Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 126 Building a Browning Firearms Company (4.7k views, please vote)
“Hello Mr. Browning, I am a good friend of Matthew Browning!” Larry took two steps forward and solemnly extended his hand.

John Browning was slightly taken aback, but two seconds later, he placed the Bodeau pistol on the table and solemnly shook Larry's hand.

“You actually know my brother?” John Browning asked in surprise.

Larry laughed and said, "Yes, I met him when I went to Colt Company on business. He was an engineer and shift manager there!"

John Browning nodded emphatically, tightened his grip on Larry's hand, and a broad smile spread across his face.
“Very good! My brother is even less sociable than I am. If he can become friends with you, then it proves that you are also a trustworthy person.” John Browning’s thick, dark brown beard trembled, revealing a hint of genuine emotion.

Larry noticed that Mr. John Browning wore a wide silver ring on the ring finger of his right hand when he shook hands, with a "honeycomb" pattern engraved on it.

Burnham looked a little surprised and delighted. He reached out and touched their arms, smiling.

"What a coincidence! It's like God's arrangement... Let's go, we've had our fill of shooting, let's go to the lounge area for a drink!"

Larry nodded in agreement, and John Browning gently picked up the pistol and velvet cloth, following Burnham to the lounge area in the shooting club's foyer.

The three of them sat down. Burnham picked up a bottle of bourbon and two glasses, raised his eyebrows at Larry, and asked, "Can we drink whiskey?"

Larry nodded slightly. "I can drink a little!"

"Well done!" Burnham poured Larry a glass, then poured one for himself, before setting the whiskey bottle aside.

Larry was a little curious as to why Burnham hadn't poured John Browning a glass as well, but then he saw the latter gently place the carefully wiped M1889 Bodeau pistol on the table in front of Larry, with a reluctant expression on his face.

"Sir, you're a seasoned gun enthusiast and a renowned firearms designer. Do you really like this gun that much?" Larry asked curiously.

John Browning withdrew his gaze from the Bodeau pistol, a candid smile spreading across his face.
“Oh, they’re so beautiful… I don’t know what you think, but I always feel that every gun has its own life. Look at their curves, they’re as impressive as graceful women! Especially European guns, they have a special beauty that’s different from the New World.”

Larry raised an eyebrow, noticing that John Browning used the female pronoun "she" when discussing firearms.

This shows that John Browning and Burnham were both avid gun enthusiasts! They viewed guns as alluring and beautiful as women.

Larry asked himself if he had this awareness, and not only did he not, Larry felt that Matthew Browning did not either, because Matthew compared machine guns to three-headed hellhounds that drink human blood.

"Come on, let's have a clink! For the girl from Italy!!"

Burnham raised his glass, and Larry did too, but John Browning picked up a tin pitcher and drank water…

Noticing Larry's gaze, John Browning quietly explained, "I am a Mormon."

Larry nodded knowingly, thinking to himself that the Mormons were even more extreme than Protestants, forbidding alcohol, coffee, and other addictive beverages, and some even abstaining from smoking.

The three of them took a sip and began chatting incessantly.

After listening to John Browning's complaints and Burnham's constant comforting words, Larry finally understood why John Browning was there...

It turns out it's still related to me!
Previously, John Browning had been working with Winchester to develop single-shot rifles, but the collaboration had always been awkward and was already on the verge of collapse.

As a result, Winchester was acquired and merged into Colt.

His collaboration with Winchester fell through completely.

Mr. Browning originally wanted to try his luck at Remington, but Remington was now in a state of panic and no longer had the ambition to collaborate on producing a groundbreaking firearm.

At this moment, Browning was destitute due to the breakdown of the collaboration and fell into the lowest point of his life.

Although John Browning did not drink, he sounded quite melancholy when talking about how his well-designed firearms were shelved by Winchester.

Larry frowned, thinking to himself, "Capitalism! It has ruined so many hardworking people!"
Such a great inventor was forced to wander to Europe to try his luck!

The United States has already lost Maxim; it cannot afford to lose Browning as well!

Larry immediately made up his mind: I'll invest! I'll find a way to keep Browning in Boston!

However, although Larry had made up his mind, he could not show it at this moment. He simply sighed a couple of times as the two were talking.

A short while later, the female secretary pushed open the door and came in, informing a member that they were looking for Mr. Burnham.

Burnham gave Larry and Browning an apologetic smile, then walked out of the lounge area.

