Browning Arms Company (originally John Moses and Matthew Sandefur Browning Company) is an American marketer of

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

and fishing gear. The company was founded in

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

, in 1878 by brothers John Moses Browning (1855–1926) and Matthew Sandefur Browning (1859–1923). The company offers a wide variety of firearms, including

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- p ...

s, rifles, and

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, ...

s. Other products include

fishing rod A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by anglers to catch fish by manipulating a line ending in a hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing rod is a straight rigid stick/pole with ...

s and

reels A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a ''spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

, gun safes, sport bows,

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

and bicycles. Initially, the company marketed the sporting (non-military) designs of John Browning, one of the world's most influential and prolific firearms inventors. Nearly all of John Browning's innovative designs have been manufactured under license by other companies, including Winchester,

Colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: * Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People *Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places * Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United State ...

, Remington,

FN Herstal Fabrique Nationale Herstal (), trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. ...

, and Miroku. Browning is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of FN Herstal. Browning Arms Company is best known for the A-Bolt and X-Bolt

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

rifles, the

BAR Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt- ...

, the BPR

pump-action Pump action or slide action is a repeating firearm action that is operated manually by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge and typically to coc ...

rifle, the BPS

shotgun, the

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 design, and remained in production until 1998. The name of the ...

semi-automatic shotgun A semi-automatic shotgun is a repeating shotgun with a semi-automatic action, i.e. capable of automatically chambering a new shell after each firing, but requires individual trigger-pull to manually actuate each shot. Semi-automatic shotguns ...

, and the

Hi-Power The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic pistol available in the 9×19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W calibers. It was based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal. Br ...

pistol. Browning also manufactures a set of

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

shotguns such as the 725 Pro Trap, Citori CX series, and the Cynergy series.

Products

Firearms

Pistols

* Browning BDM * Browning Hi-Power *

Browning Buck Mark The Browning Buck Mark is a semi-automatic pistol, made by the Browning Arms Company and chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. It has been produced since 1985. The Buck Mark replaced both the Challenger and International pistol models. The ...

* Browning 1911-22 * Browning 1911-380 * Browning BDA 45 (

SIG-Sauer P220 The SIG Sauer P220 is a semi-automatic pistol. Designed in 1975 by the SIG Arms AG division of Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (now SIG Holding AG), and produced by J. P. Sauer & Sohn, in Eckernförde; it is currently manufactured by both ...

) *

Browning BDA 380 The FN 140DA - also known as Browning BDA 380 - was a semi-automatic weapon produced by both FN Herstal of Belgium and Beretta of Italy. Overview The production of this pistol design started in 1976. The new model was to replace the FN 1922/Br ...

(manufactured by

Beretta Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapon Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and milita ...

) * Browning BDA9 ( FN HP-DA)

Rifles

Browning X-Bolt The X-Bolt Rifle is a bolt-action rifle designed by the American Browning Arms Company. It is manufactured by Miroku Corp. in Japan. Description The X-BOLT rifle is a bolt-action rifle. Its name comes from the "X-Lock" scope mounting system. In ...

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 for Browning Arms Company by Miroku Firearms in Japan. It comes in many different variations and is chambered in numerous calibers from small and fast (.22-250 Remington and .243 Wincheste ...

Browning BAR The Browning BAR is a gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle produced by the Browning Arms Company in Belgium. The rifle loads from a detachable box magazine. Browning introduced a redesigned BAR in 1966. Variants There are several models of the B ...

* Browning BPR * Browning BL-22 * Browning Semi Auto 22 (SA-22) * Browning T-Bolt in .22LR, .22 WMR and .17 HMR (introduced in 1965 and discontinued in 1975, reintroduced in 2006) * Browning B-92 lever-action

Shotguns

* Browning A-Bolt Shotgun *

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 design, and remained in production until 1998. The name of the s ...

(recoil-operated)]\ * Browning A5 * Browning B-2000 * Browning Silver * Browning Maxus * Browning Maxus 2 * Browning BPS *

Browning BSS The Browning BSS is a side by side double barrel shotgun made by Browning from 1971–1983. References Double-barreled shotguns {{Shotgun-stub ...

* Browning Cynergy *

Browning Citori The Browning Citori is a double-barreled shotgun of the "over-and-under" or "stacked-barrel" type, with one barrel above the other. It is marketed and distributed by the Browning Arms Company in Morgan, Utah, and manufactured for Browning by the ...

Browning Superposed The Superposed introduced a wide variety of innovations including the single select trigger and over-under design. This design was considered revolutionary in the 1930s, but it was later found that Browning had already made a model of this design ...

* BT-99 * BT-100 * Browning Recoilless * Browning Gold * B-80 * A-500 * Lightning

Footwear

Browning introduced a line of

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/ tusks, horn/ a ...

boots in 1968 and continued to design and manufacture footwear through outside vendors until 2001. In that year, Browning reached a license agreement with Connecticut-based H.H. Brown Shoe Company, a subsidiary of

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...

, to manufacture Browning Footwear. The product line included the John M. Browning collection, Field and Game series, and sporting and

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

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 three fixed-blade hunting knives and a

folding knife A pocketknife is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives (jack-knife), folding knives, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. A typ ...

designed by the custom knifemaker Gil Hibben. Over the years, the lineup has grown, and Browning has teamed up with other knifemakers such as

Jerry Fisk Jerry Fisk is an American bladesmith based in Nashville, Arkansas. Fisk was named a National Living Treasure in 1998 by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Museum of World Cultures. Knifemaking and awards Fisk began making knives ...

, Bailey Bradshaw, John Fitch, Joseph Keeslar, and James Crowell of the

American Bladesmith Society The American Bladesmith Society, or ABS, is a 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. Moran, who came up with the co ...

. 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 Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

Knife and an Alamo Knife honoring

Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

Dwight David Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by ...

Knife by Brent Evans. Browning has recently partnered with big-game hunter, Russ Kommer as their knife designer.

In popular culture

Browning was the make of pistol initially 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). Browning is the sponsor of the hunting show ''

Goin' Country ''Goin' 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 on hun ...

'' hosted by

Kristy Lee Cook Kristy Lee Cook (born January 18, 1984) is an American country music singer and television personality. She was the seventh place finalist on the seventh season of ''American Idol''. In 2005, Cook released her first album called ''Devoted''. In ...

, which the Versus channel aired before it became the

NBC Sports Network NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming prim ...

. The relationship between Cook and Browning started after she wore a Browning hat on ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...

''. A Browning shotgun appears in the Turnpike Troubadours song "The Housefire" and "The Bird Hunters". The latter specifies that the gun was manufactured in Belgium.

References

External links

Official website
{{John Browning Firearm manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Utah Companies based in Ogden, Utah American companies established in 1878 Manufacturing companies established in 1878 1878 establishments in Utah Territory

Archives