John Browning's Birthday

[BarryinIN]

Today is John Moses Browning's birthday.

Or maybe Sunday is.

He was born on either January 21st or 23rd, depending on the source, in 1855.

If I have to tell you about him and what he did, you aren't worth telling.

[wwillson]

If I have to tell you about him and what he did, you aren't worth telling.

[BarryinIN]

Utah's legislature opens Monday like many others, but unlike others, some are going to try to name an official "state gun"- the 1911- in honor or JMB and the 1911's 100th birth year.

They tried last year but it didn't go anywhere.

A search will pull up a lot of newspaper commentaries from 2010 about how ridiculous it is. That was probably in my thoughts as I made the comment above.

[BarryinIN]

BTW, In my opinion, his most impressive design was the Auto 5 shotgun.

The A5 is taken for granted now, but once people see the challenges he faced in making a semiauto shotgun work with the shells of the period, they are, or should be, impressed. If not, the fact it was decades before there was another successful semiauto shotgun should do it.

Come to think of it, I think I have an article stored that I wrote on that.

My favorite story telling how crafty JMB is:

The way his arrangement with Winchester worked, Winchester's T. G. Bennett (who ran things there) would inform JMB they wanted a certain type of gun design and named off specs. He might say they wanted a lever action rifle that used a cartridge of such and such size, that weighed so much, and could be made in a takedown. Browning would go to work, then show up at Winchester in a few weeks with his brown paper-wrapped packages containing his shop prototypes.

Bennett would look them over as Browning explained them. Someone from the legal department would come up and determine what patents needed filed. Bennett would make an offer for the designs and patents.

Then Browning did what was really smart.

He started opening the other paper-wrapped packages he brought. These were designs that showed how to get around the patents he knew would be filed and granted for the first gun. Bennett would be forced to buy these designs also, to protect the first design.

Browning was smart enough to not only think of the best way to make a certain gun, but to also think of every other way to do it.

[wwillson]

Come to think of it, I think I have an article stored that I wrote on that.

Can't wait to read that one!

Wayne

[BarryinIN]

I just looked for it. Can't find it. I can probably re-do it. I don't think the A-5 gets the recognition it deserves. It was quite an achievement at the time. I think enough of it that of the shotguns I could use, I chose to re-work a Rem M11 (same basic thing) into a home defense gun.

[G-MAN]

Browning was smart enough to not only think of the best way to make a certain gun, but to also think of every other way to do it.

Which is why T. C. Johnson had such a hard time designing the Winchester Model 1911 and why it was a disaster--it didn't even have a charging handle on the bolt!

[Pablo]

Every time I read about this great man, I learn something new and amazing. Aside from the fact that he had, what 13 siblings? When I first started learning about John Browning I thought he could have been so much richer (monetarily) - he didn't nearly exploit his inventions for their full worth, etc. I was just wrong on that count. Oh, I'm sure he could have made more money with his own arms factories or some other path, but boy was I wrong headed to think about it that way.

This kind of inventive genius is so very rare. I mean given the small subset of people who even have such drive, then the mental ability and the hands-on ability. Wow. Amazing guy to say the least.

[BarryinIN]

In the book "John M Browning, American Gunmaker" they talk some about him and money. He never spent much, not because he was miserly, but because he didn't want much. Birthdays and Christmases were tough for the family because nobody knew what to get him.

There is a lot of good stuff in that book. I had always assumed they stopped manufacturing to have more time to design, but there might be another reason. In the book, there is a story of an employee who got hurt, and could have been killed, because they were in such a hurry to complete a gun order. That didn;t sit well with John.

The employee (Tom Emmett) was on a ladder working near the power shafts that ran along the ceiling. John had already commented that they maybe should shut the power down until he was through, but they really needed to keep the work going and he wouldn't be long.

Sure enough, Emmett's vest or coat got caught in the power shaft, wound up, and it threw him around and around between the shaft and the ceiling for a while before they could get the power shut off. He was miraculously not seriously hurt, but John put a stop to all manufacturing soon after that. That may not be the reason, but they think it helped. He didn't like doing it anyway.

