Browning 440 plus - thoughts?

[clee33]

My cousin games these in right hand and we've been joking about me getting  a left hand set so we can have a truly level playing field during our matches.

 

Anyone had experience with these classics?

[Fairway14]

5 minutes ago, BruceLeesNephew said:

My cousin games these in right hand and we've been joking about me getting  a left hand set so we can have a truly level playing field during our matches.

 

Anyone had experience with these classics?

 

Browning 440 model irons had a very low profile which was exceptionally helpful for achieving high trajectory shots. Truly the Browning 440 had a better sense design concept (shallow face low profile head) than the computer designed bulky tall face boxy iron heads which are common today.

[clee33]

My cousin says the same! He swear by them and honestly when his swing is on they hit the ball quite high and very consistent

[Socrates]

The 440 Plus wasn't as good as the original 440.  That being said, I had the opportunity to hit a 440 this fall after 30+ years since I last hit one and it felt like crap.  I know guys still play them, but I wouldn't.

[deadsolid...shank]

I always worried that if the ball was sitting up at all in the rough it would slide right under it without even making contact. 

[RayGorman]

I've had several sets on and off over the last 30-40 years. I would pick up a set at a Flea Market or something in Florida for $40 or some ridiculous amount. Put them in the bag for a bit then sell them on for the same or a bit more. I really liked them... in Florida. Nice high flights that would stop on the pool tables for greens I encountered. Not so much up here in the Northeast. They were best suited for the fairways... ANY kind of juicy lie in the rough, or if the ball sat up a bit, it was really hard to not to pass straight under the ball... There was always at least one complete swing and a miss a round that sent the ball even deeper in the same spot. Quirky at least, frustrating at their worst... 

[jholz]

My father played Browning 440s and 440 Plus for most of his miserable golfing career. I kept trying to get him to go Ping, but he was always a contrarian. 

 

In any event, you can see the design concept used in the 440s in a lot of various clubs produced over the years. I would even argue that hybrids owe something to this design. 

 

I've played my father's old set of 440 Pluses on a few occasions and they hit the ball fine. I just can't stand looking at them. 

[pup142]

When I was young I had a set of them. Not for me. I use them now in my garden as tomato sticks to hold the plants up.

[Milfordlefty]

When I was young and foolish golf newbie, I sucked myself into a try for 30 days and they where Brownings. Couldn't hit them to save my life. Battle with the company for my 30 day money back, they kept offering to drop the price. This was probable 25+ years ago.

[Sparty4202]

I remember a bunch of the old guys at my club played these when I joined 35+ years ago...now I’m the old guy but I still couldn’t talk myself into hitting something like that today!

[NoTalentLefty]

That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long while. Kinda a like Horus. I played a copy in the late 70s? made by Wilson . Sam Snead Blue Ridge I believe though before and maybe after they went back to a traditional design.

[Shakespeare]

My head pro back in the late 70s qualified for the us open with them... not sure that means anything but they must have been okay

[Jiggered]

I've got a set and play them occasionally.

 

What I don't understand is why all clubs are low profile until the sand wedge which is a normal sized face, if you're going to do that why not similar on the PW and 9, or even a gentle progression on the shorter irons, say from the 7 iron to SW?

 

It's looking down on the pitching wedge that messes with my head, being used to seeing lots of face, there's nothing there!

Edited November 25, 2020 by Jiggered

[Foozle]

Someone mentioned Browning in the forgotten iron companies thread that is running. It made me recall the set my former playing partner had in the mid '80's. They were low profile and I guess probably the 440's being discussed here. They launched incredibly high due to the low cog. Not what you wanted playing Scottish links golf! He didn't keep them very long.

I couldn't hit them at all. Too different looking at address. I agree with Jiggered, the further down the set you go the worse the effect!

[chipa]

I had a buddy a while back who picked up a use set and he went on and on about how they were great off of tight lies and hit the ball high. He didn't keep them long though because the short face makes them nearly impossible to hit them consistently out of the rough.

[Bad9]

Any of you guys able to comment on the differences between the Browning 440 model and the 500 model? They look virtually the same in eBay pics.

