Overview
Read this first. Many of us at Browning first read this book when we came to work for Browning. We all thought we knew a great deal about him, but nearly everyone is wrong. The extent of his contributions to firearms design and innovation is mind boggling.

Time after time he came forward with the right design for the right time. Some of them changed America forever, especially the early lever action rifles and pump shotguns he designed for Winchester Repeating Arms. Some change the world, like this contributions to military rifle designs like the .30 caliber machine gun, the 50 caliber M2 (“ma deuce” as it is often called), the 1911A, the BAR and many others. Read the book and you will understand why he is often referred to as a genius of firearms design.

Beyond firearms, he lived an amazing life. As the son of a Mormon pioneer (who incidentally happened to be a gunsmith and fine designer in his own right), he made Ogden, Utah the center of innovation in firearms design for over half a century.

Here’s a brief list of some of the firearms detailed in this book.

Popular John M. Browning Firearm Designs – 1885 to 1926

Without doubt, John M Browning was the world’s foremost designer of firearms. While other designers also made extremely significant contributions to firearms design and production, those designed John M. Browning have seen longer and wider service than any other guns in history. He was granted more than 100 patents during his lifetime and many of his designs, like the 1911 pistol, continue to be the design of choice in competition, law enforcement and the military.

His major firearms designs included:

Single-Shot Rifle:
Winchester 1885

Bolt-Action Rifle:
Winchester 1900

Lever-Action Rifles:
Winchester 1886
Winchester 1892
Winchester 1894
Winchester 1895

Slide-Action Rifles:
Winchester 1890

Recoil-Operated Semi-Automatic Rifles:
Remington Model 8 and 81

Blowback-Operated Semi-Automatic Rifles:
Browning 22 Semi-auto

Double-Barrel Shotgun:
Browning Superposed

Lever-Action Shotgun:
Winchester 1887

Slide-Action Shotguns:
Winchester 1897
Remington Model 17 (later the Ithaca 37)
Stevens 520

Recoil-Operated Semi-Automatic Shotguns:
Browning Auto 5 / Remington Model 11

Blowback-Operated Semi-Automatic Pistols:
FN M1900
Colt 1903/1908 Pocket Hammerless
FN 1906 Vest Pocket/Colt 1908 Vest Pocket
FN 1910
Colt Woodsman .22

Recoil-Operated Semi-Automatic Pistols:
Colt 1902
Colt 1903 Pocket Hammer
U.S. M1911
FN G.P. 35 Hi Power

Gas-Operated Machine Guns:
Colt M1895
U.S. M1918 BAR

Recoil-Operated Machine Guns:
U.S. M1917/M1919
U.S. M2 Heavy Machine Gun

Automatic Machine Cannon:
Colt Browning 37mm

John M Browning’s original workbench in Ogden, Utah
John M Browning’s original workbench in Ogden, Utah
John M. Browning, American Gunmaker is the authentic biography of the man many have called “The World’s Greatest Gun Inventor.” A 100-page photographically illustrated technical section describes all John M. Browning inventions.

If you read no other book about the history of the great John Moses Browning, it must be this. No book covers both his guns and the life of the inventor like this one does.