What's amazing about Browning is how long so many of his designs have endured when he didn't spend an inordinate amount of time doing R&D to make sure his designs were durable. The 1911, the M1919 .30-cal MG, the Ma Deuce .50-cal MG, and the HP-35 9mm all are more than 80 years old (some >100) and sill in service somewhere in some military or LEA essentially unchanged from his design. And basically he just ginned up a design in his head, roughed it out by hand and put the parts together to see how it worked. Adjust to smooth out the rough edges and build a prototype.
When I was trained as an armored cavalryman we still were using M-60 tanks, the commander's cuppola of which was armed with a GE-mfgrd M85 .50-cal MG. Because GE had convinced DoD they could build a heavy MG that was better and cheaper than Browning's M2. Except it was a piece of shit. So comes the M1 Abrams tank and guess what? They ditched the M85 and went back to the 60+ year-old Ma Deuce.
A couple of months ago the army found a Ma Deuce with the serial number 324. 3-2-4. Which made it more than 90 years old. Still seeing regular service despite the fact that it had never been to depot-level maintenance for overhaul. 90 years use with nothing but cleaning and lubing.
Eight years ago the Marines ditched the 9mm Beretta 92 and went back to Browning's 101-year-old .45 ACP 1911.
The only two weapons that have been in the US's military inventory longer than Browning's Ma Deuce are his 1911 pistol and the Marine officer's dress sabre. The army's sabre is slightly older, and both are strictly ceremonial (in truth, by the time of the War Between the States, sabres already were being made too light to be an effective weapon) but the difference is the USMC still issues sabres. In the army you have to buy your own, and that's optional so hardly anybody does except the hard-core cavalry pukes. Garry Owen 'n shit.
The obvious conclusion is that either JMB was the luckiest son of a bitch who ever designed a firearm or he was pure, natural-born genius.
Rock Island Auction has a 1911 that provably was carried by a Marine Corps combat photographer on Iwo Jima, the one battle that more than any other is responsible for the mystique of the Corps. The same Marine received the Bronze Star medal for combat actions in the Marianas campaign, so the mere fact he was a "photographer" obviously did not dissuade him engaging the enemy. So it is highly likely that this example took Japanese lives on Iwo.
85% finish and otherwise shows it's a well-used tool. Expected to fetch a few thousand. I'd like to see it end up in the NRA's museum in DC.
Originally Posted by Beetlegeuse
What's amazing about Browning is how long so many of his designs have endured when he didn't spend an inordinate amount of time doing R&D to make sure his designs were durable. The 1911, the M1919 .30-cal MG, the Ma Deuce .50-cal MG, and the HP-35 9mm all are more than 80 years old (some >100) and sill in service somewhere in some military or LEA essentially unchanged from his design. And basically he just ginned up a design in his head, roughed it out by hand and put the parts together to see how it worked. Adjust to smooth out the rough edges and build a prototype.
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