I Just Realized

John Moses Browning designed the cartridge that killed Hitler.

His hand touched everything that won the war!

Check Check Check

Thanks to Wollfe in the comments we know that I didn't quite get it right from what C&Rsenal showed.

The Winchester Model 1887 shotgun has a cartridge elevator akin to the Lebel.

You can load the tube with all five rounds, put a round on the elevator and pop a round in the chamber then close the action without stripping the round off the elevator.

That's a shots+2 action because a Lebel is shown that way too.

I needed to put an extended magazine on my 870 to get more than 5 rounds total!

JMB(PBUH)! for the win!

The JMB Collection

Braved the cold to show off the "Touched by JMB" collection.

L->R

Colt 1908 Pocket Hammerless (.380 ACP)

Colt 1908 Vest Pocket (.25 ACP)

FN 1905 Vest Pocket (.25ACP)

Colt Challenger (.22 LR)

Ithaca M1911A1 (.45 ACP)

Colt Gov't Model (.38 Super)

FN Hi-Power (9x19mm Parabellum)

Why Isn't This A National Holiday

Happy birthday to John Moses Browning!

I only own a couple examples of his work, but they're among my favorites.

 I'd not hesitate to buy more.

Best JMB

The best John Moses Browning guns are from after he's in the cold, cold ground.

The M1911A1 morphs into the .38 Super Gov't Model.

But "his" best design is the Grand Puissance.

This gun was brought to fruition by his apprentice, Dieudonne Saive.

Saive lacks the name recognition that Browning gets, and two of his designs get accredited to Browning.  The Grand Puissance and "Baby" Browning.

Never mind that Mr. Saive also begat the MAG; still in wide service.

Missed It

I forgot John Moses Browning's birthday.

Again.

It's more post-worthy if I remembered.

My .380 Pocket Hammerless is just about my favorite JMB design.

Because I Like It

 

File under: "Stop liking things I don't like!"

Found a thread at the wretched hive of scum and villainy known as Arfcom asking what the point of owning a Browning High Power was.

Other than I like it?

The only real "problem" with one compared to a more modern design is that it's heavy.  But it's not THAT heavy.  Same weight at a Beretta M9, and just 0.3 lb. heavier than a Glock 17.

People forget that extra mass helps with recoil.

Lots of people complaining about the feel of the grip.  Can't agree with them here, mine fits like it was made for my hand.  I think JMB and I have the same hands, I've seen this with his designs before.

The difference in capacity is mitigated by there being flush 15-round magazines for them (and cheaper and more available than the original 13-rounders too).

Hammer bite is real, and mine bites me.  It's not that big a deal.  Take.  The.  Pain.

Some stuff that didn't come up were the sights being products of their time.  There's not a lot you can do about the with early through Mk.2 guns; unless you completely disregard future collectors and have the slide milled for dovetails.

Have you ever noticed that the venerable High Power is nearly the same size as a Glock 19 which everyone loves?  Actually, it's smaller than a 19 because it's slimmer.

The trigger is kinda bad, but it's nothing you can't get used to and shoot good groups with.

The magazine disconnect is irritating, but it's easily removed and improves the trigger.

Would I carry one?

Qualified, "no."  I bought one to have one and have never invested in any holsters.  You are not unarmed with one and I've carried older designs.

Do I carry one?

No.  I carry a souless plastic fantastic.

But that's not the point of owning a classic!

Life would be very dull if I pared things down to just what was needful.

Prolly only have about three guns here too.

My 1911 Likes And Dislikes

 

I've been issued a couple.

I've owned a few.

They fit my hand well and I shoot them well.

I've, thankfully, had no problems with any I've owned.

My last issue gun kept shedding its front sight because the unit armorer didn't know how to stake a new one in.  I don't know either, but it's not my job.

I like how they are slim.

I dislike that they are heavy.

I think that I shoot them well enough that their lower capacity compared to the soulless plastic that has supplanted it doesn't matter.  But I prefer more chances to hit the target afforded by the newer designs.

I must have the correct sized meat hooks that the grip safety never gave me a bit of trouble.

1911's have soul.  As does an HP-35.

There's even soul in a metal framed Smith auto, like the 59.

I like the storied history of the thing and how it remains in production despite the advances in technology and the naysayers.

I like how you can make it completely yours from a list of parts that's at least as big as what you can do with an AR, even if it lacks the Lego-like simplicity and ease of installation.

96 Years

Marv's Ruger LCP Max shoots Hornady Critical Defense low and left.

My 1926 made Colt Pocket Hammerless throws it low and left as well (aiming at the -0; 7-yards).

The SIG ammo also shoots low and left in Marv's gun.  Just a little left for me when I aim at the -1.

For some reason I lobbed one round from each brand WAY low and left.  Operator error, I think.

Pelvic girdle shots count, right?

Still, that 96 year old gun shoots pretty damn good all things considered.

While I Love Me Some JMB...

I am a fan of John Moses Browning.

I own several of his creations and a couple he gets undeserved credit for.

Fine guns, nothing wrong with them.

Well...

Except for that whole obsolescent thing.

Dude's been dead for 96 years.

His last designs weren't much of his by the time they hit market and Saive's been dead for 52 years and he'd been retired for 16 years before that.

But we're getting to the point where "I'm not driving no infernal combustion engine Robert Fulton's good enough for me!" proportions.

Don't get them started on double or triple expansion engines let along them new fangled turbines.

And when you say you don't like these new guns, and are sticking to Browning, these new guns ARE Brownings!

Except for materials they work just like Saive's improvement to the tilting barrel premiered on the Grand Puissance.

I love my Hi Power, but I'm packing a souless plastic pal who's fun to be with.

Improved materials, lighter weight, more capacity, smaller package, more resistant to corrosion and lint.

