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Ferdinand Mannlicher

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Ferdinand Mannlicher
Born
Ferdinand Karl Adolf Josef Mannlicher

(1848-01-30)January 30, 1848
Mainz,Grand Duchy of Hesse
DiedJanuary 20, 1904(1904-01-20)(aged 55)
Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Occupation(s)Small arms designer, inventor
Known for
SpouseCaecilie von Mannlicher
Awards

Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher(January 30, 1848 – January 20, 1904) was an Austrian engineer andsmall armsdesigner. Along withJames Paris Lee,Mannlicher was particularly noted for inventing theen-bloc clipcharger-loadingbox magazinesystem. Later, while making improvements to other inventors' prototype designs for rotary-feed magazines, Mannlicher, together with his protégé Otto Schönauer, patented a perfectedrotary magazinedesign, theMannlicher–Schönauerrifle, which was a commercial and military success.

Life

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Ascionof a long-established bourgeois family originating fromMost(German:Brüx) inBohemia,Mannlicher was born in theGermancity ofMainz,where his father served as an Austriank.k.official in theAustriangarrison at theConfederation Fortress.He returned to theJosefstadtdistrict ofViennawith his parents in 1857, and after receiving hisMaturahigh-school exam attended theVienna University of Technology.He started his professional career in 1869 as an employee of theAustrian Southern Railwaycompany and worked as an engineer at theEmperor Ferdinand Northern Railwaycompany until 1887.

Mannlicher had early turned his interest toweapons technology,particularlybreech-loadingrepeating rifles.His ambitions were fueled by the Austrian defeat in the 1866Battle of Königgrätz,which he traced back to the inadequate equipment of theImperial and Royal Army.In 1876 he travelled to theCentennial ExpositioninPhiladelphiato study numerous construction designs and afterwards drafted several types of repeating rifles with tubularmagazines.In 1885-1886 he patented the "Mannlicher System" of abreechblockon abolt-actionbasis, which was adopted as aservice rifleby theAustro-Hungarian Armyin 1886 and by several other armed forces.

In 1878, Mannlicher joined theAustrian Arms Factory company[de](German:Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft (ŒWGat)) inSteyrinUpper Austria,which under the name ofSteyr Mannlicherbecame one of the largest weapon-manufacturers in Europe. The modelMannlicher M1895was widely used by the Austro-Hungarian Army up to and includingWorld War I.In 1887, Mannlicher was awarded the 3rd class of theOrder of the Iron Crown (Austria),he also received the PrussianOrder of the Crownand theofficier medalof the FrenchLegion of Honour.On 14 December 1892 EmperorFranz Joseph of Austriavested him with the title ofRittervon(loosely translated to: 'knight of') due to his earlierennoblement.In 1899 he was given a lifelong appointment to the Austrian Upper House (Österreichisches Herrenhaus) of theImperial Councilparliament.

Mannlicher's successful designs during his lifetime included bolt-action rifles, both military and sporting, in both turn-bolt and straight-pull actions. Mannlicher also developed several innovativesemi-automatic handgundesigns in the 1890s. A measure of how far ahead of his time he was can be seen by looking at his experimental designs forsemi-automatic rifles,developed at a time when ammunition was not suitable to function properly in such a weapon[citation needed].In 1883, Mannlicher began development of an automatic rifle firing the 11mm Austrian Werndl, ablack-powder cartridge.[1] According to W. H. B. Smith inMauser, Walther and Mannlicher Firearms,the Mannlicher 1885 became the inspiration for theM1 Garand;and the Mannlicher 1900 with the "short-stroke piston" became the inspiration for theM1 Carbine.[2][page needed]

Mannlicher's automatic rifle designs

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Mannlicher introduced several automatic rifle designs that were unsuccessful, but ahead of their time. He introduced fundamental principles that were used by later designers, often successfully.

Mannlicher's Model 85 semi automatic rifle used his recoil operated action originally developed in 1883; it anticipated the recoiling barrel system used later in designs like the GermanMG 34andMG 42machineguns, and theM1941 Johnson machine gun.The Model 85 would have fit the same tactical role as the AmericanBARor BritishBrenof World War II fame.

The Model 91semi-automatic riflewas designed to use the7.92×57mm Mausercartridge and the Model 88 rifle clip. Like the Model 85 it was a recoil operated action like the laterRemington Model 8andM1941 Johnson rifle.

Mannlicher designed two semi-automatic rifles both called Model 93, one based on his turn-bolt rifle and the other based on his straight-pull rifle. The rifles had a recoil spring housing behind the bolt and the bolt locking lugs were angled, so the bolt started turning on firing, essentially a hesitation lock or delayed blowback much like the laterThompson Autorifleutilising theBlish lock.In this system there was no recoiling barrel nor gas piston as with other rifle-caliber autoloading designs, so the mechanism was simple, but ejection of fired cartridge casings was so fierce as to be hazardous to bystanders.

The Model 95 semi-automatic rifle was gas operated using a slide with the cocking handle on its side and gas piston at its front to operate the bolt, with the recoil spring operating on the slide. Loading was with the Mannlicher packet clip of cartridges inserted into the magazine from the top. These features were also used in the later U.S.M1 Garandrifle.

The Model 1900 semi-automatic rifle was also gas operated but used a short stroke piston with a camming lug that engaged the bolt to open it. The bolt was then carried to the rear by momentum with the recoil spring operating on the bolt. The USM1 carbineused a short stroke piston to impart momentum to a slide that opened the bolt, combining features introduced in the Mannlicher Model 95 and Model 100.[3]

The Model 1905 used ashort recoilaction with a tilting locking block. This was same principle Mannlicher used in his 1901 pistol-caliber carbine. However, for the rifle he scaled it up to8mm Mauser,the standard German military rifle cartridge. The rifle also used aSchönauerrotary magazine,and sights copied from the MauserGewehr 98.[4]Although his company patented the design in 1905, Mannlicher's death in 1904 ended any further development of the design.

List of firearms named after Ferdinand Mannlicher

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Patents

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U.S. patent 472,795Repeating Firearm. April 12, 1892. (Rifle)

U.S. patent 518,821Feed Mechanism for Magazine-Guns. Granted April 24, 1894. (Rifle)

U.S. patent 581,295Automatic Firearm. Granted April 27, 1897. (Rifle)

U.S. patent 581,296Automatic Firearm. Granted April 27, 1897. (Pistol,Steyr Mannlicher M1894)

U.S. patent 728,739Automatic Firearm. Granted May 19, 1903. (Rifle)

U.S. patent 804,748Small-Arm Having Automatic Breech-Action. Granted November 14, 1905. (Rifle, granted posthumously)

References

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  1. ^Walter H. B. Smith,Mannlicher Rifles and Pistols,Military Service Publishing Co., 1947, pp. 155–62
  2. ^ Smith, Walter H. B. (20 January 2010).Mauser, Walther and Mannlicher Firearms.Stackpole Classic Gun Bks (reprint ed.). Stackpole Books.ISBN9780811705349.Retrieved5 October2023.
  3. ^Walter H. B. Smith,Mannlicher Rifles and Pistols,Military Service Publishing Co. 1947. Model 85 pp. 155–62; Model 91 pp. 163–69; Model 93 turning bolt pp. 170–77; Model 93 straight-pull pp. 178–84; Model 95 pp. 197–203; Model 1900 pp. 232–39.
  4. ^McCollum, Ian (April 12, 2013)."Mannlicher 1905 Experimental Self-Loading Rifle".Forgottenweapons.com.RetrievedApril 13,2013.
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