Only Larry and Browning remained in the room.

As Browning himself said, he wasn't a very sociable person either. After his friend left the room, Browning turned his attention back to the M1889 Bodeo...

Larry smiled, pushed the pistol on the table toward Browning, and slowly said,
“Mr. Browning, have you ever heard the proverb, ‘Flowers are for beauties, swords are for heroes’… Since you like it, I would like to present this Bodeo pistol to you…”

Mr. Browning suddenly raised his head, a look of confusion on his face.

Larry quickly explained, "Don't feel embarrassed, it's just a small gift between gentlemen, nothing to worry about."

John Browning shook his head slightly. "No, I've never heard of that proverb before..."

Larry thought to himself, "You've never heard of a Chinese proverb before, that's a lie." Larry smiled faintly and said, "Anyway, that's the gist of it. I saw your machine gun at Colt; it was a superb design. I remember Mr. Andrew, the general manager of Colt, saying that if Mr. Colt were still alive, he would definitely be a friend of yours."

John Browning's thick, forest-like beard twitched, and a serious look appeared in his eyes as he pressed, "Did he really say that?"

Larry's heart skipped a beat. He knew he couldn't say anything careless and push Browning into the Colts' shoes, so he quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Yes, Mr. Andrew is very loyal to Colt, but the others… well, we had a lot of bad experiences there. Colt is a large and powerful company, with many people and a lot of scheming!” John Browning nodded emphatically, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as if recalling some past memory, then sighed.
“That’s true… The reason I had Matthew there as a designer was because it was Colt; but the reason I didn’t want to stay there was because there was no Colt there—the company’s shareholders and directors only wanted to make money and had no intention of creating the next classic firearm like the Colt M1873… It was very disappointing.”

“So…please accept this M1889 Bodeo!” Larry pushed the pistol forward again.

John Browning wasn't one to mince words. He nodded, placed a hand over the Baudeo pistol, raised an eyebrow at Larry, and said...
"I'll reciprocate with a gun, but not today. Could you come to the club again on Sunday?"

Larry quickly replied, “Great! I’ll come again on Sunday. But I just heard you tell Mr. Burnham that you’re leaving the United States for Europe soon, is that right?”

Browning nodded heavily, frowning.

“American factories always want to hire me as an engineer. If they really want to build a good gun, I can stay with their company without worry… But they always mess up my designs just to cater to their imagined market, which I can’t allow. I heard that Mr. Maxim met a very important person in England who appreciates him, and I’d like to try my luck there.”

Hearing this, Larry sighed, "Alas, does God not bless America? How come such a good gun designer has to leave the United States?"

Browning looked up at Larry but didn't say anything.

Larry leaned forward and said sincerely, "Mr. Browning, I think even if you go to Europe, the problems you'll encounter will be similar to those in America. They all have their own plans, either to control costs or to cater to the strange demands of bureaucrats. If you want to do things entirely according to your own ideas, then... sigh!"

After Larry finished speaking, Browning's face stiffened.

Actually, he had considered this matter. All crows are black, and Browning had been traveling around with his various gun design patents for years, including to Europe, but had not received much feedback.

After pondering for a moment, Browning's face showed worry, and he murmured, "What should we do?"

Larry was waiting for Browning to be so flustered, so he leaned closer and said, "Excuse my bluntness, but why haven't you ever thought about opening your own gun factory? With so many gun design patents under your control, why would you want to work for another company?"

“Because I didn’t have the money!” Browning answered bluntly, then explained, “I also established my own gun company in Utah, but the most important issue was the lack of capital. I couldn’t afford high-precision machine tools to meet large-scale orders. My gun manufacturing plant in Utah could only produce 24 single-shot rifles a month…”

Browning perked up at the topic and continued, “The gun market is now monopolized by big companies. As an unknown from Utah, I can’t possibly get enough loans from banks to build a factory or expand the scale.”

Larry listened and nodded, and was about to bring up the matter of investing money when Browning said again.

"Besides, I hate managing those trivial matters, like coordinating the supply chain and scheduling workers. These heavy workloads seriously affect my design work. My small factory in Utah with five helpers was already giving me a headache, how could I possibly manage a large factory like Winchester? It's unrealistic!"

Larry understood. Browning was a pure gun designer who liked to turn his wild ideas into blueprints and didn't care about the trivial matters of sales and production.

