Saturday, January 21, 2012

Way To Go, Mr. Browning...!

Hard to believe how much the world of firearms owes to this man!

Starting at a very young age, he managed to make more advances in the world of firearms than nearly anyone else to date! You have to wonder where we would be today without the inventions and improvements of Mr. Browning.

Jan 21, 1855:
Gun designer John Browning is born

John Moses Browning, sometimes referred to as the "father of modern firearms," is born in Ogden, Utah. Many of the guns manufactured by companies whose names evoke the history of the American West-Winchester, Colt, Remington, and Savage-were actually based on John Browning's designs.

The son of a talented gunsmith, John Browning began experimenting with his own gun designs as a young man. When he was 24 years old, he received his first patent, for a rifle that Winchester manufactured as its Single Shot Model 1885. Impressed by the young man's inventiveness, Winchester asked Browning if he could design a lever-action-repeating shotgun. Browning could and did, but his efforts convinced him that a pump-action mechanism would work better, and he patented his first pump model shotgun in 1888.

Fundamentally, all of Browning's manually-operated repeating rifle and shotgun designs were aimed at improving one thing: the speed and reliability with which gun users could fire multiple rounds-whether shooting at game birds or other people. Lever and pump actions allowed the operator to fire a round, operate the lever or pump to quickly eject the spent shell, insert a new cartridge, and then fire again in seconds.

By the late 1880s, Browning had perfected the manual repeating weapon; to make guns that fired any faster, he would somehow have to eliminate the need for slow human beings to actually work the mechanisms. But what force could replace that of the operator moving a lever or pump? Browning discovered the answer during a local shooting competition when he noticed that reeds between a man firing and his target were violently blown aside by gases escaping from the gun muzzle. He decided to try using the force of that escaping gas to automatically work the repeating mechanism.
Browning began experimenting with his idea in 1889. Three years later, he received a patent for the first crude fully automatic weapon that captured the gases at the muzzle and used them to power a mechanism that automatically reloaded the next bullet. In subsequent years, Browning refined his automatic weapon design. When U.S. soldiers went to Europe during WWI, many of them carried Browning Automatic Rifles, as well as Browning's deadly machine guns.

During a career spanning more than five decades, Browning's guns went from being the classic weapons of the American West to deadly tools of world war carnage. Amazingly, since Browning's death in 1926, there have been no further fundamental changes in the modern firearm industry.

I sort of feel that I haven't done much so far after reading of folks like Mr. Browning. Why do I call him Mr. Browning, you ask? Simple! It's a sign of respect! That's something that I feel a lot of...for him and the others of his imaginative nature!

Once again, thanks to the folks at History.com for teaching me something!

Coffee outside again today, as the temps are supposed to go back up to the 80s again!

6 comments:

Phyllis (N/W Jersey) said...

Just proves that one man CAN make a difference!

80 degrees?? It's 14 and snowing outside! Move over - here we come!

Gorges Smythe said...

Brilliant man. Quarter inch of ice on everything here in the Ohio Valley of West Virginia.

JO said...

Interesting story for sure.

It has been beautiful out here at the campground around 75 unfortunately have to pack up and head home

Mayberry said...

One of my heroes!

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
In his case, one man certainly did! Pretty amazing guy!

Sorry I can't share this balmy weather with you, but this is much better than what you have! Not trying to rub it in, ya understand!

Stay warm and thanks for coming by today!


Hey Gorges...
That could make for some hazardous walking, so please be careful!

Bet driving in that stuff is fun, too!

Have a great day and thanks for the visit!


Hey JoJo...
I'm sure glad you found a place with some nice, warm weather!

Sounds like the get away did you some good!

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!


Hey Craig...
How could he NOT be respected by anyone that has ever been around guns very much?

Lots of solders owe their lives to the B.A.R., that's for sure!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by today!

chinasyndrome said...

Evening Jim! you for all the advances in guns and machines to make em,the Hi power and 1911 are still 2 of the best guns in the world!Yep shooters and soldiers owe much to the man.

China
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