Wilhelm Mauser (2 May 1834 – 13 January 1882) was a German weapon designer and manufacturer/

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

Biography

Mauser was born in

Oberndorf am Neckar Oberndorf am Neckar (; Swabian: ''Oberndorf am Näggô'') is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Neckar, north of Rottweil. It historically was and currently is a major center of ...

, in what was then the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

. His father and his four brothers were gunsmiths. Together with his brother

Paul Mauser Peter Paul von Mauser (born Peter Paul Mauser) (27 June 1838 – 29 May 1914) was a German weapon designer, manufacturer, industrialist and politician. Early life Mauser was born in Oberndorf am Neckar, in what was then the Kingdom of Württember ...

(1838–1914) Wilhelm Mauser designed the

Mauser Model 1871 The Mauser Model 1871 adopted as the ''Gewehr'' 71 or ''Infanterie-Gewehr'' 71, or "Infantry Rifle 71" ("I.G.Mod.71" was stamped on the rifles themselves) was the first rifle model in a distinguished line designed and manufactured by Paul Mauser ...

rifle, the first of a successful line of

Mauser Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German arm ...

rifles and pistols. The rifle was adopted as the Gewehr 71 or Infanterie-Gewehr 71 and was the first metal cartridge weapon of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. While Paul was the more technical of the two, Wilhelm handled this business side of the factory. The Mauser company later developed the Gewehr 98 and

Karabiner 98k The Karabiner 98 kurz (; " carbine 98 short"), often abbreviated Karabiner 98k, Kar98k or K98k and also sometimes incorrectly referred to as a K98 (a K98 is a Polish carbine and copy of the Kar98a), is a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92× ...

rifle series. The Gewehr 98 itself is often considered the penultimate development of the line of Mauser rifles that were introduced in 1871.

References

External links

www.paul-mauser-archive.com
Paul Mauser archive web site by Mauro Baudino and Gerben van Vlimmeren. 1834 births 1882 deaths Firearm designers 19th-century German inventors People from the Kingdom of Württemberg 19th-century German businesspeople {{Germany-business-bio-stub