistol was rediscovered in 2004. [1]

Browning belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a two year mission for the church in Georgia beginning on March 28, 1887. His father Jonathan Browning, who was among the thousands of Mormon pioneers in the mass exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois to Utah, had established a gunsmith shop in Ogden in 1852.

Patents

• U.S. Patent 220,271 Winchester 1885 single-shot, Browning’s first patent
• U.S. Patent 306,577 Winchester 1886 and Model 71 lever action rifles
• U.S. Patent 336,287 Winchester Model 1887/1901 lever action shotgun
• U.S. Patent 385,238 Winchester 1890 pump action rifle
• U.S. Patent 441,390 Winchester 1893 and 1897 pump action shotguns
• U.S. Patent 465,339 Winchester 1892 lever action rifle
• U.S. Patent 524,702 Winchester 1894 lever action rifle
• U.S. Patent 544,657 Colt 1895 machine gun
• U.S. Patent 549,345 Winchester 1895 lever action rifle
• U.S. Patent 580,924 Colt 1900 automatic pistol
• U.S. Patent 632,094 Winchester 1900 bolt action single shot .22 rifle
• U.S. Patent 659,507 FN/Browning Auto 5 shotgun, also Remington Model 11
• U.S. Patent 659,786 Remington Model 8 semi-automatic rifle.
• U.S. Patent 678,937 Browning Model 1917 machine gun
• U.S. Patent 747,585 Colt 1903 automatic pistol
• U.S. Patent 781,765 Stevens 520 pump action shotgun
• U.S. Patent 808,003 Colt Model 1905 in 45 ACP (predecessor to the M1911)
• U.S. Patent 947,478 FN Model 1905 and Colt Vest Pocket in 25 ACP
• U.S. Patent 984,519 Colt 1911
• U.S. Patent 1,065,341 Browning .22 Automatic Rifle
• U.S. Patent 1,143,170 Remington Model 17 and Ithaca 37 pump action shotguns
• U.S. Patent 1,276,716 Colt Woodsman
• U.S. Patent 1,293,022 Browning Automatic Rifle Model of 1918
• U.S. Patent 1,424,553 FN "Trombone" pump action .22 cal repeater (Rare in USA)
• U.S. Patent 1,525,065 37mm automatic cannon
• U.S. Patent 1,578,638 Browning Superposed over/under shotgun
• U.S. Patent 1,618,510 FN and Browning Hi-Power pistol
• U.S. Patent 1,628,226 M2 machine gun in 50 caliber

References

• John Browning & Curt Gentry. John M. Browning, American Gunmaker. NY: Doubleday, 1964. OCLC 1329440