Besides, Larry felt it was a waste to have someone who could produce over a hundred gun patents in his lifetime spend time running a factory.

However, if Browning was unwilling to build the factory, how could he possibly benefit from it?
After thinking for a few seconds, Larry suddenly smiled and continued, "However, I still suggest you start your own company. If you're having trouble with funding, I'd be happy to provide some assistance..."

Browning frowned at Larry and said bluntly, "Sir, I don't doubt your sincerity and ability. But you should know that setting up a gun company is no joke. Have you heard? Colt needed to raise tens of millions of dollars just to produce its own M1889 revolver. That's no small amount."

The implication is quite clear: how could someone like you, a young master, possibly afford to engage in the military industry, one of the world's most advanced industrial manufacturing sectors, even if you have some money of your own?
Larry thought to himself, "I'm about to invest in the next top-tier manufacturing industry, the automotive industry. Why would I care about the military industry?"
Seeing Browning's direct and questioning gaze, Larry smiled faintly, not continuing to talk about the factory, but instead asking,

"Mr. Browning, do you know why you always seem to be at a disadvantage when collaborating with major firearms companies?"

Browning simply shook his head.

Larry continued, "It's because your brilliant design has to go through their lathes to become a reality. Your drawings can't be turned into physical objects directly. It takes many steps to turn a product from a design drawing into a finished product, and some of the difficulties in production are things you couldn't have imagined when you were designing it."

Browning thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Therefore, I suggest that the company you establish in cooperation should not be a gun manufacturing factory, but a design company. You can focus on designing, producing prototype guns, and testing them, turning the blueprints directly into reality. In this way, when you cooperate with them, it will not be a cooperation based on blueprints, but on a gun that is already perfected."

Browning's eyes suddenly narrowed as he carefully considered Larry's words, but after a few seconds of thought, he still spoke.
"Isn't that the same thing? I also have to deal with the production problem, and the factories that produce guns will cost a lot of money..."

Larry laughed and waved his hand. "No, we don't manufacture firearms. We just design and market them! We can take finished prototypes to various countries' militaries to sell them until we get orders, and then find existing firearms factories to manufacture them!"

“Contract manufacturing?!” Browning was shocked by the word. He understood Larry’s meaning from the literal meaning of the word, but because the concept was too advanced, Browning still did not fully understand what Larry was talking about.

“Yes, contract manufacturing! We provide the standards, and they provide the factory to produce the weapons,” Larry explained with a smile. “You don’t need to overthink it. This is actually a form of cooperation. It’s just that you’ve gone from simply providing blueprints to providing a complete and tested set of technical standards. Once they’ve produced the weapons, you only need to pay the cost price of the weapons themselves and the processing fees.”

Mr. Browning shook his head. "No, that's not right. This doesn't solve the problem. If I were also a gun company, I would be their competitor. Why would they produce guns for us? Besides, even if they were willing, wouldn't they still face issues like expanding production?"

Larry had anticipated Browning's question, so he smiled and held up three fingers.

"First, after years of expansion, most gun companies are operating at a loss. You're worried about profit sharing and competition, but some companies that don't get enough orders today won't be able to support their workers tomorrow... If you can provide orders, it won't be competition for them; it will be a lifeline."

Browning thought carefully about the current state of arms companies in various countries and nodded emphatically.

"Secondly, in a market economy, the key to manufacturing is not production capacity, but orders. You can use small-batch production of firearms to win orders, and then find contract manufacturers to produce them. This model actually keeps the most profitable aspects, design and sales, while leaving the most costly and demanding production to the outside..."

Browning interrupted Larry with a look of doubt, "No, how can you be so sure you can get orders from the militaries of various countries? They might not even give you a chance to demonstrate your weapons if they see you don't have the production capacity."

Larry smiled, staring intently at Browning, and slowly extended his third finger, saying, "As long as you can produce the revolutionary firearm you just mentioned, I can sell it! What the arms market lacks right now isn't firearms, but revolutionary firearms that can adapt to the new era!"

Browning was stunned, and after a moment he asked, "What is this revolutionary firearm you're talking about?"

“There are many, I’ll just give you one example here…” Larry smiled at Browning, “Automatic pistols!!”

Browning was shocked and hurriedly asked, "What kind of automatic pistol are you talking about?"

Larry noticed that Browning addressed him with the honorific "you" for the first time today, and then explained with a smile, "A pistol that runs like a machine gun."

(End of this chapter)