Gun Digest 2011. Dan Shideler
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Название: Gun Digest 2011
Автор: Dan Shideler
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Спорт, фитнес
isbn: 9781440215612
isbn:
In single shots as those from Thompson/ Center Arms, the .444 Marlin, .45-70 Government and .450 Marlin are great performers. Note that Hornady Lever Evolution loads, with their spitzer or “pointed” bullets, gives big bores a bullet that can reach out father without shedding velocity as fast as a blunt nose bullet will.
From mild to wild, cartridges larger than 40-caliber are hotter than ever and here to stay. The big bores are anything but boring!
a robert hillberg cornucopia
BY ROBERT HILLBERG
Editor’s Note: In our opinion, Robert L. Hillberg – former head of research and development for High Standard Manufacturing – is a national treasure, being one of the few surviving masters of post-WWII American firearms design. Many of his countless creations, including the Whitney Wolverine, the Wildey gas-operated .45 pistol and the COP four-shot derringer, are avidly sought by collectors today, as are his more conventional designs. Here, the esteemed Mr. Hillberg offers his insights on the early history of High Standard and the development of the Ithaca Model 49 single-shot Rifle, the Savage 101 pistol and the Browning BPS shotgun.
CREATION OF THE BROWNING BPS SHOTGUN
When we take a close look at the splendid line of shotguns offered by Browning, we observe a high quality line of guns ranging from the expensive single shot Trap guns, to the popular over/under double guns such as the beautiful Citori line In the autoloading field, Browning has been a popular choice of shooters ever since John Moses Browning invented the first autoloading shotgun way back in 1911. This world-famous gun was produced in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale as the Browning Auto 5, and by Remington in this country as the Remington Model 11 and the Savage Model 720 et al.
Bob with the original BPS design blueprint drawing in the background.
Oddly enough, there was not a pump shotgun in the company’s line since Mr. Browning sold the manufacturing rights for the initial design of a pump action shotgun to Remington in 1915 (patent 1143170, originally issued to John M. Browning). In fact, the pump shotgun was missing from the Browning sales inventory until the introduction of the BPS in 1977 – an absence from the rapidly-growing pump action gun market for 62 years!
Remington introduced the 1915 Browning design as the Model 17 pump action shotgun. Remington sold a total of 72,644 Model 17s before discontinuing it in 1933. When the Browning patent expired, the Ithaca Gun Co. was free to copy the basic Model 17 Remington. They promoted it as the Ithaca Model 37; it was designed in 1933 and put in production in 1937. This fabulous pump shotgun is still manufactured today and it has been the cornerstone of Ithaca’s production since its inception.
The great market potential for the pump action shotgun was recognized by both manufacturing giants Remington and Winchester. The popular Winchester Model 12 pump was designed by T.C. Johnson, a Winchester engineer who spent many years designing a pump action that did not infringe on the Browning patent. This highly successful shotgun was accepted as one of America’s premier shotgun designs. Nearly two million were sold from 1912 to 1963, when production was discontinued.
Remington also recognized the tremendous sales and market appeal potential for a reliable, top-quality pump gun that could be competitive in cost with the Winchester Model 12. They designed the famous Remington Model 870, which was first sold in 1950. The 870 was exceptionally successful and it turned out to be the world’s highest-volume shotgun ever produced. Sales of the 870 had reached two million by 1973 and over seven million by 1996! It is still being manufactured today by the Remington Arms Co. in Ilion, New York, using the very latest technology in materials and methods.
Firearms designer extraordinaire and emeritus Bob Hillberg holding the Olympic arms copy of the Whitney Wolverine pistol.
Onserving the vast sales potential for a pump action shotgun and the complete absence of this type of shotgun in Browning’s line of guns, I couldn’t help but wonder if a well-designed, premium-quality Browning pump gun that offered advanced features could compete with the legendary Winchester and Remington. I was further tantalized by the fact that it would be a natural move for Browning, since John M. Browning pioneered the very first pump action shotgun with several advanced features not even found today on the Remington 870.
The more I thought about developing and presenting a proposal for an advanced, premium quality pump shotgun to Browning, the more enthusiastic I became. It seemed to me to be a natural, considering the early patent and history of the first Browning-designed pump. I reviewed the past history of the pump action shotgun with my boss Howard Johnson, president of the Bellmore Johnson Tool Company (BJT) of Hamden, Connecticut. I was employed as BJT’s chief engineer at the time, and in 1970 I persuaded Howie to let me design a prototype of the proposed shotgun, later known as the BPS (Browning Pump Shotgun). He became equally enthusiastic about the possibility of selling the BPS and gave me permission to design the gun’s layout in detail prior to the actual presentation to Browning.
I proceeded to set up the design project objectives for the new project as follows:
1. The gun must be completely ambidextrous and favor both right and left hand shooters. Bottom ejection was essential, and the side ejection receiver ports would be eliminated.
2. The safety must be thumb operated, centrally located on the receiver tang and easily controlled by the thumb on the trigger finger right or left hand.
3. It must be loaded from the bottom ejection port opening without depressing the lifter and with no restriction or finger pinching by the lifter during the loading operation.
4. Twin action bars must be employed for smooth non binding slide operation.
5. The receiver must be machined from quality high strength steel. All components should likewise be quality materials. (No die-cast parts.)
6. Smooth, streamlined receiver, stock, and forearm shape. (No humpback shape to rear of receiver.)
7. Best quality balance and user-friendly stock dimensions in accordance with Browning’s high standards.
8. Absolute top quality to be employed in all components with no substitutes in materials or methods.
9. Tremendous reliability of function and smoothness of operation to be absolutely mandatory.
10. Addition of a trigger disconnector to positively eliminate the possibility of accidentally firing when shucking the slide while holding the trigger to the rear.
This illustrates the thumb engaging the central position of the BPS’s ambidextrous safety without moving the trigger finger to operate the safety for a fast shot, as is necessary with a conventional crossbolt safety.
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