Steyr Arms () is a
firearms manufacturer based in
Sankt Peter in der Au,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
. Originally part of
Steyr-Daimler-Puch
Steyr-Daimler-Puch () was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names.
History
Th ...
, it became independent when the conglomerate was broken up in 1989. Prior to 1 January 2019, the company was named Steyr Mannlicher AG ().
History
Origins
Steyr has been on the "
iron road" to the nearby
Erzberg mine
The Erzberg mine is a large open-pit mine located in Eisenerz, Styria, in the central-western part of Austria, 60 km north-west of Graz and 260 km south-west of the capital, Vienna. Erzberg represents the largest iron ore reserves in Aust ...
since the days of the
Styrian Otakar
Otakar is a masculine Czech given name of Germanic origin (cf. Audovacar). Notable people with the name include:
* Otakar Batlička (1895–1942), Czech adventurer, journalist, ham radio operator, member of Czech Nazi resistance group in World War ...
dukes and their
Babenberg
The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...
successors in the 12th and 13th century, and has been known as an industrial site for forging weapons. The privilege of iron and steel production, particularly for
knives, was renewed by the
Habsburg duke
Albert of Austria in 1287. After the
Thirty Years' War, thousands of
muskets,
pistol
A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...
s, and
carbines were produced annually for the
Habsburg Imperial Army.
In 1821,
Leopold Werndl
Leopold may refer to:
People
* Leopold (given name)
* Leopold (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons''
* Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
(1797–1855), a blacksmith in Steyr, began manufacturing iron parts for weapons. After his father's death, 24-year-old
Josef Werndl
Josef Werndl was a famous Austrian arms producer and inventor. His most famous rifle design was the M1867 Werndl-Holub. He also owned the Steyr-Mannlicher from 1855.
References
See also
*Ferdinand Mannlicher
Ferdinand Ritter von Mannliche ...
(1831–1889) took over his factory. On April 16, 1864, he founded the "Josef und Franz Werndl & Comp. Waffenfabrik und Sägemühle in Oberletten" (Josef and Franz Werndl & Partners Weapons Factory and Sawmill in Oberletten), from which later emerged the "Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft" (ŒWG, Austrian Arms-Manufacturing Company), a
stock company (''AG'') since 1869, of which the Steyr Mannlicher firearm production was a part.
World War I
Werndl's cooperation with engineer
Ferdinand Mannlicher
Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher (January 30, 1848 – January 20, 1904) was an Austrian engineer and small arms designer. Along with James Paris Lee, Mannlicher was particularly noted for inventing the en-bloc clip charger-loading magazine syste ...
(1848–1904), who had patented an advanced
repeating rifle A repeating rifle is a single-barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between each ammunition reloads. This is typically achieved by having multiple cartridges stored in a magazine (within or attached to the gun) and then fed individually in ...
in use by the
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...
, made ŒWG one of the largest weapon manufacturers in Europe. First applied in 1890, the
Mannlicher M1901, and the
Steyr-Hahn M1912 became milestones in auto-loading pistol technology. At the beginning of
World War I, with more than 15,000 employees, production output was 4,000 weapons per day.
The company introduced the world's first machine pistol, the
''Steyr Repetierpistole'' M1912/P16, during World War I; it was a machine pistol version of the
Steyr M1912 pistol
The Steyr M1912, also known as the Steyr-Hahn, is a semi-automatic pistol developed in 1911 by the Austrian firm Steyr Mannlicher, based on the mechanism of the Roth–Steyr M1907. It was developed for the Austro-Hungarian Army and adopted in 19 ...
, and was manufactured as product model
''Repetierpistole M1912/P16''. It used a 16-round fixed magazine loaded via 8 round stripper clips, a detachable shoulder stock and a rather large exposed semi-auto/full-auto selector switch on the right side of the frame above the trigger (down = semi & up = full). It fired the
9×23mm Steyr
The 9×23mm Steyr, also known as 9mm Steyr, is a centerfire pistol cartridge originally developed for the Steyr M1912 pistol.
History
Adopted in 1912, the 9mm Steyr was the service ammunition for most branches of the military in Austria-Hungar ...
cartridge, with a full-auto rate-of-fire of about 800 to 1,000 rounds per minute (RPM). It weighed about 2.6 pounds. Introduced in 1916, it is considered one of the world's first full-auto capable pistols. Only 960 M1912/P16 were made.
