"Hey, it's a Browning." Is Colt anywhere close to Browning in that regard?

I don't get the question.

Sorry Hawk, I should have been more clear.

Is there any mystique to Cold like there is to Browning?

I'll make a wild guess, some colt handguns?

My gosh, of course there is.

Go price some Colt Python revolvers and you'll learn all about "mystique."

Which ones? The Woodsman is what has me wondering, of course.

Colt and Browning are both known for producing quality firearms.

Or a first generation Single Action Army!

I've never thought about the Colt revolving rifles, I'll think they are over the moon?

True, but there's also a mystique to the names, because of their venerable history in the US gun market.

I can’t think of any special mystique surrounding Colt firearms....

Each persons interest. Mine is prewar Colt double actions. Not really a SAA fan. You want a Woodsman. If you can scratch the itch, do so

I hope you're joking. Sarcasm?

Undoubtedly,
I hope Wabi’s OP was as well....

maybe what he meant was....he doesn't see why there should be any special mystique surrounding colt.....not to put words in jacks mouth.......bob

Please good folks, fill me in.

Like Forest Gump, "I'm not a smart man."

I meant they have more mystique and history surrounding them than any other maker. They tamed the west, carried by storied outlaws and law men alike. Played large roles in every war we’ve fought, carried by legendary cops and legendary bank robbers.

Yep.

I miss my Browning Medalist... Dumb move.

Some Colts have the quality or history/mystique to command high prices.

Others sell for way above their worth simply because there's a prancing pony stamped on it.

Then there's the discontinued thing, that usually drives up desirability & Colt has, at one time or another, discontinued just about everything they ever made.

Browning never made a gun in the sense of a production line. Fn and Miroku made most of them. Some of the Browning models have a mystique. The 1885 and B78 lines, some of the higher end bolt guns maybe, and Superposed shotguns along with the Sweet 16 A5.

Colt has a history but after the first gen SAA, the early cap and ball pistols I don't see a mystique.

Winchester has more than either one of them to me.

John Moses ..
Worked for or provided designs to just about every US manufacturer during his life.

But Browning received the most...

Might take a lot of counting to decide, but Winchester made a boat load of Browning designs & it is written that Winchester bought many of his designs that they never used. Just bought them to keep competitors from getting them.

Are you talking about J.M himself? I have a Buckmark that isn't made by either FN or in Japan...

I don't really know where it was made, though. Don't know that the facility has a browning logo at their gate...

You forgot the Safari Grade Mauser action bolt guns, The High Power auto pistol, Baby Brownings, etc.. Yes, of course, there was never a Browning factory. Browning Arms commissioned gun manufacturers to make their designs (mainly FN). Many of John Browning's early designs were made by Winchester.

Likely made by Arms Technology inc in Salt Lake City.

The Colt Walker revolver changed the outcome of the Indian wars in general and the Comanches in particular.

Might as well throw Winchester in there, considering the number of JMB designs that bear the name.

It was a gigantic force multiplier for mounted cavalry. They'd have three or four fully loaded Walkers or Dragoons on their saddles, and just wade into the Indians at full gallop, mowing them down as they passed.

The Colt 1911 was a John browning design that is still used today over 100 years later.

Yep. He was amazingly prolific.

If I recall correctly, the Ithaca 37 was his final design.

Yes. I think it was originally sold to a different company that didn't do much with it, and then Ithaca bought the design rights.

The Ithaca 37 was a Remington 17 that Browning designed in '15. Remington moved on to the 31 & Ithaca grabbed the 17 design.

JMB died in '26 while working on the Hi-Power design. Another designer who's name escapes me finished the Hi-Power.

I bought a Browning Challenger 6" bbl. .22 LR new in 1968, made in Belgium. I also bought a new Browning 4" bbl. for it, (Carries a little handier out in the field in a Bianchi holster.) plus two extra Browning factory magazines. Still have the box and papers. It is a tack driver. Never had one bit of problem with it. Browning, Colt, S&W, Ruger ... I like 'em all.

L.W.

Wasn't it John's son?

Dieudonné Saive at FN

Run don't walk as fast as you can away from any Browning A Bolt...POS

I would say there's more "mystique" to a lot of makers, including the aforementioned Winchester and Colt names, as well as Smith and Wesson, than there is to Browning. Browning is mol a "modern" gun brand as opposed to the others. The brand has a reputation for quality firearms. Kimber has the same rep. Not much "mystique" to it.

As said above, Browning designed the Remington model 17. Beautiful little shotgun. 5.75#. Everything I love about the Woodsman applies to the 17 as well. Ithaca stole the design and waited for the patents to expire, but made cost cutting changes to it.

The other designer was an employee at FN. I also forgot his name. But he was working with John Browning on it when Browning died.

I think their name recognition are about the same

Did Browning ever make a poor firearm?

Grizz:

Before I knew any better, I accumulated a small cohort of Browning A-bolt 1 and 2's; calibers range from .22 to .375 H&H.

