Browning Arms Company is a maker of
firearmA firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s,
bowsThe bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...
and
fishing gearFishing tackle, is a general term that refers to the equipment used by fishermen when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used for fishing can be called fishing tackle. Some examples are hooks, lines, sinkers, floats, rods, reels, baits, lures, spears, nets, gaffs, traps, waders and tackle...
. Founded in
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
in 1927, it offers a wide variety of
firearmA firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s, including
shotgunA shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s,
rifleA rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s,
pistolWhen distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
s, and rimfire firearms and sport bows, as well as
fishing rodsA fishing rod or a fishing pole is a tool used to catch fish, usually in conjunction with the pastime of angling, and can also be used in competition casting. . A length of fishing line is attached to a long, flexible rod or pole: one end terminates in a hook for catching the fish...
and
reelsA fishing reel is a "cylindrical device attached to a fishing rod used in winding the line". Modern fishing reels usually have fittings which make it easier to retrieve the line and deploy it for better accuracy or distance. Fishing reels are traditionally used in the recreational sport of angling...
.
The company was founded to market the sporting (non-military) designs of
John BrowningJohn Moses Browning , born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world...
, the world's most prolific firearms inventor. Nearly all of John Browning's designs have been manufactured by other companies, including
WinchesterThe Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...
,
ColtColt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
,
RemingtonRemington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
,
Fabrique Nationale de HerstalFabrique Nationale d'Herstal — self identified as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN — is a firearms manufacturer located in Herstal, Belgium....
of
BelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and Miroku. Browning is currently a fully owned subsidiary of Fabrique Nationale de Herstal.
Browning Arms Company is best known for the Browning BPS shotgun, the
A-BoltThe A-Bolt Rifle is a bolt-action rifle designed by the American Browning Arms Company. It is manufactured by Miroku Corp in Japan. The A-Bolt replaced the Browning BBR in 1984. It is a popular hunting rifle due to its accuracy and availability....
rifle, X-Bolt rifle, the Auto-5
semi-automatic shotgunA semi-automatic shotgun is a form of shotgun that is able to fire a cartridge after every trigger squeeze, without any manual chambering of another round being required...
, the
BARThe BAR is a gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle produced by the Browning Arms Company first in Belgium and later in Japan. The rifle loads from a box magazine detachable from a hinged floor plate. This rifle should not be confused with the M1918 military rifle, which is a completely different...
semi-automatic rifleA semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, automatically ejects the spent cartridge, chambers a fresh cartridge from its magazine, and is immediately ready to fire another shot...
, and the
Hi-PowerThe Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale of Herstal, Belgium. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized...
9mm pistol. Browning also manufactures a set of
trapTrap shooting is one of the three major forms of competitive clay pigeon shooting . The others are skeet shooting and sporting clays. There are many versions including Olympic trap, Double trap , Down-The-Line, and Nordic trap. American trap is most popular in the United States and Canada...
shotguns in the Cynergy series.
Browning sells a wide variety of non-firearms outdoors products, such as gun safes, knives, shooting accessories and clothing.
Browning is the sponsor of hunting show
Goin' CountryGoin' Country is a reality show, produced by Wes Whatley with Orion Multimedia, that began airing Sunday mornings at nine in August 2010 on the Versus channel. It follows former American Idol contestant Kristy Lee Cook and is centered around hunting and her search for a new recording contract...
hosted by
Kristy Lee CookKristy Lee Cook is an American country singer who was born in Seattle, Washington and was the seventh place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. In 2005 Cook released her debut album called Devoted. In June 2008, Cook signed to 19 Recordings and Arista Nashville. She released her...
which airs on the
Versus channelVersus is a sports-oriented cable television channel in the United States. It was previously known as Outdoor Life Network and was launched on July 1, 1995, focusing on fishing, hunting, and other outdoor sports...
. The relationship between Cook and Browning started after she was shown on American Idol wearing a Browning hat.
Pistols
- Browning BDM
The Browning BDM is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by the Browning Arms Company up until production ceased in 1998. Similar in appearance to Browning's P-35 model "Hi-Power" pistol, the BDM was actually a new design created to compete in service trials as a standard issue pistol...
