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#1
01-23-2013, 07:35 AM
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John Moses Browning Birthday
Birthday of John Moses Browning, one of the most prolific and innovative inventors of both the 19th and 20th centuries. He is one of those rare people whose designs completely overturned their industries.
While he was born in 1855, six years before the US Civil War was fought with single shot, muzzle loading rifles, he went on to develop what became the Colt 1911 semi-automatic handgun and it .45 caliber round. The best testament to his genius is that this design remains at the top of the heap over 100 years after its invention. A later Browning design, the FN 1935, is only now being retired by British forces. Incredible that one man could come up with so many designs so close to perfection that they remain a standard for over 100 years. 
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#2
01-23-2013, 09:44 AM
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In light of recent events, celebrating a gun designer is not in the best of taste.
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Roger Several Martins, 2 Guilds, a couple of kits and a Tilton (ever heard of those?), some ukes and a 1920s Vega tenor banjo Neil deGrasse Tyson — 'The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.'
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#3
01-23-2013, 09:59 AM
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Larry Pattis on Spotify and Pandora LarryPattis.com American Guitar Masters 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists Steel-string guitars by Rebecca Urlacher and Simon Fay Classical guitars by Anders Sterner
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#4
01-23-2013, 10:11 AM
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I think it's important to recognize and cherish the people who have made our lives better. JMB certainly qualifies.
I for one don't want to live in a world where the physically strongest dominate because they can swing a machete/sword/club. That's the world we had before guns. A world without women's rights because women are weak, without civil rights because individual physical strength can always be overwhelmed by men with entrenched power. That's the world we had before guns. That's the world JMB helped move us away from. That's the world we will go back to when guns are outlawed. So celebrate JMB for the little bubble of equality and enlightenment his products helped to sustain... and maybe help to sustain that enlightenment by resisting the push back to dominance by fist and club, dominance by the strong of the weak, dominance by the people who remain armed of you....
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#6
01-23-2013, 10:30 AM
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Guess who was one of the first men to carry his Machine Gun design in battle:
His son. Yup. He was pure evil...  As to his genius, one gun authority told the story of his grandfather. He rode on horseback with Black Jack Pershing chasing Pancho Villa as a kid soldier. He flew back from Germany on a jet when he retired from the army. The whole time he carried a 1911. It's called a 1911 for those of you who don't know, because it was designed by JMB in 1911... And it was recently "reselected" for duty use with elite Marine squads. The only significant change is an integrated rail for attaching a newfangled LED high power light for dark conditions. Anybody here using anything else which has remained basically unchanged for a 100 years?
__________________
I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators
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#7
01-23-2013, 11:08 AM
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Guitars?
But aside from that, Browning's designs have served the US military ably in all conflicts from WWI on, and continue to do so today. Although some may find mere mention of "guns" to be in poor taste, one cannot deny their effect on culture and civilization for good or ill.
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#8
01-23-2013, 11:14 AM
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Guitars?
But aside from that, Browning's designs have served the US military ably in all conflicts from WWI on, and continue to do so today. Although some may find mere mention of "guns" to be in poor taste, one cannot deny their effect on culture and civilization for good or ill.
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#9
01-23-2013, 11:30 AM
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#11
01-23-2013, 11:45 AM
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What a horribly myopic, feminized response to history and reality.
Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#12
01-23-2013, 11:48 AM
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 But the engineering feat doesn't compare. No CAD. No CNC. He made models out of wood... Working models. Applied his understanding of physics and engineering, from previous guns he had worked on, and translated those to steel. And they are basically repeating controlled explosion chambers that we still use today. The top choice of "bullseye" competitive shooters is still the 1911. The top platform for "action" shooting is still the 1911. It's amazing.
__________________
I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators
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#13
01-23-2013, 11:51 AM
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#14
01-23-2013, 11:59 AM
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I quote the great philosopher, who remains unnamed who once said: Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me... But I'm guessing that he means is that without JM Brownings designs we'd be speaking German right now...
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators
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#15
01-23-2013, 12:07 PM
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Of course, there are many other designers who share in this, such as John Cantius Garand (birthday Jan. 1). Defense is simply a fact of life and as long as the designer isn't on the payroll of an evil state, it is an honorable vocation. "Si vis pacem, para bellum." Look it up on Wiki. Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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