Val Allen Browning
1895-1994
Val Browning was a younger son of John Moses and Rachel Browning. He would follow his father into firearms engineering before enlisting in the United States Army and being commissioned as second lieutenant with the 79th Infantry Division. Val served during the war training troops in the use of the Browning brothers arms, and saw combat near Verdun operating heavy machine guns. After the war Val settled in Liege, managing Browning affairs and manufacturing development with FN. He would not return to the US until 1935, as President of the Browning Arms Company. Val is probably most well known for his work completing the superposed shotgun design begun by his father. While he lacked his father’s acumen for business and invention, Val would receive many of his own patents and successfully continue the Browning legacy. Val would also have the foresight to save his father’s early work by requesting prototypes be returned from their various manufactures. That collection was held by Browning Arms before mostly being donated to Union Depot Museum, now the Browning Firearms Museum, of Ogden, UT.
Patents:
| Submitted | Patent Number | Granted | Description |