John M. Browning
At the age of twenty-three, John M. Browning was working in his family's gun repair shop. One particular day, he was repairing a single-shot rifle. He turned to his father, who was now old, and said in disgust, "I could make a better gun than this myself." The intent of the comment was to tell his father that the gun wasn't any good. His father instead took the comment quite literally and replied, "I wish you'd get at it." The impact of that conversation must have been strong because one year later John M. Browning had completed the design of a single-shot rifle that became known as the 1885.
Model 1885
At that point a revolution in gun design took place, The world of guns and gun design would never be the same again. John M. Browning was the most prolific designer of firearms in history. His designs would tame the west, put food on the table, protect families and win wars. With 128 patents, every modern autoloading pistol has John Browning's signature on it. A few of his designs:
If the designs and the longevity of a design can judge an Engineer. Then John Browning is truly the master.
His Lever Action Rifles settled the west and have killed more deer then any other rifle. He invented the Automatic Shotgun and brought us the Colt 45 1911 pistol. The 1911 is still used Today by most every competition pistol shooter and was used by the army until 1987. His .30 and .50 cal Machine Guns are the standard that all others are judged by and are still in use today in Armies around the world. Every autoloading pistol made today is a copy of the Browning design.