The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-07-31
A UTAH MAN In MEXICO.
Nj. S. BROWNING EXPLOITS HIS GUN
INVENTIONS IN THAT COUNTRY. i.
Gun Before Il Military Board-The
Greatest Gun Inventor of the Age.

The Two Republics, published in the
City of Mexico. has an interesting inter
view with NJ. S. Browning. of Ogden. who
is visiting the capital of the southern re-
public with view of introducing his Colt
automatic machine gun to the government
there. The article reads as follows:
There arrived in the city last Tuesday
Mr.. Nj. s Browning, of the firm of Brown
ing Bros, of Ogden, Utah, the world re-
nowned inventors of guns for modern war
fare ana sport. MIR. Browning's mission
to Mexico is TO test the Colt automatic
machine gun, the invention of his brother
j. NJ. Browning, recently purchased by
this government. This gun was adopted
by the United States navy last January,
after a thorough test and in competition
with every known machine gun OF merit
Mr.. Browning was seen yesterday after
noon by a Two Republics reporter at his
rooms in the Iturbibe hotel. He is most
agreeable gentleman 10 meet, and speaks
with iuency and accuracy, ana with en-
thusiasm, when discoursng on the adj
VanJages of this death-deallng device for
civilized warfare.
This gum" began Mr. Browning,
weighs but forty pounds and can be
mounted upon a tripod or other device
to hold it steady and in position. The
gun is operated by the pressure of gas
which escapes through a small hoe near
the muzzle, the force of which works d
lever connecting with the breach. This
lever performs all the operations of plac-
ing cartridges in the barrel, extracting
shells and firing the gun. The operator
has but 10 hold the trigger back and the
machine will continue firing, as l will
later explain.
THE cartridges are placed in a belt
of any length desired, usually containing
from one hundred to two hundred shells,
which is folded in box magazine. By
means of a cox this belt is drawn past
the breach of the barrel and by the lever
the cartridges are placed in position, fired
and the shell extracted in quick success
sion. This magazine is attached and de-
tached so as to keep up a continuous flre.
The fire and direction of the gun is under
the absolute control of the operator, and
one man only IS required to perform the
work. He can by quick pressure on the
trigger, fire one shot, or by holding this
trigger back can fire any number of shots
desired, the gun keeping up a continuous
fire of from seven to ten cartridges per
second or four to six hundred per minute,
AS soon as the trigger is released by the
operator the gun dlScontinueS shooting in
sIantly.
This Colt automatic machine gun has
many advantages over other makes, one
of which is an air pump which blows the
unburned grains of powder. or any other
residue. out of the chamber at the time
the shell IS extracted. This enables US
to have the gun chambered closely, while
without this air pump, loose chamber is
imperative which is liable to cause the
Shells to burst, and the gun is apt to jam
and stick before a great number of shots
have been fired.
Another advantage this has over other
makes of automatic guns is that We are
enabled to use a heavy barrel. which does
not heat quickly and thus does away with
the troublesome water jacket.
In a test for durability this Colt auto
metic machine gun was fired more than
eight thousand times. in rapid succession
without any of its parts showing distress
or wear, and for accuracy, one hundred
consecutive hits were made at distance
of two hundred yards.
lone of these guns has been shipped
to this government and should arrive to-
day or tomorrow. The object of my visit
is to test this gun before military board
and also to explain its operation.
Il might add that my brother has made
more inventions in firearms in the past
ten years than all the balance of the
world combined. All the rifles that the
Winchester Repeating Arms company has
manufactured since their 1875 model, have
been his inventions. The Winchester sin
g.e shot was the first of my brothers in
ventions taken up by this company; and
then followed the well known 'S6 model.
the 80, go, "a and 80 models, and the
Winchester lever and slide action shot
guns, all are his inventions He has nau
fifty-three patents granted him by the
has seven or eight pending T
Mr.. Browning will remain in Mexico
oplyslong+ enough to make a. test of the
new gun. as he is anxious to get home,
whore important matters await his ar
rival