John Browning

Browning's father Jonathan—who was among the thousands of pioneers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who made an exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Utah—established a gunsmith shop in Ogden in 1852. As was common in the Latter-day Saint community at the time, Jonathan Browning was a polygamist, having taken three wives. He fathered 22 children, including John Moses, and raised two stepdaughters with his wife Elizabeth Caroline Clark. Browning worked in his father's Ogden shop from the age of seven, where he was taught basic engineering and manufacturing principles, and encouraged to experiment with new concepts. He developed his first rifle, a single-shot falling block action design while he was still his father's apprentice, then, in 1878, in partnership with his younger brother, co-founded John Moses and Matthew Sandefur Browning Company, later renamed Browning Arms Company. The company began producing the brothers' designs and other non-military firearms. By 1882, the company employed John and Matthew's half-brothers Jonathan (1859–1939), Thomas (1860–1943), William (1862–1919), and George (1866–1948). Like his father, Browning was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and served a two-year mission in Georgia beginning on March 28, 1887. He married Rachel Theresa Child (September 14, 1860 – September 30, 1934) on April 10, 1879, in Ogden, Weber County, Utah Territory, and the couple had 10 children, two of whom died in infancy. == Firearm designs ==

Production examples of the Browning Model 1878 Single Shot Rifle caught the attention of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, who dispatched a representative to evaluate the competition. Winchester bought the design for $8,000 and moved production to their Connecticut factory. From 1883, Browning worked in partnership with Winchester and designed a series of rifles and shotguns, most notably the lever action Winchester Model 1887 and the Model 1897 pump shotgun, the falling-block single-shot Model 1885, and the lever-action Model 1886, Model 1892, Model 1894, and Model 1895 rifles. After falling out with Winchester, Browning designed the long recoil operated semi-automatic Remington Model 8 rifle. Many of the models are still in production today in some form; over six million Model 1894s had been produced as of 1983, more than any other sporting rifle in history. Having recently successfully negotiated firearm licenses with Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium (FN), Browning took the new shotgun design to FN; the offer was accepted and FN manufactured the new shotgun, honoring its inventor, as the Browning Auto-5. The Browning Auto-5 was continuously manufactured as a highly popular shotgun throughout the 20th century. In response, Winchester shifted reliance away from John Browning designs when it adopted a shotgun design of Thomas Crossley Johnson for the new Winchester Model 1911 SL, (Johnson had to work around Browning's patents of what became the Auto-5) and the new Model 1912 pump shotgun, which was based in small part upon design features of the earlier Browning-designed Winchester Model 1897 shotgun. This shift marked the end of an era of Winchester-Browning collaboration. == Later work and life ==

The premium-priced Browning Superposed shotgun, an over-under shotgun design, was his last completed firearm design. It was marketed originally with twin triggers; a single trigger modification was later completed by his son, Val Browning. Commercially introduced in 1931 by FN, Browning Superposed shotguns, and their more affordable cousins, the Browning Citori made in Asia, continue to be manufactured into the 21st century and come with varying grades of fine hand engraving and premium quality wood. Throughout his life, Browning designed a vast array of military and civilian small arms for his own company, as well as for Winchester, Colt, Remington, Savage, Stevens, and Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium. Browning firearms have been made, both licensed and unlicensed, by hundreds of factories around the world. Browning Arms Company was established in 1927, the year after Browning's death on November 26, 1926, in Liège, Belgium. In 1977, FN Herstal acquired the company. == Legacy ==

The M1895 Machine Gun saw action in the Spanish–American War with the United States Marine Corps. The Colt M1911, Browning 1917/19, and the BAR saw action with US forces in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. The M1911 went on to serve as the U.S.'s standard military side arm until 1986; a variant is still used by special operations units of the United States Marine Corps and the design remains very popular among civilian shooters and some police departments. The Browning Hi-Power has had a similarly lengthy period of military service outside the United States. The .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun – the enduring "Ma Deuce" – was developed in 1918, entered service with the US Armed Forces in 1921, and has remained in active service for over a century with militaries across the world in a variety of roles. The 37mm M4 autocannon was initially designed by Browning in 1921 and entered service in 1938; it was used both in aircraft and on U.S. Navy PT boats during World War II. == Products ==

Several of Browning's designs are still in production today. Some of his most notable designs include: ; Cartridges: • .25 ACP • .32 ACP • .38 ACP • .380 ACP • .45 ACP • .50 BMG • 9mm Browning Long ; Pistols: • FN M1899/M1900 (.32 ACP) • Colt Model 1900 (.38 ACP) • Colt Model 1902 (.38 ACP) • Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer (.38 ACP) • FN Model 1903 (9mm Browning Long) • Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless (.32 ACP) • Colt Model 1905 (.45 ACP) • FN Model 1906 Vest Pocket (.25 ACP) • Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket (.25 ACP) • Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless (.380 ACP) • FN Model 1910 (.32 ACP, .380 ACP) • FN Model 1922 (.32 ACP) and (.380 ACP) • U.S. M1911 pistol (.45 ACP) • Browning Hi-Power (9mm Parabellum) started by Browning but completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal • Colt Woodsman pistol (.22 LR) ; Shotguns: • Ithaca Model 37 pump-action repeating shotgun • Stevens Model 520/620 pump-action repeating shotgun • Winchester Model 1887 lever-action repeating shotgun • Winchester Model 1893 pump-action repeating shotgun • Winchester Model 1897 pump-action repeating shotgun • Winchester Model 1912 pump-action repeating shotgun • Browning Auto-5 long-recoil semi-automatic shotgun, also produced as Savage Model 720 • Browning Superposed over/under shotgun • Remington Model 17 pump-action repeating shotgun ; Rifles: • Winchester Model 1885 falling-block single-shot rifle • Winchester Model 1886 lever-action repeating rifle • Winchester Model 1890 slide-action repeating rifle (.22 LR) • Winchester Model 1892 lever-action repeating rifle • Winchester Model 1894 lever-action repeating rifle • Winchester Model 1895 lever-action repeating rifle • Winchester Model 1900 bolt-action single-shot rifle (.22 LR) • Remington Model 8 semi-auto rifle • Browning 22 Semi-Auto rifle (.22 LR) • Remington Model 24 semi-auto rifle (.22 LR) • FN Trombone pump-action rifle (.22 LR) • M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) (.30-06) ; Machine guns: • M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun air-cooled gas-operated machine gun • M1917 Browning machine gun water-cooled recoil-operated machine gun • M1919 Browning machine gun air-cooled recoil-operated machine gun • M2 Browning machine gun .50-caliber heavy machine gun • M4 cannon 37mm Automatic Gun, work lapsed on death and not restarted until 1934 == Selected patents ==

• Browning, John, and Curt Gentry (1964). John M. Browning, American Gunmaker. New York: Doubleday. . == External links ==