There's just no down side.

Then when you add in that Gunwriters® have to run thousand round torture tests to distinguish between models and that so many are passing the excessive torments...

Yeah.

Now that the rant is done.  Don't comment without saying "rutabaga" to prove you got this far.

I've carried 1911's in two calibers (.45 and .38 Super).

I've pocketed a 1908 Pocket Hammerless in .380.

I've toted an FN Hi-Power a time or two. 

They do the job.  They did the job.

They did it as well as any gun I've ever carried because I've never, once, had to draw or fire in self defense.

Nothing about new guns being a vast improvement in many objective ways makes the old JMB guns no longer work!

Nothing about new 9mm hollow point technology makes a .45 ACP ball round make smaller holes.

These old guns still work.  Note my carrying a S&W 59 for a while: I was testing that they still work.

The take-away isn't that the old, proven, designs no longer work; it's to not close your mind and to be open to changes which make your experience better.  But not too open or you will end up being a jaded Gunwriter® who no longer derives any joy from shooting.

JMB Day

His presence is still felt in firearms design to this very day.

Happy 167th Birthday John Moses Browning!

Happy New Year!

 

High Speed Wobble, a Belgian tripel from The Liquid Garage.

My mom's father's old pipe.

A Belgian triple of FN designs.

Happy New Year everyone!

Photography Is Sometimes Hard

 

I take a picture every year containing some alcohol, a firearm and some tobacco.

The alcohol is often beer and I often end up in a race to get everything all framed while there's still a head on the beer.

It looks better in the pic to have a head on the beer.

Next year will have a pipe for the tobacco.

That complicated things because I wanted to get a wisp of smoke too.

I don't think I succeeded, but you will have to wait until Jan 1, 2022 to see.

The Rumors Were Correct

 

Probably a Tisas rebranding.

MSRP of $700 is decent.

 

Serious Case Of Unrequited Want

The FN Grand Browning will never be economically made, if it is ever produced.

Tis a pity.  I bet there's a small market for such a gun, but it'd be at least a grand.

He did the Colt 1910 too:

Happy JMB Day!

Happy 165th birthday, Mr Browning!

I know I've gotten a lot of enjoyment from your inventions.

Out of respect for your Mormon beliefs, I will restrain from toasting you with an adult beverage and sip some water.

What Could Go Wrong

Found an animation for taking apart the FN/Browning 1903 aka Husqvarna m/07.



Seems easy enough to get the slide and frame stripped down for rust removal and conservation.

Keeping track of the pieces while it's apart...  That should be simple too.

Cowboy Action

Took the Uberti "Winchester" '73, EMF New Dakota, Marv's Rossi '92 and his Uberti SAA to the range.

With "Cowboy Action" .45 Colt loads the '73 is rear recoiless.
It shoots to point of aim but...  hated buckhorns!  Off-hand I found myself doing a pilot induced oscillation left-right for some reason and it scattered my group.  I need to work on that.

I got a solid minute of bad-guy at 25 yards, and got 6 of 10 rounds nearly in the same hole at 7 yards.  Damn wagging left and right ruined a great group.

I discovered that you have to take care to make sure the rounds are past a detent in the magazine or the next round in the magazine is trying to join the round in the cartridge elevator.

The gate on the '73 is much nicer on the thumb than the '92, but that could be because Uberti deburrs things better than Rossi.

Speaking of Rossi...

Ugh.

We didn't have a single instance of loading it where the round at the gate didn't get stuck.  You could get it back out but you couldn't get the rim into the hole.  Once you did pull it out, it would generally feed into the magazine just fine.

Feed...

It did not want to feed Federal 158gr jacketed-soft-points.  They would present off the elevator and the bolt wouldn't push them in.  If you flicked them forward with your finger, they'd go right in, then you could close the bolt.  I theorize that it's a combination of not liking the flat nose and not being broken in.  The last five rounds Marv tried were feeding, but coarsely.

It liked the 110gr Winchester jacketed-hollow-point a lot better.

On the plus side, the rifle was grouping well at 12 and 7 yards for Marv and was feeling smoother and smoother as he levered more rounds.

His Uberti SAA in .357 gave zero problems and is a sweetie.  Marv was a bit taken aback by the recoil, but since an SAA flips vertical, it doesn't hit his delicate recoil adverse wrists very hard.




My SAA clone in .45 continues to delight!  My old eyes, one handed and 7 yards still gives a smaller than fist sized group where I want it.  The Captain Vulnerable anatomy target I was using had a well ventilated heart!

I have to confess to an oopsie.  I thumbed a round rather than cocked it.  Happily I was already pointing at the target when I did so, but the gun sure climbed with my grip that loose.  Marv asked if that was a ceiling shot, and I replied, "no, but it was close!"

Single actions you can fan and thumb have a bit of a learning curve and a heavy dose of "remember where you are".

Mystery Holster

While at the local pawn shop ogling an all original 1944 Remington-Rand M1911A1; Willard laid eyes on an old leather holster.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"A gun!" I, helpfully, suggested.

"We don't know." the Pawn Mistress said.

But for $10 how far wrong can he go?  So he purchased it; hoping it would fit his .30 Carbine Blackhawk.

It's a Hunter Holsters 1100P-22.

They no longer list the #22 size.

Through the magic power of Bing, after Duck-Duck-Go failed, I was able to determine that it's for a Colt Woodsman.

The near identical Colt Challenger fits right in there!

The threads in the seam had failed, so I sewed them back up.  Before the repair, it didn't seem like it was the correct fit.

Without Further Adieu

What's in the box?

It's a 1943 Ithaca frame and Remington Rand slide.  Refurbished by Anniston Army Depot in February 1976.

Many more pics below the cut!