- Browning Hi-Power
The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale of Herstal, Belgium. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized...
- Browning Buck Mark
The Browning Buck Mark is a semi-automatic pistol for .22 LR cartridges, made by the Browning Arms Company. It began production in 1985 and is still produced. The Buck Mark replaced both the Challenger and International pistol models...
Rifles
- Browning X-Bolt
- Browning A-Bolt
The A-Bolt Rifle is a bolt-action rifle designed by the American Browning Arms Company. It is manufactured by Miroku Corp in Japan. The A-Bolt replaced the Browning BBR in 1984. It is a popular hunting rifle due to its accuracy and availability....
- Browning BLR
The Browning BLR is a lever action rifle manufactured by Browning Arms Company. It comes in many different variations and is chambered in calibers from .22-250 Remington to .325 WSM to .450 Marlin.- Differences :...
- Browning BAR
The BAR is a gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle produced by the Browning Arms Company first in Belgium and later in Japan. The rifle loads from a box magazine detachable from a hinged floor plate. This rifle should not be confused with the M1918 military rifle, which is a completely different...
- Browning BL-22
- Browning T-Bolt
Shotguns
- Browning Auto-5
The Browning Automatic 5, most often Auto-5 or simply A-5, is a recoil-operated semi-automatic shotgun designed by John Browning. It was the first successful semi-automatic shotgun designed and remained in production until 1998...
- Browning BPS
- Cynergy
The Browning Cynergy Over and Under Shotgun is a firearm introduced by Browning in 2004. It is considered by most to be the first over and under to depart from the basic design criteria that had been associated with over and unders since the early 20th century.The Browning Company also makes the...
- Browning Citori
The Browning Citori is a double-barreled shotgun of the "over and under" type, with one barrel "stacked" above the other; sometimes referred to as a "stacked-barrel" model....
- Browning Superposed
The Browning Superposed was one of the first over-under shotgun designs to be produced, and the last, possibly the most elegant, firearm to be designed by John Browning...
- BT-99
- Gold
- Browning Silver
- Browning Maxus
Footwear
Browning introduced a line of
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
boots in 1968 and continued to design and manufacture
footwearFootwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....
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 HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
, to manufacture Browning Footwear.
The product line included the John M. Browning collection, Field and Game series, and sporting and
waterfowlWaterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
lines. The line has grown to include Kangaroo leather boots, Rubber boots and waders, and upland game boots.
Knives
In 1968, Browning introduced a line of cutlery in the form of 3 fixed-blade
hunting knivesA hunting knife is a knife used during hunting for preparing the game to be used as food: skinning the animal and cutting up the meat. It is different from the Hunting dagger which was traditionally used to kill wild game....
and a folding knife designed by Custom Knifemaker
Gil HibbenGil Hibben is a custom knifemaker from Wyoming who is based in La Grange, Kentucky. Hibben designed the first line of Browning hunting knives in 1968, the American Kenpo Knife for Ed Parker, and the Rambo Knife for the films Rambo III and Rambo...
. 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 SocietyThe American Bladesmith Society or ABS is an non-profit organization composed of knifemakers whose primary function is to promote the techniques of forging steel blades. The ABS was founded by Knifemaker William F...
. 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 TreeThe Liberty Tree was a famous elm tree that stood in Boston near Boston Common, in the days before the American Revolution. Ten years before the American Revolution, colonists in Boston staged the first act of defiance against the British government at the tree...
Knife made by Larry Harley; a
Robert E. LeeRobert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
Knife and an Alamo Knife honoring
Jim BowieJames "Jim" Bowie , a 19th-century American pioneer, slave trader, land speculator, and soldier, played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo...
designed by Jerry Fisk; an Ike Knife honoring Dwight David Eisenhower designed by Jim Crowell and a
Crazy HorseCrazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
Knife by Brent Evans. Browning has recently partnered with Big-game hunter, Russ Kommer as their knife designer.
See also
- FN Model 1910
The FN Model 1910 was a blowback-operated, semi-automatic pistol designed by John Browning and manufactured by Fabrique Nationale of Belgium.-Development:...
(designed by John Browning, built by FN)
- M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
External links