Speaking of how much money he could have made, I always like the story of when he and Matt Browning demonstrated and sold the .30 cal machinegun. After the demos and some time to chew things over, the gov't sent for John to negotiate. The gov't wanted to do it as a package deal- They wanted the rights to the .30 cal MG, the BAR, and to continue the agreement on the 1911 pistol (this was 1917).

The officer presenting the offer expected to just make an opening to what could be lengthy negotiations. He prefaced with: "The offer, we know, is only a fraction of what you would receive from royalties on orders already booked, and it may not be acceptable. In that event, negotiations would be necessary."

He then made the offer, which is said to be $750,000. (Standard royalty agreements at the time would have got him over 12 million dollars.)

According to Matt Browning, who was present, John didn't hesitate for a second.

"Major, if that suits Uncle Sam, it's all right with me."

After they left, Matt said something like "You know you could have gotten a lot more without argument, right?"

John's reply:

"Yes, and if we were 15 or 20 years younger, we would be over there in the mud!"

It's interesting to me that he always seemed to negotiate that way for the military, while often squeezing the firearms companies on their designs.

[BarryinIN]

G-man's Winchester M1911 Self Loader is what I've thought of as a perfect example of the corner he boxed other designers into. They didn't make that thing like they did because they wanted to.

[BarryinIN]

From the Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51111900-76/browning-state-utah-herbert.html.csp

State Honors Gun Maker

By Lee Davidson

The Salt Lake Tribune

First published 3 hours ago

Updated 1 hour ago Updated Jan 24, 2011 03:11PM

The Browning model 1911 handgun may — or may not — soon become the official Utah State Firearm but famed Utah gunmaker John Moses Browning had his day of honor at the State Capitol on Monday with speeches, guns, soldiers and even an Apache helicopter to celebrate him.

Browning "had a great deal to do with us as a nation and the wars we fought in," Gov. Gary Herbert told a noon celebration. "We recognize his efforts to preserve the Constitution."

The Legislature last year designated Jan. 24, 2011, as a one-time holiday to honor Browning. The original proposal sought for Browning Day to share Martin Luther King Day, but was moved a bit to the day after his Jan. 23 birthday as civil rights groups protested honoring a gunmaker the same day as King — who was assassinated by a gun.

The Capitol rotunda on Monday featured displays of handguns, machine guns, shot guns, riles and other firearms invented by Browning — some displayed by men wearing vintage World War I uniforms. The Utah National Guard parked an Apache helicopter on the Capitol lawn as part of the celebration.

Herbert signed a declaration on the Capitol steps and handed it to Christopher Browning, the great-grandson of John Moses Browning. He, in turn, gave a special copy of the Browning 1911 to Herbert and the state.

That handgun is probably Browning’s most famous invention, and was used by the U.S military for 70 years — and is still used by some units. Christopher Browning said his great-grandfather gave the patent for that gun and others for next to nothing to the federal government to help the effort in World War I.

Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, who is pushing a bill to declare the Browning 1911 as the official Utah State Firearm, used the celebration to drum up support for his bill. He urged the crowd to stay for a hearing on his bill later in the afternoon.

"There’s going to be some people there who don’t like the idea because they say we’re glorifying an implement of death. No we’re not; we’re glorifying an implement of freedom that has defended America for 100 years," Wimmer said.

He added, "This firearm is Utah."

Utah National Guard Adjutant Gen. Brian Tarbet told the celebration, "When the U.S. military went to war with Browning arms, we went with the best."

Herbert noted that Browning had 128 patents for different firearms, from cannons to handguns. He said he also built Browning firearms into an important Utah company. "He was one of the great entrepreneurs in our state," Herbert said.

[BarryinIN]

... was moved a bit to the day after his Jan. 23 birthday as civil rights groups protested honoring a gunmaker the same day as King — who was assassinated by a gun.

WITH a gun, not BY a gun.

I don't think that error was a political comment, but a typical journalism expert's mastery of English.