Adolph Otto Niedner (October 1, 1863 – December 27, 1954) was an American

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

remembered for pioneering work with cartridges including the .22 Long Rifle and .25-06 Remington.

Early life

Niedner was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

immigrants Carl Heinrich Niedner and Augusta W. (Trapp) Niedner. He enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1880 and fought against the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

uprisings led by

Victorio Victorio (Bidu-ya, Beduiat; ca. 1825–October 14, 1880) was a warrior and chief of the Warm Springs band of the Tchihendeh (or Chihenne, often called Mimbreño) division of the central Apaches in what is now the American states of Texas ...

and

Geronimo Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...

. He was discharged in 1883 with a scar from a scalp wound. He served on the

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

police force until moving to

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...

in 1899 to work as a

weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

in his father's business manufacturing

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

Gunsmith

Niedner opened a gunsmith shop in Malden in 1906. Niedner worked with members of the Massachusetts Rifle Association, including

gun barrel A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small arms, small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high ...

-maker

Harry Pope Harry Melville Pope (August 15, 1861 – October 11, 1950) was an American gunsmith remembered for manufacturing precision rifle barrels. Early life Pope was born in 1861 at Walpole, New Hampshire. His family moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, ...

, making tools and rifles for

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets and the like; the science or art of designing and acceler ...

expert

Franklin Ware Mann Franklin Weston Mann (July 24, 1856 – November 14, 1916) was an American physician and inventor remembered as author of the pioneering ballistics text entitled ''The Bullet's Flight from Powder to Target: The Internal and External Ballistics o ...

, and prototype Patridge gun sights for inventor Eugene Patridge. Niedner moved to

Dowagiac, Michigan Dowagiac ( ) is a city in Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,721 at the 2020 census. It is part of the South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies ...

in 1920 to establish the Niedner Rifle Company, and was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Dowagiac in 1926. Niedner specialized in chambering and

single-shot In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have ...

rifles. Niedner manufactured custom rifles for many noted riflemen including

Townsend Whelen Townsend Whelen (March 6, 1877 – December 23, 1961), called "Townie" by his friends, was an American hunter, soldier, writer, outdoorsman and rifleman. Whelen was a colonel in the United States Army, and a prolific writer on guns and hunting, ...

, Charles Newton, and Ned Roberts. Niedner sold the business following the death of his wife, Josephine C. (Josie), in 1940; and lived alone in Dowagiac until death from a heart attack on 27 December 1954.''

Traverse City Record-Eagle The ''Traverse City Record-Eagle'' is a daily morning newspaper based in Traverse City, Michigan. It calls itself "Northern Michigan's Newspaper" and is the newspaper of record for Grand Traverse County. History The newspaper was owned by Dow ...

'' 28 December 1954 p.15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niedner, Adolph Otto 1863 births 1954 deaths Firearm designers Artisans from Philadelphia People from Malden, Massachusetts People from Dowagiac, Michigan