Aftermath of World War I
After the war, weapons production in Steyr was all but entirely prohibited according to the 1919
Treaty of Saint-Germain, and the company faced bankruptcy. To survive, the ŒWG converted their machinery to concentrate on producing
Steyr automobile
Steyr was an Austrian automotive brand, established in 1915 as a branch of the ''Österreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft'' (ÖWG) weapon manufacturing company. Renamed ''Steyr-Werke AG'' in 1926 and merged with Austro-Daimler and Puch into Stey ...
s under chief designers
Hans Ledwinka
Hans Ledwinka (14 February 1878 – 2 March 1967) was an Austrian automobile designer.
Youth
Ledwinka was born in Klosterneuburg (Lower Austria), near Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
He started his career as a mechanic, a ...
and
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline– electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volksw ...
, as well as bicycles (colloquially called ''Waffenräder'' ("weapon bicycles")). In 1926 the company changed its name to "Steyr-Werke", in 1934 to
Steyr Daimler Puch. The production of Steyr Daimler Puch weapons continued in cooperation with ''Patronenfabrik Solothurn AG'' at
Zuchwil
Zuchwil is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
History
Zuchwil is first mentioned in 1052 as ''Zuchwile''.
Geography
Zuchwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 24.8% is used for agricultura ...
in neutral
Switzerland.
World War II
After the Austrian ''
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...
'' to
Nazi Germany in 1938, the Steyr factories were incorporated into the ''
Reichswerke Hermann Göring
Reichswerke Hermann Göring was an industrial conglomerate in Nazi Germany from 1937 until 1945. It was established to extract and process domestic iron ores from Salzgitter that were deemed uneconomical by the privately held steel mills. The st ...
'' industrial conglomerate and the outbreak of
World War II provided a brief revival in weapons production. Like many other companies, Steyr Daimler Puch relied on
forced labour, employing from the
Steyr-Münichholz subcamp The Steyr-Münichholz concentration camp was one in a number of subcamps of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Upper Austria. Inmates were drawn from the main camp, in order to exploit their labor for producing arms in Steyr-Daimler-Puch co ...
of
KZ Mauthausen
Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 further ...
.
1950s
During the 1950s the
Mannlicher–Schönauer
The Mannlicher–Schönauer (sometimes Anglicized as "Mannlicher Schoenauer", Hellenized as Τυφέκιον/Όπλον Μάνλιχερ, ''Óplon/Tyfékion Mannlicher'') is a rotary-magazine bolt-action rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher for ...
full stock rifle, designed in 1900, experienced a renaissance. Simultaneously, the re-emergence of the Austrian Armed Forces in the Second Republic was the base for new military weapons production.
The AUG
In the 1970s, Steyr developed an innovative assault rifle, the StG 77. A bullpup design, the StG 77 extensively utilized synthetic materials, and integrated fixed optics. The export version became the
Steyr AUG
The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG.
It was adopted by the Austrian Army ...
—''Armee Universal Gewehr'' ("Universal Army Rifle"), eventually used by the armed forces of over 24 countries. It has been prominently featured in films such as ''
Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by ...
'', ''
Commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
'', and ''
Die Hard''.
In 1989, after the partial dissolution of the
Steyr Daimler Puch conglomerate, the weapon division was named
Steyr Mannlicher
Steyr Arms () is a firearms manufacturer based in Sankt Peter in der Au, Austria. Originally part of Steyr-Daimler-Puch, it became independent when the conglomerate was broken up in 1989. Prior to 1 January 2019, the company was named Steyr Man ...
in honour of the great Austro-Hungarian engineer
Ferdinand Mannlicher
Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher (January 30, 1848 – January 20, 1904) was an Austrian engineer and small arms designer. Along with James Paris Lee, Mannlicher was particularly noted for inventing the en-bloc clip charger-loading magazine syste ...
, in 2019 Steyr Arms.
Products
;Assault rifle
*
AUG —
bullpup
A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, more compact, conc ...
assault rifle
*
ACR — experimental
flechette rifle
*
STM556 —
modular
Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a s ...
assault rifle
;Battle rifle
*
StG-58
;Rifles
*
M1886 —
bolt-action rifle
Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).
