Bennett was a clever and very market wise business man-- he knew that giving John Browning a royalty on each A-5 sold by WRA was a real gamble, and depending on the % of the royalty agreement, could cost WRA big bucks. It is true he had purchased outright many Browning designed rifles, and "deep- sixed" them, he did this to keep Marlin and Remington from getting their hands on them.
This was aprox 1906- no 3 shot plug limits, market hunting for waterfowl was a big time event and a staple part of the economy in may areas of America back then, especially the canvasbacks and geese that ended up on the tables of the finest East Coast restaurants. And a fast firing semi-autoloader would possibly use up more ammo than the older double guns did- and WRA was very big in the sales of shotgun shells and reloading components back then.
No, I beg to differ- had Bennett and Browning come to a mutual agreement, WRA would have had the repeating shotgun market by the proverbial balls- the M1897 pump and the A-5 autoloader- both Browning designs. And it is possible that Bennett might have set up the tooling and gauges for a 20 gauge A-5, and possibly setting Thomas C. Johnson's development of the great Model 1912 pumpgun on the back burner.
Sort of ironic, that Tommy Johnson worked with John Browning to draft the patent applications for the A-5, it became a designers'nightmare therefore for Tommy Johnson to design the flawed Win, M11 without conflicting with Browning's A-5 design.
I have seen a few Model 11 and Model 40 Winchesters for sale at Cabela's- not in the Gun Library, but in the used gun racks just outside the entrance to the Gun Library. Buy and shoot on at your own peril.
Last edited by Run With The Fox; 11/02/16 07:27 PM.
