Browning Arms Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Browning Arms Company
TypeSubsidiary
Industry
Founded1878; 143 years ago (1878) in Ogden, Utah, United States
Headquarters
Morgan, Utah
,
United States
Products
  • Firearms
  • Sports equipment
ParentGroupe Herstal S.A.
Websitebrowning.com
Footnotes / references
John Moses Browning
Matthew Sandefur Browning
Browning Brothers gun shop, Ogden, Utah Territory, 1882. From left to right: Thomas Samuel Browning, George Emmett Browning, John Moses Browning, Matthew Sandefur Browning, Jonathan Edmund Browning, and Frank Rushton

Browning Arms Company (originally John Moses and Matthew Sandefur Browning Company) is an American marketer of firearms and fishing gear. The company was founded in Ogden, Utah, in 1878 by brothers John Moses Browning (1855–1926) and Matthew Sandefur Browning (1859–1923). The company offers a wide variety of firearms including shotguns, rifles, and pistols. Other products include fishing rods and reels, gun safes, sport bows, knives and bicycles.[1]

Initially, the company was founded to market the sporting (non-military) designs of John Browning, one of the world's most important and prolific firearms inventors. Nearly all of John Browning's innovative designs have been manufactured under license by other companies, including Winchester, Colt, Remington, FN Herstal, and Miroku. Browning is currently a fully owned subsidiary of FN Herstal.

Browning Arms Company is best known for the A-Bolt and X-Bolt bolt-action rifles, the BAR semi-automatic rifle, the BPR pump-action rifle, the BPS pump-action shotgun, the Auto-5 semi-automatic shotgun, and the Hi-Power pistol. Browning also manufactures a set of trap shotguns such as the 725 Pro Trap, Citori CX series and the Cynergy series.

Firearms products[]

Browning BDA 45
Browning Buck Mark .22LR
Baby Browning .25/6.35 mm
Browning 1911-22 A1
Browning Safari model made in Belgium in .270 Winchester
Browning Auto-5 20g Mag

Pistols[]

Rifles[]

Browning T-Bolt .22 Long Rifle
Browning T-Bolt Sporter Maple .22 WMR
Browning BL-22 Grade II FLD .22lr

Shotguns[]

Footwear[]

Browning introduced a line of hunting boots in 1968 and continued to design and manufacture footwear through outside vendors until 2001. In that year, a license agreement was reached with Connecticut-based H.H. Brown Shoe Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, to manufacture Browning Footwear.[citation needed]

The product line included the John M. Browning collection, Field and Game series, and sporting and waterfowl lines. The line has grown to include kangaroo leather boots, rubber boots and waders, and upland game boots.[6]

Knives[]

In 1968, Browning introduced a line of cutlery in the form of three fixed-blade hunting knives and a folding knife designed by custom knifemaker Gil Hibben. Over the years the lineup has grown and Browning has teamed up with other knifemakers such as Jerry Fisk, Bailey Bradshaw, John Fitch, Joseph Keeslar, and James Crowell of the American Bladesmith Society.[7] In 2004 Browning partnered with several custom knifemakers to produce a series of "Living History Knives" honoring famous American generals and battles. The lineup included a Liberty Tree Knife made by Larry Harley; a Robert E. Lee Knife and an Alamo Knife honoring Jim Bowie designed by Jerry Fisk; an Ike Knife honoring Dwight David Eisenhower designed by Jim Crowell; and a Crazy Horse Knife by Brent Evans.[8] Browning has recently partnered with big-game hunter, Russ Kommer as their knife designer.[9]

In popular culture[]

Browning was the make of pistol originally depicted in the Nazi propaganda play Schlageter, from which the quote "when I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun", often associated with Nazi leaders, originates. The actual line from the play is slightly different: "Wenn ich Kultur höre ... entsichere ich meinen Browning!" "Whenever I hear of culture... I unlock my Browning!" (Act 1, Scene 1).[citation needed]

Browning is the sponsor of hunting show Goin' Country hosted by Kristy Lee Cook which used to air on the Versus channel before it became the NBC Sports Network. The relationship between Cook and Browning started after she was shown on American Idol wearing a Browning hat.[10]

A Browning shotgun appears in the Turnpike Troubadours songs "The Housefire"[11] and "The Bird Hunters".[12] The latter specifies that the gun was manufactured in Belgium.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Browning Product lines Archived 13 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Browning BDA 380" (JPG). Flickr. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  3. ^ A.E. Hartink, Encyklopedia pistoletów i rewolwerów, DEBIT 2002. ISBN 83-7167-181-4
  4. ^ Ian Hogg & Rob Adam, Jane's Guns Recognition Guide, HarperCollins, 1996 ed., 512 p. (ISBN 978-0-00-470979-6)
  5. ^ New Left-Hand Browning T-Bolt Rimfires - Rifle Shooter
  6. ^ "Browningfootwear.com". Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Browning Introduces Master Knifemaker Series Collection for 2006" (Press release). 1 January 2006. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  8. ^ Miller, David (2008). The History of Browning Firearms. Globe Pequot. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-1-59228-910-3.
  9. ^ "Russ Kommer Builds a Custom Knife for Browning TV Show Host, Stephen LeBlanc" (Press release). 22 February 2011. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  10. ^ Freeman, Mark (26 August 2010). "Kristy Lee Cook is on the Hunt". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  11. ^ Turnpike Troubadours – The Housefire, retrieved 13 April 2021
  12. ^ Turnpike Troubadours – The Bird Hunters, retrieved 13 April 2021

External links[]

Retrieved from ""