He made his first firearm at age in his fathers gun shop, and was awarded the first of his 128 firearm patents on october 7, 1879, at the age of 24. Gander author see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. The john m browning american gunmaker biography book 12980 is the authentic biography of the man many have called the worlds greatest gun inventor. These were employed in similar ways and with great success to the point that the browning design largely replaced the british besa series machine guns then in use. Aug 30, 2011 please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from wikipedia or other free sources online. The m2 light tank, officially light tank, m2, was an american preworld war ii light tank which saw limited use during world war ii. Browning were not actually imported under the browning name for many years. John moses browning 18551926 of ogden, utah, was the inventor. It was nicknamed ma deuce by us troops or simply called fiftycal. Brownings most successful designs include the m1911 pistol, the watercooled m1917, the aircooled m1919, and heavy m2 machine guns, the browning automatic rifle, and the browning auto5 the first semiautomatic shotgun. An important derivative of the m2 browning is the mitrailleuse d.
Brownings hipower is considered to be the first of the wonder nines. Us army m24 chaffee light tank fighting in salzburg, austria, early may 1945. John m browning american gunmaker biography book 12980 5. Many manufacturers made his designs before the browning brand was established as a. Their aim was to make a light, reliable heavy machine gun with the same damage. Very few machine guns in the history of the world own a legacy such as that of the famous browning m2 heavy machine gun series. Available knowledge on the performance of a german. The book has a 100page photographically illustrated technical section that describes all of john m. This is the worse reference book i have ever purchased. Its design is similar to browning s earlier m1919 browning machine gun, which was chambered for the. M2 browning simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Torpedoman second class richard malecki sitting astride a mark xiii aerial torpedo aboard pt184, may 1945. Dec 12, 2019 lighter restoration of a broken machine gun model browning m2. Both of these weapons have a very long, respected history and are still in.
The m2 is crew transportable with limited amounts of ammunition. It is a first story of going global europe usa japan in early 20th and late 19th century. Dec 20, 2017 known by its official designation of browning machine gun, cal. Featuring a foreword and afterword by chriss wife, taya kyle, and illustrated with more than 100 photographs, this new paperback edition features a bonus chapter, the eleventh gun, on shotguns, derringers, and the browning m2 machine gun. A collection of books and mainly original browning goods, originally destined for a collectors specialty store. Some of these arms are still manufactured, often with only minor changes in detail and cosmetics to those assembled by. Isbn 9781419100178 9781419100178 softcover, kessinger publishing, llc, 2004. Note mark 6 depth charge in the foreground and a twin browning.
Browning, however, did not foresee that his machine gun would be widely used in the air as well as on the ground. Many books have been written about the m2 machine gun, but this is the. It is very similar in design to browning s earlier m1919 browning machine gun, which was chambered for the. Lighter restoration of a broken machine gun model browning m2. His military arms were considered to be outstanding. Its design is similar to brownings earlier m1919 browning machine gun, which was chambered for the.
Feb 12, 2020 well, this adage comes to mind when i think about the m2 browning. What became known as the m2 started on john brownings drawing board working with colt as a scaledup m1917a1. First conceived during world war i, the browning m2 has been in production since 1933. Many manufacturers made his designs before the browning brand was established as a firearms brand on the actual rifles, shotguns, and pistols. John moses browning january 23, 1855 november 26, 1926 was an american firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms many of which are still in use around the world. Repulogepekre szantak, mert hajlamos volt tulhevulni. Browning m2 receiver rt side plate blueprint internet archive. It is a heavyduty machine gun designed by john browning and was first introduced as the m1921. Understanding browning product history can be confusing. The m2 also saw widespread use during the war by britain and her commonwealth nations including australia, canada, south africa and new zealand.
The history of browning firearms is a captivating and wonderfully illustrated chronicle of one of the most influential and legendary names in gun smithing history. Also known as the model 1935, p35, hp35, gp, gp35 and high power, this pistol was one of brownings last designs. In 1932, the design was updated and redesignated as the m2, but was often referred to as the fiftycal. These 4 guns were used to make the longest sniper kills in.
