No, Browning wasn't perfect, but he was persistent ...
Few people today understand how what became the model 1911 pistol came about. John Browning and other engineers at Colt didn't simply sit down with a piece of paper on the drawing board and create the pistol.
Browning first work on semi-automatic pistols started during the late 1890's, and Colt made and marketed his first commercial pistol in 1900. From the beginning there was close collaboration between Browning (the inventor/designer), Colt (the manufacturer) and The U.S. Army's Ordnance Department (the potential buyer).
They followed a simple procedure. Browning would design a prototype, Colt would make it, and the Army would test it. The inventor always made it a point to attend the trials, to personally demonstrate his pistol, and to pay careful attention to how things went. Following the test he would repeat the process, always learning from the trials and the reports that they generated, and then building a better prototype. This went on from 1900 through late 1910 (1905 through 1910 on .45 pistols in particular).
How many gun companies would take that long, and be so meticulous, in bringing out a new product today? Not many, and most of the testing would be through computer models and simulation. If something didn't work out, oh well - that could be fixed later.
No, the guns that are being marketed today are not what Browning, Colt and the U.S. Army originally came up with. They have been "improved" to the point where they don't always work anymore.
Few people today understand how what became the model 1911 pistol came about. John Browning and other engineers at Colt didn't simply sit down with a piece of paper on the drawing board and create the pistol.
Browning first work on semi-automatic pistols started during the late 1890's, and Colt made and marketed his first commercial pistol in 1900. From the beginning there was close collaboration between Browning (the inventor/designer), Colt (the manufacturer) and The U.S. Army's Ordnance Department (the potential buyer).
They followed a simple procedure. Browning would design a prototype, Colt would make it, and the Army would test it. The inventor always made it a point to attend the trials, to personally demonstrate his pistol, and to pay careful attention to how things went. Following the test he would repeat the process, always learning from the trials and the reports that they generated, and then building a better prototype. This went on from 1900 through late 1910 (1905 through 1910 on .45 pistols in particular).
How many gun companies would take that long, and be so meticulous, in bringing out a new product today? Not many, and most of the testing would be through computer models and simulation. If something didn't work out, oh well - that could be fixed later.
No, the guns that are being marketed today are not what Browning, Colt and the U.S. Army originally came up with. They have been "improved" to the point where they don't always work anymore.
