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Iron guns were reaching their limits in the 1850's, even though the Americans and Brits pushed on with them into the 1870's. The answer to their problem, defeating armor plate, was still in the future with higher velocity steel guns, but during the Crimean and the American Civil Wars, wrought and cast iron were the order of the day, and the major arms makers were pushing those frontiers as far as they would go.
One big gun built by the Mersey Steel and Iron Company was known as the "Monster Gun" in 1856. It was larger by a foot in diameter of the largest forging they ever made, and it took seven weeks to place bars of iron around the center core and beat them into shape with a 15 ton hammer. After the gun took shape, the trunnions affixed to a large hoop was shrunk around the gun, adding strength. Such huge forgings were said, by the common wisdom of the time, to be weaker than cast iron due to the length of time the metal was in contact with heat, but Mr. Horsfall persisted and the gun was bored to 13 inches, and weighed 25 tons.
Boring the gun took a couple of weeks, where several flaws in the iron were found and patched up, and after four months the gun was ready. 2 proof rounds were fired, a service shell filled with lead and 45 pounds of gunpowder, which the gun survived. The next test was against a floating battery, an armored ship full of guns, but not much else. With 25 pounds of powder and a 280 pound shot, it blasted its way though the battery's wrought iron armor easily.
The gun was donated to the Government, but with the war over the British Admiralty hemmed and hawed around and not much was done with the gun. It was tested again in 1862 against another giant pile of armor plate, which it duly splintered. It was obvious the Mersey Works could build a gun. They had previously built a smaller 12 inch wrought iron gun for the US Navy, for use on the USS Princeton, who had also installed another similar gun built by an American company. In a demonstration, the American gun burst, killing the US Secretaries of State and the Navy. A Mersey gun is in the Washington Navy Yard today.
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As reported in the Telegraph, British troops are beginning to phase out the venerable Browning 9mm handgun in favor of the Glock 17. The new handguns are better in every way but I for one will miss the old Browning
The Browning High Power, picture by Wikimedia contributor Rama
The Glock is lighter. Half of it is plastic, and some of the fire control parts are small, light twisted pieces of metal buried in the plastic lower half. On first inspection this doesn't seem very robust, however, the Glock is very reliable, and the 17 is famous for having 200,000 rounds run through it without much of a failure. Hard to argue with that.
The trigger is safer. Much to be said about the Glock trigger. The gun won't fire unless a physical finger is on the trigger, much simpler in use than the Browning, which is a single action pistol. In order to bring the Browning into action, either the slide must be drawn back chambering a round, or the pistol is carried with the hammer back and the safety on, which must be thumbed off to fire. With the Glock loaded and a round in the chamber, you merely draw the gun and fire.
Glock 17, picture by Wikimedia contributor Hrd10
The Glock is a striker fired weapon, and the Browning uses a hammer. If I had to choose, I'd take a hammer. Strikers are allright for a rifle. (That should start something.) The operation of the two pistols are similar, as the Glock is based on the Browning's barrel camming operation. The Glock's external coatings are pretty good, protecting it from the elements and the shooter, and the Browning's are the traditional blueing and parkerizing.
Finally, although there is much more that can be said, you can hang everything and it's brother on the Glock, from tactical lasers to wild sights. The same thing can be done with the Browning, but is clumsy. The Glock holds more ammunition. The Glock is more modern in every way. The Glock is cool. (They say.)
The British Army has used the High Power since the 50's. You can say that they have been well served. But now the Browning is entering the history books as another weapon that had served the British well, and it is in good company.