There are contemporary books with the signatures of elizabeth browning, or robert browningbut these names were not exclusive to the poets. Schwings browning superposed is one of the best gun books that ive ever read and ive read quite a few. M2 browning machine gun project gutenberg selfpublishing. This basic mechanism was retained for all further designs of browning machine guns, from the aircooled 7. Browning inherited his fathers gun making shop and developed it into a highly successful business that developed several iconic firearms including the colt peacemaker. The browning machine gun volume iv semper fi fifty. Among brownings 128 gun patents, some of his bestknown weapons include the m1911 pistol, the browning automatic rifle bar and the m2. In april 1918 the aef, in a cable to the war department, expressed an urgent requirement for a highpowered, largecaliber machine gun and ammunition primarily for aircraft, with second priority for ground use. Calibre,2 mm, more commonly known as the fn browning m. Of all the weapons to come from the genius of john moses browning, the m2 browning. The most common model, the m2a4, was equipped with one 37 mm 1. Related50 browning m2 browning 50 cal m2hb browning m2hb m2 bmg m3 tripod. This richly illustrated book chronologically describes the course of operation. Jun 06, 2018 the guns official name is the browning m2.
It was used on the m60 series of tanks and the lvtp7 amphibious landing vehicle. Interesting and beautiful, it provides an extraordinary amount of historical and technical detail, along with extensive highquality photography documenting hundreds of wood and engraving patterns. It is a scaledup version of an older browning design, the m1917. The history of the usa from the browning perspective, john m. His recordbreaking february 1967 kill was made using this setup at 2500 yards, creating a record for the history books which would stand until the war in afghanistan in 2002. Books by robert browning author of robert brownings poetry. Ms residents 7% sales tax this rifle transfers just like any other rifle through an ffl. Find signed collectible books by robert browning a blot in the scutcheon.
Apart from the internal mechanics, another point that distinguished the m1917 from the british vickers mg was the firing grip, for the browning had a pistol grip and a conventional trigger. Browning 18551926, considered by many to be the greatest firearms designer in history, was responsible for the m2. I restore and repair this beauty and i also sandblast and make a custom part on my lathe in this challenging restoration. Army introduced the initial version of the m2 to combat units in 1919. It was intended to replace the venerable m2 machine gun with a smaller and much lighter weapon, suitable for use inside fighting vehicles, as opposed to only on external mounts. His interests include karate, running, bible reading, history, and making english longbows. Browning hipower, fn fal, m2 browning machine gun, fn mag, bren light machine gun, m72 law, m3 submachine gun, sterling submachine gun, carl gustav recoilless rifle, m79 grenade launcher, ballestermolina, l16 81mm mortar, sb33 mine, l9a1 51 mm. The m2 uses the much larger and much more powerful. Mar 03, 2020 very few machine guns in the history of the world own a legacy such as that of the famous browning m2 heavy machine gun series. Oct 06, 2015 what became known as the m2 started on john brownings drawing board working with colt as a scaledup m1917a1.
Born out of a world war 1 requirement of 1918 which saw american authorities attempt to copy the success of the french hotchkiss m1914 11mm medium machine gun for the antiaircraft role, engineers john browning and fred moore went to work on. Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1. This gun is an exact wwii reproduction using new made parts. Broken machine gun lighter restoration browning m2 repair. It is very similar in design to brownings earlier m1919 browning machine gun, which was chambered for the. In fact, the two looked almost identical except for the larger size and different firing grips of the. In this volume, gordon rottman examines this history of the longest serving weapon. Broken machine gun lighter restoration browning m2. Born out of a world war 1 requirement of 1918 which saw american authorities attempt to copy the success of the french hotchkiss m1914 11mm medium machine gun for the antiaircraft role, engineers john browning and fred moore went to work on developing a largecaliber. A simple and humble man making a tremendous difference at the significant time of history. The browning 1919a4 machine gun was developed by engineer john browning in. In every case, if a book does not have a provenance to the 19 sale, it has been studied closely to see if its history can support such a claim. Experience in france in 1917 showed the need for a heavy machine gun that could act against aircraft fixed wing and balloons, tanks, and other armored vehicles that were then first appearing on the battlefield.
Well, this adage comes to mind when i think about the m2 browning. This book provides you with the history of its development and its various. May 29, 2019 this basic mechanism was retained for all further designs of browning machine guns, from the aircooled 7. Nice coffee table book if you like reading about letters from various associates, customers and dimension information, however if you want to know about markings, serial numbers etc. In fact, being the devoted worker that he was, it is written widely that browning died of heart failure while working at the bench on this selfloading pistol. The nook book ebook of the browning machine gun caliber.