[raggal62]

Member "Shallowface" is our resident Browning guy. 

[OldTom]

I have a set of Browning 880-s irons. Same low profile design as the 440 model. Have used them and they play very well. No issues in the rough.

I believe it was thought the ball rolled up the face of golf irons when struck. The high speed photograpy Browning used for their firearm development was used on striking a golf ball. It showed the ball didn't roll up the face at all. Hence their was no need for the top half of a normal iron.  The weight could be used in the strike zone of the club. 

Sounds logical.

I think quite a few companies had a go at making low profile irons.

[scomac2002]

5 hours ago, OldTom said:

I think quite a few companies had a go at making low profile irons.

 

I believe so.  I remember coveting a set of Cleveland Launcher LP's when I was looking for a new set of clubs when I first started to play regularly about 15 years ago or so.  They were visually quite a departure from the high toe designs that were popular in the mid 80's to early 90's.

Edited November 28, 2020 by scomac2002

[Bad9]

24 minutes ago, GreenCoat said:

 

Not with any certainty but I think the 440's were offered as components to various box stores or catalogs as heads only.   I have 2 sets of 440's, one I play on dried out fairways and rough.   The other set is just the heads, brand new, never been hit that I never got around to shafting.  I bought them for replacement heads in case I lost one from the playing set.   

 

Do they take .370 shafts? PM me if you think about selling the heads.

[Fairway14]

On a related subject..........the original Tight Lies fairway metals (20 years ago ?) were very popular because their shallow face heights allowed players to strike higher trajectory shots.

So, the old Browning shallow face irons and first version Adams Tightlies are proof that shallow face heights do help players strike more solid, higher trajectory shots. Of course from rough or other "teed up" type lies the shallow faces can be a detriment.

Karsten Solheim's designs (the 4 or 5 versions of Karsten irons followed by his iconic Eye 2 model) were brilliant in that the iron heads had shallow faces at the heel with relatively high face height at the toe area.

[SalemGolfer]

Hello all,

 

Sorry for joining late.  Just lost a 440 7i I was trying to have bent more upright.  Was able to get 1.5* more upright and it snapped when I got greedy going for a full 2*.

 

Was finding success using around the greens much like a Ping Chipr.  

 

I see there are ladies models available on ebay.  Does anyone know the specs on the ladies models?  Hoping they are both shorter and more upright.

 

thanks for any info.

 

Jack

[bcstones]

4 hours ago, SalemGolfer said:

Does anyone know the specs on the ladies models? 

not sure if the specs on the iron heads themselves would be different - ladies vs mens....but @Jiggered has an excellent Browning 440 video on his YouTube channel (the link is at the bottom of his comment just a couple/few posted coments above this your's.....

[CHE KJARRVERA]

Just picked up an excellent condition set of 440’s for $8 in a junk shop recently. Saw one distinctive 440 head in their jumble of old irons and recalled the Titleist super slims I had years ago. I rifled through the bucket and was stoked to discover a matching set, 2 thru 9. They are the blade version and feel like a DG medium flex shaft. No wear at all on the faces and no rust on the shafts. Took them for a hit and was surprised with how well they play as I recall the super slims were terrible. Anyway, didn’t hit a dud shot and even stuck a beaut par three over water that pulled up next to the pin. They feel better than you’d expect and have a nice sounding click when struck well. Have regripped them with tour velvets and given them a polish up. They've kicked the Tommy Armour 545s’ out of my randomly acquired retro set. Currently in the bag: Hogan Apex persimmon 1W, (need a persimmon 3 & 5), Wilson Staff fluid feel SW, Dunlop Maxfli FM PW, Hogan BH Grind 1i (for chipping and tricky rough shots), Acushnet Bullseye wide flange. Stupidly sold a mint set of Apex Redlines a few years ago and instantly regretted it, but hopefully one day I’ll find another set…

Edited August 4, 2024 by CHE KJARRVERA

[Shallowface]

On 11/26/2020 at 9:13 AM, Bad9 said:

Any of you guys able to comment on the differences between the Browning 440 model and the 500 model? They look virtually the same in eBay pics.

