JOHN MOSES BROWNING: SENT BY GOD TO MAKE MAN EQUALER
ok theres a saying that goes like this: God made Man, Samuel Colt made them EQUAL. in that case John Moses Browning was sent by God to make man MORE equal. Browning was revolutionary in firearms design, his biggest impact being either the tilting barrel, short/long recoil operation or the first gas-operated machine gun. the swinging link of the 1911 is superseded by the angled cam cut of the Browning Hi-power, which is an elegant design so prevelant that it's still in use today, in almost every modern handgun. the tilting barrel unlocks the action, allowing enough of a delay that chamber pressures drop to a safe level before the slide opens and the spent case is ejected. the first quater inch of the gun moving is the barrel unlocking, the remaining inch or so is the inertia of the slide extracting the spent round. the springs then push the slide forward, pulling up a round into the chamber, where a mechanism strikes a firing pin to fire the gun. a beautiful, and carefully choreographed dance of spring tension, cams and inertia in combination with the recoil of a bullet being fired. all in a little metal package that can fit in one's hand. other mechanisms similar would be the short recoil of the Browning M1917 and M2 or long recoil like the Browning Auto-5. Such a mechanism is similar, where initial recoil unlocks the breech, and the bolt travels back on its own inertia, or in the case of long recoil, the barrel's inertia does the work. Browning's machine gun set a precedent of almost all machine guns (except his M2) being some form of gas operated weapon. i do think it was the semi-automatic handgun that browning perfected being his greatest legacy, and perhaps one sent by the Lord Himself to allow the meek to level the playing field with the strong. Samuel Colt's revolver was a big deal, but Colt is no Browning. Browning tilting bolts are the weapon of choice as a defensive sidearm from local police to special operators, from everyday citizens to VIP bodyguards, all are made equal thanks to John Moses Browning. God Bless America.