A salute to the master - John Browning

[tlawler]

I'll add my thanks as well. Great thread, I'd never seen it before. Learned some new things about the man and I look forward to watching the documentary on yootoob. Interesting that some states have an official State Gun. I looked it up and only 8 have one so far. Utah was the first in March of 2011, quickly followed by Arizona in April of 2011. Followed by Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. I'm surprised that Texas isn't listed.

 

[BB57]

We seem to have a dearth of capable gun designers today, as opposed to engineers who design guns. They often lack soul now, beauty being a non-factor. Sometimes, even the mechanical side is lacking.

For every Sam Colt, Georg Luger, Bill Ruger, or JMB, there are hundreds of engineers. That's why we have things like Colt's MK III revolvers and the Glock, I guess.

Engineers are by and large not all that creative. Engineers are instead pretty good at researching and finding technology and then applying that existing (new or otherwise) technology to a design to make it lighter, or less expensive to manufacture. Engineers rarely make things "stronger" or "better", unless the original design wasn't lasting long enough.

The ability if not outright genius it takes to invent new concepts is very, very rare.

-----

There's also the darker side of getting those new ideas and designs into the marketplace. For years John Browning worked exclusively with Winchester, who bought his designs with no intention of ever producing them. They bought them to prevent anyone else from producing them.

Eventually in 1998 JMB grew tired of that and invented a new concept in the form of licensing his designs for a share of the profits - while requiring the design be produced as part of the negotiation. Winchester balked and Browning walked. He started collaborating with FN and if you think Browning was big in the US, he was HUGE in Europe.

The same thing still happens with new concepts and designs in the US - they get bought out for a single cash payment just to prevent them from ever going into production.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The Colt Mark III was designed by Karl R. Lewes who also designed the Dan Wesson revolver and the Browning Lever Rifle.
The fact that the M1911 is still in production and the Browning HP had an 82 year production run is the real testament to JMB's genius, his designs were so sound that they required next to no modification with regards to either design or manufacturing processes. His BAR and machine guns served us in 4 major wars.

 

[6518John]

The fact that the M1911 is still in production and the Browning HP had an 82 year production run is the real testament to JMB's genius, his designs were so sound that they required next to no modification with regards to either design or manufacturing processes. His BAR and machine guns served us in 4 major wars.

Exactly what I was thinking watching the video. Who here would feel defenseless with a 1911, Hi-Power, BAR, Ma Duce, or Auto 5 in hand?

Now I will speak blasphemy. Watching the video, visiting the Browning Museum and reading several books about him leads me to believe (speculate) that he would be impressed and admire the simplicity of Glocks and other modern polymer firearms of today. His touchstone in his design is if 70 parts will work, try to get it down to 60. Make it simple to manufacture. Make it simple to work on. Make it where you can take it apart and put it back together blindfolded (like he did with the BAR).

 

[DWalt]

I wonder-if JMB had lived longer would the Browning High Power have been more like the M1911-designed around the 45 ACP so it could take smaller rounds with minimal redesign.

The Browning short recoil pistol design was initially made in a smaller caliber, the .38 ACP starting with the Model 1900, and followed by several succeeding models in the same caliber. The HP was designed by Dieudonné Saive at FN using the basic Browning short recoil principle.

 

[1911haulic]

Awesome thread, thanks for sharing.

 

[mikerjf]

Just mentioning this because it's something I didn't know and maybe others don't either---

John Moses Browning's father was named John Browning and was also a gun designer. (I think he invented the harmonica rifle.)

The Nauvoo IL shop was the father's shop, but many of his son's designs are on display there.

 

[bgrafsr]

He was a little eccentric also, as he built an ice skating rink in the basement of his home.

 

[DWalt]

He was a little eccentric also, as he built an ice skating rink in the basement of his home.

Didn't John Garand do that also? Never heard about Browning being a skater. See Page 2.
http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/John_Garand_M1_Rifle_Inventor-pdf

 

[mtgianni]

Engineers are by and large not all that creative. Engineers are instead pretty good at researching and finding technology and then applying that existing (new or otherwise) technology to a design to make it lighter, or less expensive to manufacture. Engineers rarely make things "stronger" or "better", unless the original design wasn't lasting long enough.

The ability if not outright genius it takes to invent new concepts is very, very rare.

-----

There's also the darker side of getting those new ideas and designs into the marketplace. For years John Browning worked exclusively with Winchester, who bought his designs with no intention of ever producing them. They bought them to prevent anyone else from producing them.

Eventually in 1998 JMB grew tired of that and invented a new concept in the form of licensing his designs for a share of the profits - while requiring the design be produced as part of the negotiation. Winchester balked and Browning walked. He started collaborating with FN and if you think Browning was big in the US, he was HUGE in Europe.

The same thing still happens with new concepts and designs in the US - they get bought out for a single cash payment just to prevent them from ever going into production.

IIRC, when Win said no he started designing auto loaders for Remington, both shotguns and the Model 8 rifle.
When his nephew was in WW1 on the trenches he wrote to his father, Matt. 3 weeks later the US Army gave him a courtesy test. He had brought with him a very basic Garand along with requisite drawings and specs. They wanted to know, how much? The patent was free to the US military if they could get it into production for the current war.

 

[xtrtsqrt11]

I have a video titled, AMERICAN GUNMAKER - The John M. Browning Story. narrated by Fess Parker of Daniel Boone fame. An excellent story about the life of John M. Browning.

The video was produced by, GROBERG COMMUNICATIONS 180 West 1950 South Bountiful, Utah 84010 running time 58 minutes. Groberg may still have this video available. Got mine 10 + years ago. I play it often.


T.L.R.

Excellent video and it's on You Tube....

 

[Qc Pistolero]

Nobody ever comes close to him when it comes not only to the quantity but also quality of new firearm related inventions.

 

[edjack]

The Browning video

I have a video titled, AMERICAN GUNMAKER - The John M. Browning Story. narrated by Fess Parker of Daniel Boone fame. An excellent story about the life of John M. Browning.

The video was produced by, GROBERG COMMUNICATIONS 180 West 1950 South Bountiful, Utah 84010 running time 58 minutes. Groberg may still have this video available. Got mine 10 + years ago. I play it often.


T.L.R.

The video posted on Youtube is of poor quality. Is your copy much clearer?

 

[BigBill]

The greatest machine gun ever designed almost 100 years old.

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0aRPeoz09LM[/ame]