Most bolt-actio ...
*
M1888 — bolt-action rifle
*
M1890 — bolt-action rifle
*
M1895 — bolt-action rifle
*
Dutch Mannlicher M.95 — bolt-action rifle
*
Mannlicher–Schönauer
The Mannlicher–Schönauer (sometimes Anglicized as "Mannlicher Schoenauer", Hellenized as Τυφέκιον/Όπλον Μάνλιχερ, ''Óplon/Tyfékion Mannlicher'') is a rotary-magazine bolt-action rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher for ...
— bolt-action rifle
*
Steyr Model 1912 Mauser — bolt-action rifle
*
Steyr SSG 69
The SSG 69 (''Scharfschützengewehr 69'', literally Sharpshooter Rifle 69) is a bolt-action sniper rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher that serves as the standard sniper rifle for the Austrian Army.
Adopted in 1969 (hence the designation), it was ...
—
sniper rifle
*
Steyr Scout
The Steyr Scout () is an Austrian bolt-action rifle manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher, and chambered primarily for 7.62 NATO (.308 Winchester), although other caliber options in 5.56 NATO (.223 Remington), .243 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, .376 ...
—
scout rifle
The scout rifle is a conceptual class of general-purpose rifles defined and promoted by Jeff Cooper in the early 1980s that bears similarities in design and function to guide guns, mountain rifles, and other rifle archetypes that emphasize comfor ...
*
Steyr SSG 04
Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd ...
— sniper rifle
*
Steyr SSG 08
The Steyr SSG 08 (german: Scharfschützengewehr 2008, lit=sharpshooter rifle odel08) is an Austrian bolt-action sniper rifle developed and produced by Steyr Mannlicher. The rifle is a further evolution of Steyr’s earlier SSG 04 sniper rifle.
...
— sniper rifle
*
Steyr HS .50 —
anti-materiel rifle
An anti-materiel rifle (AMR) is a rifle designed for use against military equipment, structures, and other hardware ( materiel). Anti-materiel rifles are chambered in significantly larger calibers than conventional rifles and are employed to elim ...
*
Steyr IWS 2000
The Steyr IWS 2000 is an Austrian single-shot bolt-action anti-materiel rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher. IWS stands for Infantry Weapon System. Like many anti-tank rifles, it is actually a smoothbore weapon and not a true rifle. This can help ...
— 15.2 mm anti-materiel rifle
;Submachine guns
*
MPi 69
The Steyr MPi 69 is a 9×19mm submachine gun of the late 20th century made by the Austrian firm Steyr.
Characteristics
The MPi 69 is shaped much like other telescoping bolt submachineguns, such as the MAC 10 or Uzi. It has a vertical pistol ha ...
(Variant:
Steyr MPi 81)
*
TMP TMP can refer to any of the following:
Chemistry
* 2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidine, an organic chemistry reagent
* Thymidine monophosphate, a nucleotide
* Trimethoprim, an antibiotic
* Trimethyl phosphate, a solvent
* Trimethylolpropane, a precurso ...
;Pistols
*
M1894 (1894–?)
*
M1901 (1901–1903)
*
M.7 (1908–1913)
*
M1912 (1912–1945)
*
SP (1957-1964)
*
GB (1981–1988)
*
M Series (1999–present)
;Grenade launchers
*GL 40 — side loading 40 mm grenade launcher
Date codes
Steyr pistols are marked with a three-digit date code on the slide just forward of the ejection port.
The first letter represents the month of manufacture.
The second and third letters represent the last two digits of the year of manufacture.
In this example, the date code "BOY" indicates a pistol manufactured in April 2007.
See also
*
Steyr Sportwaffen GmbH
Steyr Sportwaffen GmbH is an Austrian manufacturer of air guns (rifles and pistols) aimed mostly at competitive ISSF shooting events such as 10 m Air Pistol and 10 m Air Rifle contested at the Olympic Games as governed by the International Sho ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Companies of Austria-Hungary
Firearm manufacturers of Austria
*
Economy of Lower Austria
1864 establishments in the Austrian Empire