Hugo Borchardt (June 6, 1844 – May 8, 1924) was a firearms inventor and engineer, born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He is known for his inventions of the

Borchardt C-93 The Borchardt C93 is a semi-automatic pistol designed by Hugo Borchardt in 1893. The design is based upon the Maxim gun's toggle lock model. Borchardt developed the high-velocity, bottlenecked 7.65×25mm Borchardt cartridge for the C93. His ...

pistol and the

Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 The Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 is a single-shot hammerless falling-block action rifle designed by Hugo Borchardt and made by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company. It closely resembles older Sharps Rifles but has a firing mechanism that uses a ...

rifle. In 1860 he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and by 1872 he was Superintendent of Works for Pioneer Breech-Loading Arms Co. of Trenton, Mass.. In 1874 he became a foreman for Singer Sewing Machine Co., then was employed by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Co., later went to Winchester Repeating Arms Co., and then was Superintendent and Treasurer for the Sharps Rifle Co. on June 1, 1876. After the dissolution of the Sharps Rifle Co. in 1881, Borchardt returned to Budapest, where he was employed by Fegyver és Gépgyár Részvénytársaság and by 1890 gained the position of works director. While here, he married Aranka Herczog. His return in Europe was interrupted by a short stay (1890–92) in the United States as a consultant to Remington Arms in relation to the development of the Lee rifle for the U.S. Army trials. By 1893 Borchardt had an association with

Ludwig Loewe & Company ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when '' Ludwig Loewe & Company'' united its weapons and am ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany, a manufacturer of machine tools, to produce the C-93, a semi-automatic pistol that he had invented based upon the

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

toggle-lock principle. He also developed the 7.65x25mm Borchardt cartridge around which the C-93 was built. Hugo Borchardt had many non-firearms patents: a rock drill, a shirt-neck shaper, gas burners, ball-bearings, a wire-straightener, and various electrical apparatus. Borchardt died of pneumonia in

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the l ...

in 1924.

Firearms Patents

U.S. * #185,721 26 September 1876 * #206,217 23 July 1878 * #273,448 6 March 1883 * #571,260 1896 * #987,543 21 March 1911 Germany * #75,837 9 September 1893 * #77,748 18 March 1894 * #91998 10 October 1896 * #227,078 27 February 1909 British * #18,774 1 November 1893 * #29,622 20 February 1909

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borchardt, Hugo 1844 births 1924 deaths 19th-century American inventors Firearm designers 19th-century German inventors German emigrants to the United States Scientists from Magdeburg People from the Province of Saxony Deaths from pneumonia in Germany

Firearms Patents

See also

References