Val A. Browning

Val A. Browning
Lt. Val Browning with the Browning Automatic Rifle
Birth name	Val Allen Browning
Born	(1895-08-20)August 20, 1895 Ogden, Utah Territory
Died	May 16, 1994(1994-05-16) (aged 98) Ogden, Utah, U.S.
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1917–1918
Rank	1st Lieutenant
Unit	79th Infantry Division
Awards	Order of Leopold
Relations	John M Browning (father) Jonathan Browning (grandfather)
Other work	industrialist, philanthropist, gun manufacturer

Val Allen Browning (August 20, 1895 – May 16, 1994) was an American industrialist, philanthropist and third-generation gunmaker. His grandfather, Jonathan Browning, opened a gun shop in Ogden, Utah in 1852 and his father, John Browning, is regarded as one of the most successful firearms designers of the 20th century.

Born in Ogden, Utah Territory, Browning graduated from Ogden High School in 1913 and later studied law and engineering at Cornell University. As a young man he worked in the shop his grandfather had opened.

In 1918, Browning was commissioned as a second lieutenant with the United States Army, and served with the 79th Infantry Division at Verdun during World War I. In 1920, he became the manager of the manufacturing of John Browning guns in Liege, Belgium, and served as his father's personal representative to the Fabrique Nationale de Herstal company. Upon his father's death in 1926, Browning had the responsibility of completing the projects that were not finished by his father, including the Browning Superposed shotgun and the Browning Hi-Power pistol (GP-35) (the latter in cooperation with his father's Belgian assistant, Dieudonné Saive).

In 1924, Browning married Ann Chaffin (1901–1975) of Farmington, Utah and they had four children. They lived in Belgium until 1935 when Browning returned to Utah as President of Browning Arms Company.