Firearms history: Handgun designs of John Moses Browning

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Firearms history: Handgun designs of John Moses Browning

Post by ron » Fri Apr 17, 2015 2:28 pm

I've often heard it said that when John Moses Browning began to develop the P-35 9mm Hi-power that he intended to perfect or refine the 1911. But as it turns out he wanted to develop a platform specifically for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge but had to avoid incorporating many of the features that he had used in the 1911 because he had sold the patent designs to Colt. So basically he had to figure out new ways to skin the same cat meaning a design for a large duty-sized pistol specific to the 9mm for police and military for the European and world market.

So instead of a simple trigger mechanism where the trigger pushed directly to the rear with parallel bars on either side of the magazine within the grip which encircled the magazine and joined together in the rear to activate the hammer sear as with the 1911, he created a pivoting trigger that acted upon a rocker bar that extended rearward at the top of the frame to the hammer. This was also neccessary to keep the grip frame as narrow and tight as possible because it was to accomadate a double stack mag the first ever to be used in a handgun.

Every handgun that Browning designed was specific to the cartridge that it was designed around and in some cases he designed the cartridge itself and built a pistol around it. Such was the case in 3 different cartridges and a number of different guns that he made for Colt, the 25 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) was one such design, and the 32 ACP and 380 ACP guns and matching cartridges were others. And then other handgun designers built their own designs around these cartridge as well. And when Browning developed the 32 ACP and the 38 ACP (which later became the 38 Super) he added a semi-rim to the cases so they could be used in revolvers though not many of those were ever made.

And he used this same approach of matching the gun to the cartridge for another cartridge not of his design, the 9mm Parabellum, and so as to make it fit this size cartridge perfectly, the front of the slide it was narrower to reduce bulk and weight compared to a 1911 and then the middle and rear of the slide was the same width of the breach. And then the frame itself was this same width except in the grip area and because the 9mm was smaller in diameter than the 45 ACP he decided to create a double column magazine and make the grip area just large enough to accommodate it and it would also taper to the width of the slide at the top just as did the magazine that it accommodated.

This was an extremely graceful design and made for a wonderful balance with an all-steel pistol. Many years later Gaston Glock said the Hell with looks and balance with a gun that's going to be carried in a holster most of the time. It can have a slide just as fat as the grip but with the frame made out of plastic so it doesn't weigh very much and the plastic also wouldn't conduct temperature which is important in Northern Europe where when it's freezing so is anything that's made of steel and isn't pleasant to touch. And then he made the slide square just to keep things simple.

So Gaston Glock designed something pretty significant as well, but he didn't have quite the talent that Browning did to make form follow function in a way that looked perfectly balanced and pleasing to the eye and also felt perfectly balanced in the hand. One note on the Hi-power trigger mechanism. Generally it doesn't feel as good as the 1911's trigger especially when the magazine safety is in place, and I don't know if that was part of Browning's original design because browning died before the pistol was completed and a Belgian gun designer who worked with Browning completed it. but by removing the mag safety it is improved quite a bit and with some skilled gunsmithing by someone like RLHas it can be just as nice as any 1911.

I know that for a fact because he did a trigger job on mine.

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Re: Firearms history: Handgun designs of John Moses Browning

Post by scrappy » Sat Apr 18, 2015 10:22 am

Nice post, very informative. Thank you.
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Re: Firearms history: Handgun designs of John Moses Browning

Post by Spectre_USA » Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:31 am

Really good read, I also appreciate it.

Now all I have to do is buy one someday for less than the national debt... :D
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Re: Firearms history: Handgun designs of John Moses Browning

Post by ron » Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:06 am

Spectre_USA wrote:Really good read, I also appreciate it.

Now all I have to do is buy one someday for less than the national debt... :D
At their least expensive, they're about half what you'd pay for an M1 Garand. I paid $500 for an Israeli police turn-in from AIM surplus but the surplus pistols can be found for around four hundred from time to time on gunbroker being sold by people who bought them a few years ago when they were selling for bout $350.

The Hi-gloss blue and the nickled ones and the 40 caliber ones go for about $900 and you can still buy one New from browning for $1100. I figured they weren't going to go DOWN in value so that I had better get one before the price got any higher.

There's also the option of "Renting" one. You but one, play with it for about a year, then sell it and if you lose any money on the deal, that what it cost to rent it. Of course now that 594 has passed that's not as eays to do anymore. :|
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Re: Firearms history: Handgun designs of John Moses Browning

Post by R.J. » Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:50 pm

ron wrote:
Spectre_USA wrote:Really good read, I also appreciate it.

Now all I have to do is buy one someday for less than the national debt... :D
At their least expensive, they're about half what you'd pay for an M1 Garand. I paid $500 for an Israeli police turn-in from AIM surplus but the surplus pistols can be found for around four hundred from time to time on gunbroker being sold by people who bought them a few years ago when they were selling for bout $350.

The Hi-gloss blue and the nickled ones and the 40 caliber ones go for about $900 and you can still buy one New from browning for $1100. I figured they weren't going to go DOWN in value so that I had better get one before the price got any higher.

There's also the option of "Renting" one. You but one, play with it for about a year, then sell it and if you lose any money on the deal, that what it cost to rent it.
Of course now that 594 has passed that's not as eays to do anymore.
:|

That makes me wonder, does anyone know if places such as Sharp Shooters even rent guns anymore?
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Re: Firearms history: Handgun designs of John Moses Browning

Post by dillonivik » Sat Apr 25, 2015 4:53 pm

Ranges are one of the exemptions to the law, so Sharp Shooting has no reason not to rent guns. That aside, they could just do paperwork and pass on the cost to the rental...

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