Waffenfabrik Mauser
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| Industry | Firearms |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik |
| Successor | Mauser Jagdwaffen GmbH |
| Founded | July 31, 1811 |
| Founders | Wilhelm & Paul Mauser |
| Headquarters | Isny im Allgäu, Germany |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Mauser brothers |
| Products | Bolt-action rifles |
| Owner | Lüke & Ortmeier Gruppe |
| Website | https://www.mauser.com/en/ |
Mauser, begun as Königliche Waffen Schmieden, is a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols have been produced since the 1870s for the German armed forces. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mauser designs were also exported and licensed to a large number of countries which adopted them as military and civilian sporting firearms. The Mauser Model 98 in particular was widely adopted and copied, and is the foundation of many of today's sporting bolt action rifles.
Founded as Königliche Waffen Schmieden on July 31, 1811 by Frederick I. Originally located partly at Ludwigsburg and partly in Christophsthal, the factory was transferred to Oberndorf in the former Augustine Cloister. Andreas Mauser was the master gunsmith there. Of his seven sons who worked with him there Peter Paul Mauser showed an outstanding ability to develop methods of operation that were faster and more efficient. His older brother Wilhelm assumed many of his father's duties as he became ill.
Peter Paul Mauser, often referred to as Paul Mauser, was born on 27 June 1838, in Oberndorf am Neckar, Württemberg. His brother Wilhelm was four years older. A brother, Franz Mauser, traveled to America in 1853 with his sister and worked at E. Remington & Sons.
Peter Paul was conscripted in 1859 as an artilleryman at the Ludwigsburg arsenal, where he worked as a gunsmith. By December of 1859 he has so impressed his superiors that he was placed on inactive military service and assigned to the royal factory at Oberndorf. Paul engaged his older brother Wilhelm in working on a new gun system in their spare time after work. Paul was the engineer and designer but Wilhelm took on the task of manager for their interests with the Oberndorf factory.
Paul's first invention was a cannon and its ammunition. His ability to produce both the gun and the ammunition for it was followed during his entire career and made him unique in this ability. Following the success of the Dreyse needle gun Paul turned his energies to improving on that design and producing a new one. Paul and Wilhelm had separated due to differences during this time. After Paul developed a new turning bolt design Wilhelm was impressed enough to rejoin the business and succeeded in obtaining the financing to purchase machinery and continue development. While the original needle gun used a pin that pierced the base of the cartridge to ignite the primer in the middle Mauser soon developed a needle that ignited the charge at the base, a superior design.
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Wikipedia