I don't know that I'm the resident Browning guy, but the 500 has less offset than the 440, although the 440 didn't have a lot.

[Shallowface]

On 11/29/2023 at 12:38 PM, SalemGolfer said:

Hello all,

 

Sorry for joining late.  Just lost a 440 7i I was trying to have bent more upright.  Was able to get 1.5* more upright and it snapped when I got greedy going for a full 2*.

 

Was finding success using around the greens much like a Ping Chipr.  

 

I see there are ladies models available on ebay.  Does anyone know the specs on the ladies models?  Hoping they are both shorter and more upright.

 

thanks for any info.

 

Jack

Like most of the ladies models of that day, they were the same heads as the men's with blue paint fill.  Make them half an inch shorter and you've got a C8 swingweight that was pretty standard for ladies clubs. 

[Shallowface]

On 8/2/2024 at 11:54 PM, CHE KJARRVERA said:

Just picked up an excellent condition set of 440’s for $8 in a junk shop recently. Saw one distinctive 440 head in their jumble of old irons and recalled the Titleist super slims I had years ago. I rifled through the bucket and was stoked to discover a matching set, 2 thru 9. They are the blade version and feel like a DG medium flex shaft. No wear at all on the faces and no rust on the shafts. Took them for a hit and was surprised with how well they play as I recall the super slims were terrible. Anyway, didn’t hit a dud shot and even stuck a beaut par three over water that pulled up next to the pin. They feel better than you’d expect and have a nice sounding click when struck well. Have regripped them with tour velvets and given them a polish up. They've kicked the Tommy Armour 545s’ out of my randomly acquired retro set. Currently in the bag: Hogan Apex persimmon 1W, (need a persimmon 3 & 5), Wilson Staff fluid feel SW, Dunlop Maxfli FM PW, Hogan BH Grind 1i (for chipping and tricky rough shots), Acushnet Bullseye wide flange. Stupidly sold a mint set of Apex Redlines a few years ago and instantly regretted it, but hopefully one day I’ll find another set…

Browning may have carried the low profile idea a bit too far for most people, but they had the right idea.  Why anyone would want a deep faced iron or fairway wood is beyond me.  You're trying to hit the equator of the ball with the 5th groove of an iron.  I can see having a bit of metal above that for comfort in the rough, but how much.  You need to know where the leading edge is at all times, so if one is concerned about going under the ball there's work to be done. 

[Shallowface]

The "Truth About Golf" video got a lot of grief from people, but the book of the same title is in my opinion an unsung instructional classic.  It's hard to find but I highly recommend it.   

[Shallowface]

On 11/28/2020 at 11:05 AM, Fairway14 said:

On a related subject..........the original Tight Lies fairway metals (20 years ago ?) were very popular because their shallow face heights allowed players to strike higher trajectory shots.

So, the old Browning shallow face irons and first version Adams Tightlies are proof that shallow face heights do help players strike more solid, higher trajectory shots. Of course from rough or other "teed up" type lies the shallow faces can be a detriment.

Karsten Solheim's designs (the 4 or 5 versions of Karsten irons followed by his iconic Eye 2 model) were brilliant in that the iron heads had shallow faces at the heel with relatively high face height at the toe area.

I read an interview with Barney Adams where he said the Browning 440s were the inspiration for the original Tight Lies woods.

 

You can certainly see that same influence on all of those great Adams hybrids through the years.  I haven't played Browning irons for a long time, but I have Adams hybrids in the 2-7 iron slots in the bag.   

Edited August 6, 2024 by Shallowface

[Foozle]

15 minutes ago, Shallowface said:

I read an interview with Barney Adams where he said the Browning 440s were the inspiration for the original Tight Lies woods.

 

You can certainly see that same influence on all of those great Adams hybrids through the years.  I haven't played Browning irons for a long time, but I have Adams hybrids in the 2-7 iron slots in the bag.   

Picked these up for giggles recently. 

Can see some hybrid influence from these too!