Sauer & Sohn
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| Private | |
| Industry | Firearms |
| Founded | Suhl, Thuringia, 1751 |
| Headquarters | Isny im Allgäu, Germany |
| Products | Handguns, rifles |
| Services | Gunsmithing, training |
| Owner | Lüke & Ortmeier Gruppe |
| Website | Sauer & Sohn |
J. P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH (Sauer & Sohn) is a manufacturer of firearms and machinery and is the oldest firearms manufacturer still active in Germany. The products of this company are frequently referred to as Sauer.
The first Sauer company was founded in 1751 by Lorenz Sauer in Suhl, Thuringia, Germany, this region being known as Waffenstadt Suhl. J.P. Sauer & Sohn is the oldest recorded gun maker in Germany. In 1815 Johann-Gottlob Sauer started managing the firm. and in 1835 Johann Paul Sauer became the manager. In 1840 that Johann Paul Sauer and his son, Lorenz created the new name and trademark of J.P. Sauer & Sohn.
Of particular note is the company's Sauer 38H, the first mass-produced semiautomatic pistol to feature a cocking/decocking lever. It was a very advanced pocket pistol design made in .25 ACP, .32 ACP, and .380 ACP. It was adopted as German alternate standard as Modell 38 adn was widely used by air and tank forces. Barrel 3 1/3", Overall Length 6 1/4", Weight 26 oz. Capacity 8 cartridges. The action has a cocker/decocker lever that can control the concealed hammer. This handgun had a restrike capability should the round in the chamber fail to fire on the first trigger pull.
At the end of World War II the original Sauer company was located in East Germany. The company assets were seized without compensation. Hans Sauer was deported by the Soviet government and never heard from again. The machinery, as happened with most of the industrial companies that had been located in East Germany, was dismantled and moved East.
The J. P. Sauer und Sohn company, along with Merkel, Greifelt & Company, Ernst Thalmann Werk, and Fortuna Werk (formerly C. C. Haenel) were merged into a group called Mewa-Suhl, located in Suhl, East Germany.
in 1950 Rolf Sauer sold the rights of the J. P. Sauer und Sohn name and trademark to an industrial group in West Germany, where in 1951 J. P. Sauer & Sohn was reestablished in Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein.
The J. P. Sauer and Sohn trademark was still being used in East Germany until 1970 when J. P. Sauer and Sohn (Suhl), Simson (Suhl), Haenel (Suhl), and Gebruder Merkel (Suhl) were united under the name of 'VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk "Ernst Thälmann"' dropped the use of the J. P. Sauer name.
J. P. Sauer & Sohn partnered with Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) in 1976 to the design and manufacture a new line of semi-automatic pistols branded as "SIG Sauer". The partnership was the result of Swiss restrictions on the export of firearms which prevented that company from exporting this new design concept. The design resulted from the creation at that time of a new form of industrial production equipment known as the "Automatic Screw Machine" which was introduced by SIG. While SIG had produced a very high quality handgun in their P210 model, it was a very expensive handgun to produce which required many machining operations at high levels of precision. This produced a firearm that was known for its accuracy, but was too expensive to be sold to a wide market.
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Wikipedia