Ferdinand Mannlicher (firearms designer)

Ferdinand Mannlicher
Born Ferdinand Mannlicher January 30, 1848 Mainz, Germany January 20, 1904 (aged 55) Vienna, Austria) Inventor

Died Occupation

Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher (January 30, 1848 in Mainz, Germany January 20, 1904 in Vienna, Austria) was an engineer and small armaments designer. Along with
James Paris Lee, Mannlicher was particularly noted for inventing the en-bloc clip charger-loading magazine system. Later, while making improvements to other inventors prototype designs for rotaryfeed magazines, Mannlicher, together with his protg Otto Schnauer, patented a perfected rotary magazine design, the Mannlicher-Schnauer, which was a commercial and military success. In 1887 Mannlicher was awarded the 3rd class of the Order of the Iron Crown. In 1892 he was given the title of Ritter von (loosely translated to: 'knight of') due to his earlier ennoblement. In 1899 he was given a lifelong appointment to the Austrian Upper House, the sterreichisches Herrenhaus. Mannlicher's successful designs during his lifetime were his bolt-action rifles, both military and sporting, in both turn bolt and straight-pull actions. Mannlicher also developed several innovative semi-automatic handgun designs in the last decade of the 19th century. A measure of how far ahead of his time he was, can be seen by looking at his experimental designs of automatic rifles, developed at a time when ammunition was not suitable to function properly in an automatic rifle or machine gun. Mannlicher began development in 1883 of an automatic rifle firing the 11mm Austrian Werndl, a black powder cartridge.[1] According to WHB Smith in "Mauser, Walther and Mannlicher Firearms" the Mannlicher 1885 became the inspiration for the M1 Garand and the Mannlicher 1900 with the 'short-stroke piston' became the inspiration for the M1 Carbine.

Mannlicher's automatic rifle designs

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 gun used his recoil operated action originally developed in 1883; it anticipated the recoiling barrel system used later in designs like the German MG 34 and MG 42 machineguns, and the M1941 Johnson machine gun. The Model 85 would have fit the same tactical role as the American BAR or British Bren of World War II fame. The Model 91 semi-automatic rifle was designed to use the 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge and the Model 88 rifle clip. Like the Model 85 it was a recoil operated action like the later Remington Model 8 and M1941 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 later Thompson Autorifle utilising the Blish 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 Garand rifle. 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 US M1 carbine used 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.[2]

Mannlicher Firearms

Mannlicher M1885, semi-automatic rifle Mannlicher M1891, semi-automatic rifle Steyr Mannlicher M1894, semi-automatic pistol Steyr-Mannlicher M1895, a straight-pull rifle Mannlicher-Schnauer, bolt-action rifle Mannlicher M1900, semi-automatic rifle Steyr Mannlicher M1901, semi-automatic pistol

Patents
U.S. Patent 472,795 Repeating Firearm. April 12, 1892. (Rifle) U.S. Patent 518,821 Feed Mechanism for Magazine-Guns. Granted April 24, 1894. (Rifle) U.S. Patent 581,295 Automatic Firearm. Granted April 27, 1897. (Rifle) U.S. Patent 581,296 Automatic Firearm. Granted April 27, 1897. (Pistol, Steyr Mannlicher M1894) U.S. Patent 728,739 Automatic Firearm. Granted May 19, 1903. (Rifle) U.S. Patent 804,748 Small-Arm Having Automatic Breech-Action. Granted November 14, 1905. (Rifle, granted posthumously)

References
1. ^ Walter H. B. Smith, Mannlicher Rifles and Pistols, Military Service Publishing Co., 1947, pp. 155-162 2. ^ Walter H. B. Smith, Mannlicher Rifles and Pistols, Military Service Publishing Co. 1947. Model 85 pp. 155-162; Model 91 pp. 163-169; Model 93 turning bolt pp. 170-177; Model 93 straight-pull pp.178-184; Model 95 pp. 197-203; Model 1900 pp.232-239.

External links

Biography Ferdinand Mannlicher: Austria's John M. Browning