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John Moses Browning

John Browning is generally recognized as one of the greatest firearms designers. His designs extend not just to handguns, but encompass rifles, shotguns and machineguns. He is best known for his many contributions to the design of self-loading firearms.

Browning was born in 1855 in Utah. His father was a gunsmith by trade and his son showed an aptitude for firearms as a young boy and worked in his father’s shop. At the age of 14, he made his first rifle from scrap he found in the shop.

In 1878, he received his first patent. By the time he was married and a father, he was a full-time gun maker. His career as a firearms designer was ensured when T.G. Bennett, vice president of Winchester, purchased one of Browning’s single-shot rifles. This spawned a partnership with the company that lasted for some 19 years. During that time, the company purchased Browning’s Models 1886, 1894 and 1895 lever-action rifles as well as his 1887 lever-action and 1897 slide-action shotguns.

After returning from his compulsory two-year service as a Mormon missionary, Browning continued with his work as a gun designer. He began experimenting with self-loading firearms in 1889. Browning’s first successful machinegun design was the Model 1895, a gas-operated weapon that was ultimately made and sold by Colt.

His first self-loading pistol was also a gas-operated design. Shortly afterwards, Browning and Colt entered an agreement where that company would make and sell his pistols in the United States.

Browning intended to sell his pistols in Europe and that led to another partnership with Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium. It was in this adopted country that Browning worked on his final pistol design, the P35 High Power. He died in Belgium before the pistol was completed. At his funeral, he was lauded by countless of his co-workers.