1. John Moses Browning was an American firearm designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world.
18 Facts About John Browning
1. 2.
John Browning made his first firearm at age 13 in his father's gun shop and was awarded the first of his 128 firearm patents on October 7,1879, at the age of 24.
3.
John Browning is regarded as one of the most successful firearms designers of the 19th and 20th centuries and a pioneer of modern repeating, semi-automatic, and automatic firearms.
4.
John Browning invented, or made significant improvements to, single-shot, lever-action, and pump-action rifles and shotguns.
5.
John Browning developed the first reliable and compact autoloading pistols by inventing the telescoping bolt, then integrating the bolt and barrel shroud into what is known as the pistol slide.
6.
The John Browning-designed M1911 and Hi-Power are some of the most copied firearms in the world.
7.
John Browning fathered 22 children, including John Moses, and raised two stepdaughters with his wife Elizabeth Caroline Clark.
8.
John 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.
9.
John Browning 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.
10.
John Browning began producing the brothers' designs and other non-military firearms.
11.
John Browning married Rachel Theresa Child on April 10,1879, in Ogden, Weber County, Utah Territory, and the couple had 10 children, two of whom died in infancy.
12.
From 1883, John 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, Model 1895 rifles.
13.
The John Browning Auto-5 was continuously manufactured as a highly popular shotgun throughout the 20th century.
14.
John Browning was known as a dedicated and tireless innovator and experimenter who sought breakthrough consumer-oriented features and performance and reliability improvements in small arms designs.
15.
The premium-priced John Browning Superposed shotgun, an over-under shotgun design, was his last completed firearm design.
16.
Commercially introduced in 1931 by FN, John Browning Superposed shotguns, and their more affordable cousins, the John 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.
17.
John Browning firearms have been made, both licensed and unlicensed, by hundreds of factories around the world.
18.
The John Browning Hi-Power has had a similarly lengthy period of military service outside the United States.