BROWNING

The contribution of the brilliant designer John Moses Browning can not be overestimated, analyzing the development of modern small arms. The man who gave his name to one of the greatest weapon companies of our modernity. The man whose inventions created a basis, relying on which for more than 150 years continues to create and improve firearms, is undoubtedly worthy of our deep respect. John Moses Browning was born on January 23, 1855 in Ogden, Utah. He was one of 22 children of Jonathan Browning, who, as a Mormon, had three wives. From early childhood, John was surrounded by weapons, his father worked as a weapon blacksmith and little John learned the name of parts, components and mechanisms before he learned to read. At 23, John Moses Browning received his first patent for a single-shot rifle “J. M. Browning Single Shot Rifle ”, also known as the“ 1879 Model ”. Later he perfected it and under the name "Model of 1885" it is still produced. Shortly before his death, his father, already sick, passed the forge and gun workshop to John and his brother Matt. Together with his brother, they open a small arms factory - a shop called “J. M. Browning & Bros., with a staff of seven and less than a thousand dollars in a bank account. For several years, the company's affairs went with mixed success, until in 1883 Andrew McAusland, a representative of Winchester, accidentally acquired their single-shot rifle. He showed this rifle to the management of the company, which highly appreciated its design and design. T. G. Bennet, a Winchester company manager, went to meet with the Browning brothers, who arrived in Ogden six days later. The contract was made, and the brothers began working for Winchester. Under the wing of Winchester, John Moses Browning patented several of his inventions and invented a semi-automatic rifle with a magazine located under the barrel. The new rifle with such a store has been named Auto - 5, or the Model 1900, and is still being manufactured. In addition, rifles were developed: the 1886 magazine rifle, the 1887 magazine rifle, the 1894 magazine rifle, the 1895 magazine rifle, the 1897 magazine rifle with reloading with a longitudinally sliding forearm (“pump”). Browning Auto-5 shotgun (or Browning A-5) turned out to be one of the most successful and massive shotguns, not only of its time, but of the entire twentieth century. The release of the European model Browning Auto-5 (until 1974, guns were produced in Belgium, from 1974 and until full completion in 1999 — licensed in Japan at the Miroku plant) exceeded two million copies. Browning also worked on systems where for reloading weapons used to withdraw a portion of the powder gases from the barrel. Later he used this scheme in his automatic rifles, machine guns and shotguns. But the management of the Winchester company did not approve of his undertakings, which was the reason for the final transfer of John Moses Browning in 1902 to the Belgian arms company Fabrique Nationale, with which he periodically collaborated before. Today, FN Herstal is a Belgian arms company that is part of the Herstal Group, the largest manufacturer of firearms in the world. And the famous manufacturer of weapons Browning is exactly part of FN Herstal, rightfully entering the largest arms concern with factories in the US, Europe and Japan.

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