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Show M-Mimtog lbow 'smadl f iMmg n3i ; r ; ms fomm M Moral ' '.V ! " It. 7 I Hs I UK tara - ; ,ii,,,ii,w-iww",':i.-.,i in Al Carrer demonstrates the use of one of the rifles that made Browning Arms one of the foremost gun designers in the world. Roy Macias checks the assembly of one of Brownings famous boron fly rods. Ah, the age old rites of spring. With the whiff of green growth and the first daffodil sportsmen head right for the back closet. They seek out the furthest reaches of the garage and the darkest corners of the basement, reappearing with dust on their shoulders, grease on their brows and usually a fishing rod, a bow or a favorite shotgun in their hands. Affecting a foolish grin they set forth in a frenzy activity ranging from disassembling disas-sembling parts too small and numerous to mention to ranging over the countryside in search of clues to the success of the coming season. By night they are found thumbing through sporting catalogs making lists, plans and resolutions. - All of this activity is multiplied a hundred fold at Browning in Morgan, Utah, albeit with a great deal more organization. Browning distributes dis-tributes some of the finest hunting and fishing equipment equip-ment in the country. As a parent company to Browning Arms, it is also responsible for the design of the most famous gun developments in the world, inventions which surely changed the course of history. In the peaceful hills of Morgan County the Browning complex also houses Browning Manufacturing Manufac-turing where over one hundred trained employees work at a feverish pace building and assembling bows and fishing rods. The company is not a newcomer new-comer to the fast expanding - sporting goods market. Browning celebrated its cen-tennlall cen-tennlall year in 1978. The company's .founder John Moses Browning was born on Jan. 23, 1855. In 1869, he assembled a slide rifle out of spare parts for his brother's birthday which led eventually even-tually to a world renowned career in gun design. Browning, and his brothers broth-ers established an arms factory which would lead the country in gun design for a century. In business alliances allian-ces with Winchester, Colt, Fabrique Natioale and Miro-ku, Miro-ku, Browning created the ' first automatic machine gun, the first semi-automatic pistol pis-tol and held numerous other revolutionary patents. J. M. Browning died on Nov. 26, 1926. Recently Browning Arms created a special commemorative version of the Auto 5 . which was designed in 1902 and sold 2 million models. . Browning relocated its headquarters to Route 1 in Morgan in 1964. According to Al Carver the location is especially suited for the testing of new equipment. The Research and Design Department of Browning Arms houses a 100 yard long indoor tunnel for target practice in inclement weather wea-ther and an elaborate trap and skeet range outdoors. In the machine shop, blue prints decorated the walls bordered with racks of handsome inlaid rifles. Dur- ing our visit last week, head designer Joe Badali was in Japan conf ering with Browning's Brown-ing's manufacturer, Miroku. This year's catalog offers 14 models of rifles and shotguns to the public. Nearby in a separate building Horacio and Roy Macias supervise the manufacture manu-facture and assembly of fly rods and hunting bows. Each process represents the state of the art in fishing and archery. No sportsman could possibly take more pride in the absolute perfection of his equipment than the Macias brothers take in the production produc-tion of that equipment. Browning manufactures fiberglassgraphite and boron bor-on spincasting and fly rods. The boron rods represent one of the newest developments develop-ments in the industry. Al Carver explains that a fishing-rod is like a telegraph line. It must be light weight, strong and still, most importantly impor-tantly must act as a supersensitive communication communica-tion transmitter between the fish and the fisherman. Browning has combined the natural element boron (originally (ori-ginally used to handle high stress areas on jet aircraft) with a thin layer of tungsten filamei it offering the only 100 pe cent boron rod on the marke . today. The material is carefully wrapped around a tapering steel mandral w hic.i is inserted into a rubber tube and subjected to 350 degrees of steam heat. The result is a perfectly smxth balanced rod. Other manufacturers, Roy Explained, Explain-ed, used a wrap tape method which does not guarantee the same kind of balance. The ferrules, reel seats and carboloy guide loops are assembled by hand at the plant under Roy Macias's supervision. Macias has been with Browning for 11 years. Production Manager Horacio Hora-cio Macias described the process involved in making Browning's high powered compound bows. The compound com-pound bows can be used to hunt big game including deer, elk, moose and bear. The earning action which came into use in 1973 allows the hunter to pull and hold Horacio Macias explains the principle behind the compound |