I'm not denigrating anyone or dismissing their experiences with A-bolts that differ from my own, and I know that for myriad reasons the A-bolts aren't everyone's cup of tea; I'm just sharing my experiences with them. Over the past 25 years, I have shot many thousands of rounds through A-bolts, have taken them on a lot of hunts that encompass a lot of different country, have loaned them out to friends and acquaintances for hunts and trials, and have yet to experience the first problem of any sort with one. Some of my A-bolts were bought second hand and were well used and ill cared for before coming my way.

I mostly started in them because they had a good assortment of left hand offerings and because I really like their tang safety that locks the bolt down. I do a lot of upland hunting with O/U shotguns, and taking tang safeties on and off has become a near unconscious evolution for me. I kept buying them because of the safety arrangement in reference, the low bolt throw, the floor plate mounted clip, and the high level of out of the box accuracy I've experienced with them.

I now have a lot of different bolt action rifles from a number of manufacturers, but I still do a lot of hunting and shooting with A-bolts. To me, they (now the X bolt) still present a good option for a person who wants to buy a gun, scope it, and expect very good out of the box accuracy and function with minimal added accoutrements and/or gunsmith processing. I've handled some of the newer X-bolt pro's and hells canyons, and they've shot and functioned exceedingly well right out of box.

But, perhaps I'm missing something? It has happened a time or two before.

Some say the A-Bolt fits the bill.

AB3 is quite the Piece-o-[bleep]
Recoiless was stillborn
Newer T-Bolts aren't great

If all I had was an Abolt to hunt with , I wouldn’t be real mad.

I am partial to Browning Hi-Powers.

Model 2000.

In Japan, they call it A-bort.

I've not had bad experiences with A-Bolt rifles.

Ya, I got a thing for Colts, An AR, 1911's, Snakes guns, 1860 Army, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Gen. SAA and a Colt reproduction Dragoon. I also have a Browning A-Bolt, left hand short action 7mm-08 with a BOSS, usually wins the Turkey Shoots on site-in days.
One of my Colt SAA's was sent to the Browning Brothers Gun Shop in Ogden Utah in 1920, when John Browning was still alive, always wondered if he handled the gun.

John Browning and Samuel Colt were both very innovative men in their time, and both changed the forward progression of both this country and the world. There is a lot of mystique it both of their names.
They were indeed legends.

I dont know had an a bolt....killed alot of stuff with it......whats to say it was a poor firearm......bob

a Colt....


a Browning....

Snazzy pics, sweet guns!

Yep. Colt wasn't so much a gun designer as idea man. He came up with some original ideas for self-indexing revolving pistols (cocking the hammer also turned and repositioned the cylinder to align a fresh chamber with the barrel), based on how he saw certain machinery on steamboats operate, then hired gunsmiths to turn them into real working revolvers. Browning, on the other hand, was both an idea man and a gunsmith who could literally transform an idea of his own for a gun into an actual working gun with his own two hands.

J.M. Browning actually made wooden functioning, non-firing of course, models of his lever guns for the Patent Office. I think both men were over the top human beings and innovators, but I don't think the Browning firearms ever took a slide in manufacturing quality that some Colt's have over the years, at least in respect with some of the 1911 pistols which by coincidence were John Browning designed. For a few years, the Colt 1911 was a very loose fitted handgun. Some of this was by original design and some by slacking standards.

Thought the Browning .380 - 4” was somewhat crappy. Think it was called the Model 10/71 if memory serves.

If you're talking about the BDA .380, that was a Beretta design. BDA .45's were Sig P220's.

Never had an issue with mine, and other than the Abolt .22lr gold medallion, all have been very accurate out of the box. The .30-06 shoots bug holes with 150’s and 4064 and so does the B78 22-250 with 52’s and 4064.

Right. Browning was just the importer.

Those are beautiful rifles.

I once owned a B78 octagon barrel 6mm Remington. It was extremely accurate and just a beautiful rifle all around. The only issue was the trigger. It would literally lock up and cease to operate and fire.

Found a picture on GB



It's called a Browning 10/71 .380 Auto, circa 1971

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/892374669

Wabi...As usual, the thread took a left turn at Albuquerque.

You are thinking of buying a nice .22LR semi-auto pistol, and you asked if there would be any "value added" to any such gun by virtue of a famous brand name. The answer is a simple, "Yes."

In that kind of pistol, there is a premium price for classics from Colt, Browning, High Standard, Walther, and even S&W. Pretty much in that order, actually. But as far as quality, accuracy, reliability, and availability of parts, you'd be more than thrilled with a Ruger Mk II or a Browning Buck Mark, both still in production here in the US, as far as I know.

Parts for a Colt, High Standard or a S&W might be hard to come by, they all being long discontinued.

You can pay extra for the "mystique" or save a bit to buy ammo with a totally indestructible Ruger. Or a bit of both with a Buck Mark.

That's fine Rock, just wondering. Things do change with time.