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John Moses Browning
These pathways over
hills are like the ways
Worn by thought I follow
Through thicket patch and hollow
John Moses Browning
John Moses Browning was born January 23, 1855 in Ogden, Utah, where his family moved after the Mormon Exodus of 1847. By the time he was 14, he had designed and built his first gun out of scrap metal. It was a single shot rifle for his brother Matt.
His first patent was awarded in 1879 for a single-shot, breech-loading rifle. In 1879 Browning also married his wife, Rachel Teresa Child. in 1883, John and Matt Browning got their first big break. A representative from the Winchester Repeating Arms Company came through their small town, and was amazed by Browning's rifle. He took it back to the Winchester Company, and the vice-president of the company saw it and was amazed as well. Winchester bought the rights to manufacture and sell Browning's rifle. It cost them $8,000.
Browning made firearms for Winchester until 1902. His relationship with Winchester ended when he had a design for an auto-loading shotgun, and Winchester saw no real potential for the gun, and it was expensive to make. He was so angry with the Winchester Company, that he broke his ties with them, and headed to Belgium, where , for a struggling company, Browning would be just what the doctor ordered.
In Belgium, Browning contacted the company of Fabrique National (F.N.). F.N. marketed the gun, and it revolutionized the hunting market in Europe. Remington also produced Browning's auto-loading shotgun, and christened it the Model 11.
By 1900 Browning had also started to develop the automatic pistol. He wanted to make an innovative pistol that was easy to use and easy to load, and his first step on this new path was the slide. It covered the barrel and the firing mechanism. When his pistol was perfected he brought it to Colt and F.N. In production they were made in tiny .25ACP caliber, to massive Government .45ACP caliber. His first auto-pistol was manufactured by F.N. and sold as the the Model 1900, and was manufactured in .32ACP caliber. His most famous gun is the Colt Model 1911 .45ACP. Which is still in use today, as an officer's sidearm.
Whether you support guns, or are completely anti-gun; you cannot deny the impact that John Moses Browning has had on the manufacturing, designing, and marketing in the gun industry.
To learn more about John Moses Browning, visit the Northstar, Alaska school district website
Please feel free to email me with any suggestions, comments, or corrections
To see some of the firearms that Browning's genius led to the design of, click here