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Browning: The Double Automatic
- 19 hours ago
- 14 min read
by Steve Tracy
This Gun Tale is dedicated to the memory of Greg Moats. He passed less than five weeks after we chatted at the Shootist Holiday in June 2026. We shared a mutual enthusiasm for the Browning Double Automatic. Greg had extolled the shotgun’s virtues during his many decades of writing and teaching. Moats was equally knowledgeable about firearms history, defensive firearms tactics, competition, and hunting. He will be greatly missed and remembered by all who knew him. —Steve
Val Browning gazed out the window of his luxurious suite at the Morrison Hotel. The view was resplendent with Lake Michigan in the distance, and Chicago’s architecture was enhancing the city’s metropolitan ambiance. A light snow fell to the streets, and Browning considered the cold January morning as he absently knotted his tie. He slipped on his suit jacket and smiled, happy that he did not have to step outside that day. Instead, the elevator operator carried him downstairs to the 1955 National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) exposition, as it was hosted in the same building where he spent his night’s slumber.
The distinguished-looking 60-year-old was the President of the Browning Arms Company, with dozens of patented firearm designs to his name as a third-generation gunmaker. His father was the brilliant firearms designer John M. Browning, and that mechanical genius gene had been passed down. The senior Browning had been proud to see his son Val follow in the family business. While many sons learned to exist quietly in the shadow of their brilliant fathers, others grabbed the torch and continued the family legacy. Val took the torch after his father’s passing and ran with it.