St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1918-05-18

of firearms. The 1886 model, being
the first repeating rifle to embody
the sliding vertical lock, which gives
visual proof of its absolute safety,
rendered practically obsolete all OF
the famous old rifles in use before
the appearance of the new model.
1t became popular almost over night
and has remained standard through
out the years, the type being still
made for the high power Winchester
33 calibre. Succeeding Browning
models won similar favor, the 1890
model, made only for % calibre, is
said to have outsold all other COM
bined makes of % rifles and is ire
mendously popular ever today.
Admiral Peary carried a Browning
1892 model to the North Pole with
him; 1894 models may be found in the
cabin Of every trapper, ranchman
and shepherder is the west; the
1895 model holds a position Of pre-
eminence in the estimation of all
hunters of big game. Browning
models of 1894 and 1895, while not
primarily military arms, are never
theless being used in great numbers
In Europe at the present time and
have been used almost exclusively
by most Of the reyolutionists in
troubled Mexico.
Mr.. Browning began his expert
ments to harness the kick" of the
gun in the early nineties and out OF
these experiments was developed
the so-called Colt machine gun. This
gun was officially adopted for the
United States army and navy over
twenty years ago and was the only
! machine gun used by Uncle Sam ] n
the Spanish-American war. In the
! Philippines, in the naval battle off
Santiago, Cuba, and during the Boxer
uprisings in China, this gun, effect
lively and heroically manned by
Uniteed States marines has done
bloody execution.
After the Spanish-Ameican war had
been VIGOROUSLY adjusted, MI.
Browning turned his attention to
non-military firearms, ~inventing the
32-calibre model of automatic pistol
which has since been manufactured
by the millions by the Fabrique Ma
tionale d'Armes de Guerre at Liege,
Belgium. This model is said to
have broken all records In small arm
production. Up to 1914, when the
plant in which they were being a
ufactured was taken over by the Ger
man invaders, more than a million
pistols had been made from this
model without a change of any kind
in design.
Following this automatic pistol,
came various models, including the
IS calibre, called the west pocket
type, the SO calibre made in both
the pocket and military styles, the
latter having been officially adopted
BY the Swedish and Norwegian gov
ernments. An improved 80 calibre
and the AS calibre Were also invent
ed by this busy Utahan. The models
were made by the Fabrique Nation
ale at Liege and by the Colt Com
pany in the United States, all the au-
matte pistols bearing the names of
these companies being the inventions
OF Mr.. Browning.
The AS calibre automatic was adopt
ed by Uncle Sam after competitive
tests in 1911 and this is the weapon
used, wherever a pistol is required
among the soldiers of the army, navy
and national guard of the United
States today.
Late in the nineties, Mr.. Browning
developed the first automatic shot
gun, which has since been turned out
in large numbers by the Remington
Arms Company, in the United States
and the Fabrique Rationale at Liege.
At the beginning of the war in Eu-
rope when the close conditions OF
trench fighting conclusively demon
strated the deadly effectiveness of
machine gun fire, Mr.. Browning again
his attention to this type OF
weapon with a view to perfect1ng a
gun embodying many new ideas n
eliminating the Impractical details
IN existing types. He first made a
cooled recoiI operated machine
gun with a belt feed and shortly
thereafter evolved a second model diff
fering widely from practically all
existing types. This latter gun
weighs only fifteen pounds and can be
'ired from the shoulder, the same as
in ordinary rifle.
In the government trials held sew
raj months ago. for the purpose Of
;hoosing machine guns of both heavy
light typ for the army being
ient abroad. the Browning guns
vere chosen over a number of com
,eting types and were Immediately
.dopted by the government. Numer
ms discussions of the Browning gun