As WeaponsMan says in this blog post, John Moses Browning was the greatest weapons designer ever. But he doesn’t go far enough. Because many of Browning’s designs are still not only in modern service, but still being built by the thousands with only superficial changes over 100 years after they debuted, he is also one of the greatest machine designers in the history of the world.
Here are my two favorites of his countless designs:
The M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun
The M1911 .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol
Kevin R.C. O'Brien
October 2nd, 2013
True dat, Jim. Although the M2 now has a quick-change, self-headspacing barrel that we think JMB would smile to see.
Apart from all the cowboy action imports of Browning-designed Winchester clones, Winchester (well, US Repeating Arms) still makes the Winchester 92, also. And — we are not making this up –North Korea has from time to time built clones of the Browning M1900 (which had an important role in Korean independence). Who knows whether the Norks are still making them, though. Nobody’s on their press-release list.
I think it was Tam (from booksbikesboomsticks) that Browning not only designed stuff for every mission requirement, the stuff he designed was almost always the BEST of its class.
jim
October 3rd, 2013
WeaponsMan, thanks for the great additional points, particularly for pointing me to Tam. And thanks for your service to the US — I appreciate you keeping the bad guys at bay.