Maybe it is splitting hairs, but those "gas-operated" revolvers don't appear to have been at all practical, revolutionary, nor really qualify as gas-operated firearms. From what I can see, they used gas to either drive an ejector rod back or directly impinge on the previously-fired empty case just to eject them automatically. Those gas systems don't appear to have done anything else--i.e., they neither loaded the firearm nor cocked the action (as far as I can tell). And the user still had to open those frames to load which, in a contemporary S&W, automatically ejected ALL fired cartridges just by mechanical means. I think there's a very good reason that these never took-off.
Browning's gas-operated firearms utilized gas to load, eject, and cock the firearm, and this is a big distinction to me.
Furthermore, as it pertains to the 1911, I believe that much of its tarnished reputation of late comes from how widely copied it is and the ubiquity of hollow-point ammunition today--something it was never designed for. I have never experienced a malfunction with any Colt or USGI 1911 or 1911A1 when using USGI or OEM magazines and ball ammunition. I have had a plethora of frustrating range experiences with modern copies, including some by Auto-Ord. and Springfield Armory (their G.I. version) and some Kimbers before they were broken-in. And my modern Colts with their "dimpled" feed ramp have been reliable with hollow-points. I even fed them some Keith 452423 rounds, and never had an issue. Regardless, Browning's tilting barrel design has become dominant, whether that is accomplished via a swinging barrel link or a cam.
It frustrates me how the 1911 is viewed almost as a manufacturer rather than a design. On other designs, shortcomings are properly attributed to how well each clone manufacturer executes said design. With the 1911's, I've often seen the entire design condemned because someone bought a dirt-cheap clone and/or tried to use hollow-points with a non-modified 1911 (not suggesting this is the OP's experience). PROPERLY-constructed 1911's are, in my experience, very reliable, though most USGI 1911A1's I had to qualify with in the army were well worn-out and not too accurate.
As for the BAR, I still believe it was revolutionary. Sure, it was big, heavy, and clunky. But envisioned tactics of the day placed value on "walking fire"--i.e., advancing with the rifle firing from the hip. So it met the standard that was expected, irregardless of how impractical that tactic proved to be. And its actual design WAS copied successfully, and not just in the Belgium versions of the BAR. When I was first introduced to the M240 machine gun as a tanker in the Army National Guard, I realized that the action was little more than a BAR turned upside down. The Belgians had just developed Browning's action into an outstanding machine gun that remains my favorite 7.62 cal machine gun ever.
Just this past Guard Drill (no longer a tanker), I examined the latest .50 caliber machine guns adopted by the US Army. Although initially dismayed that they'd modified the design to no longer allow (or require, whichever one prefers) the operator to set headspace or timing, the overall mechanics remained the same. It was explained to me that they'd finally developed the precision to manufacture them so that both headspace (utilizing interrupted threads on the barrel ala takedown rifles) and timing could be set at the factory and remain correct for a long time. Regardless, the fact that this 100-plus year-old design is still our standard .50 cal heavy machine gun is a testament to Browning's genius.
As for some of his other designs, particularly some of his lever-actions, I have often wondered how much genius there was in his difficult-to-disassemble and non-intuitively-shaped parts (for reassembly). I'll tear into a Winchester with no hesitation, but I have to be really motivated to work on an 1886 or 1895. It always puzzled me how brilliant the design of the 1911 was in its ease of disassembly vs. many of his other sporting designs that seemed to have never been intended for anyone of average skill to take apart.