44-40 Lever Action Machine Gun

[denton]

I think this was John Browning's first machine gun. Apparently, he built it as proof of principle, to show that propellant gas had enough energy at the muzzle to operate the mechanism. Once the trigger was pulled, the rifle emptied the magazine.

 

[unspellable]

Somewhere I ran across mention of this with the claim that Browning did it on a bet that he could make the rifle full auto in the space of eight hours.

 

[denton]

Somewhere I ran across mention of this with the claim that Browning did it on a bet that he could make the rifle full auto in the space of eight hours.

That's a great story!

 

[tws3b2]

John M Brownings first gas operated machine gun. 45-70. For testing only. 1890-91

 

[denton]

John M Brownings first gas operated machine gun. 45-70. For testing only. 1890-91View attachment 1071252

Interesting post, that fills in a few details about the "flapper" rifle. Unspellable's story about it being done in a day must be right then.

 

[Mars5l]

We need a video of this in action

 

[theotherwaldo]

Watch out - you'll get the BATFE all excited... .

 

[lysanderxiii]

We need a video of this in action

Well, we don't have the muzzle flapper type in action, but there are still a few of the old M1895s in working order:

 

[tws3b2]

Top 2. Left and right views of his first (testing) machine gun.
Bottom 2. Left and right views of the refined version.

 

[tws3b2]

JOHN BROWNING with his machine gun.

 

[commygun]

Fantastic! I’ve never seen that before.

Reminds me a couple rural machinists I know who seem to have a latent genius for creating devices to address a particular need. Some of them are kind of Rube Goldberg (which may be the fun in it) but they work.

 

[lysanderxiii]

A large part of the driving force behind the potato digger, was Hiram Maxim (or was it Hotchkiss?) had a patent on the in-line gas piston/operating rod. Any designs that used it would have had to be licensed and pay a royalty.

 

[TRX]

In most cases, the patents were not licensed, or the royalty was so high that it effectively prohibited other manufacturers from using the patent. Not many companies were interested in giving their competition an advantage.

 

[oldschool45]

I've got an out of print Biography. The story goes, he and his brothers were at a shooting match when John saw the muzzle blast move blades of grass. To the chagrin of his brothers they headed back to the shop. There he bored a hole through a piece of wood and asked if anyone knew what would happen when he shot through that hole? John said "it will go hell-winding." He did, it did, then he headed to the forge to make the Flapper. If it was a comment about a bet it was probably attributed to one of his brothers. A lot of good stories in that book and I really need to visit Ogdon sometime.

 

[tws3b2]

I've got an out of print Biography. The story goes, he and his brothers were at a shooting match when John saw the muzzle blast move blades of grass. To the chagrin of his brothers they headed back to the shop. There he bored a hole through a piece of wood and asked if anyone knew what would happen when he shot through that hole? John said "it will go hell-winding." He did, it did, then he headed to the forge to make the Flapper. If it was a comment about a bet it was probably attributed to one of his brothers. A lot of good stories in that book and I really need to visit Ogdon sometime.

Is your book part of Americas Premier Gunmakers book set? My book tells the same story.
Browning is my favourite gunmaker hero of all time. Followed by Colt, Remington and at a distant 4th Winchester. Winchester was a business man with money. Profiting from the failure of others and Depending on the likes of Browning and Henry to carry him to success and fame.
But Browning? All genius and a true gunmaker.

 

[Coyote3855]

The Browning biography I have is titled John M. Browning American Gunmaker by John Browning and Curt Gentry. John Moses was an amazing guy, invented everything from a .25 caliber vest pocket automatic to a 37mm cannon. What I didn't know is that he invented and made prototypes of about 40 different firearms for which Winchester bought up the patents because they did want competitors to get them. Buffalo Bill Center of the West has a publication about those but it's on my desk at the museum at the moment.

 

[unspellable]

Maxim's machine gun was recoil operated. Don't know what Hotchkiss was up to.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Maxim's machine gun was recoil operated. Don't know what Hotchkiss was up to.

Maxim had a lot of patents unrelated to his recoil operated machine gun. Ian did a episode on the Potato digger and Maxim.

 

[tws3b2]

Wouldn't it be great if those prototypes, schematics, drawings could be found today.

 

[Doug444]

I love that museum. Haven't been in a while, looks like I need to make a road trip soon.

 

[hso]

https://www.browning.com/news/articles/restoring-legendary-model-1873.html

 

[jmorris]

I’ve seen drawings of it but never the real thing. Neat.