Paul Mauser and Georg Luger V4 Mauser and Georg... · PAUL MAUSER AND GEORG LUGER ... inventors...

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THERELATIONSHIPBETWEENPAULMAUSERANDGEORGLUGER

ANDIT’SIMPACTONTHEMAUSERC96PISTOLMAUROBAUDINOANDGERBEN VANVLIMMEREN – MAUSERARCHIVE.

PRESENTEDTOICOMAM,12TH OFSEPTEMBER2017

WWW.PAUL‐MAUSER‐ARCHIVE.COMALLRIGHTSRESERVED

INTRODUCTION

• PaulMauserandGeorgLugerareprobablythemostfamousGermanfirearmsdesignersoftheTwentiethCentury.

• Theyintroducedessentialfirearmsinnovationscrucialtofuturedevelopment.

• Thispresentationpointsouthowtherelationshipbetweenthetwoinventorsdeterioratedovertimeduetolitigationoveraminortechnicalinnovation.

• ThecollateraleffectsoftheMauservs Lugercourtcasewereimportant• ThisinfluencedthedevelopmentofboththeMauserC96andParabellumpistols.

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LUGERISINTRODUCEDTOPAULMAUSER• Inaletter,datedthe22nd ofOctober1891,fromLudwigLoewe’scommercialmanagerMaxKosegartenandIsidorLoewe’ssoninlawOskarOliven,GeorgLugerisintroducedtoPaulMauser.

• Lowes’primarygoalwastohaveLugersupportPaulMauserinsaleeffortsintroducingMauserRiflestotheItalianArmy.

• LugerhadpreviouslyworkedasMannlicher’sassistant.

LetterfromLoewetoPaulMauserintroducingGeorgLuger.CourtesyJonSpeed.

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ANEXAMPLEOFLUGER’SUNIQUEAPPROACH:SELLINGTHEMAUSER RIFLETOTHEITALIANARMY

• In1892GeorgLugertravelledtoItalyonseveraloccasions.InthesameperiodaRomaniancommissionwasalsoinItalytoobservetheItalianrifletests.

• Lugertried,withoutsuccess,toinfluencethedecisionmakers,evenbyofferingbribestothewifeofRomanianOfficer,Col.Schomanesco.

Firstandlastpageofthe20‐pageletterfromGeorgLugertoPaulMauserdated6thofJanuary1892.

InthisletterGeorgLugerprovidedacompletereportabouttheMannlicherbusinessinItalyandhissuggestiontobribetheItalianandRomaniancommissions.

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THERELATIONSHIPBETWEENMAUSERANDLOEWE

• WhiletheMauserCompanywasfinanciallycontrolledbyLudwigLoewe&Cie.,PaulMauserretainedtechnicalleadership.

• LoewegainedcontrolbypurchasingMauserstocksharesfromtheWürttembergischeVereinsbankafterthesuccessfulTurkishRifleContract(1887).

• PaulMauserwasneverhappywithLoewegroupmanagementboardmembers,specificallyclashingwithMr.Gronki andMr.Gontard.

• TheDWMofficewaslocatedinDorotheenstrasse 43/44.BothMauserandLugermeteachotherinthisoffice.

• TheofficeintheDorotheenstrassewouldplayanimportantroleinthedisputebetweenLugerandMauser.

• DuringrifletestsconductedbythePrussianrifletestingcommission,Mauserriflesweresentbackandforthbetweentheprovinggrounds,Oberndorfandthisoffice.

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THEISSUEOFTHE“THIRDSAFETYLUG”

• InFebruary1894,Mausersent Loewe’smainofficeabatchofriflestoBerlinintendedfordemonstrations.• Sixriflesintotal,threefortheU.S.andthreeforSirJosephJonasintheU.K.

• It’simportanttonoteforthecourtcasethattheserifleswerenotintendedfortheGermanmarket

• Theserifleshadaminor,almostimperceptibleadditiontotheboltactionlockingmechanismintheshapeofathirdlockinglugattherear.Thisfeatureinitselfwasnotneworaninnovation.

• GeorgLugernoticedthissmallchangeanddecidedtopatentthethirdsafetylughimselfusinga‘Gebrauchsmuster’(avariationonthepatent,alsocalledautilitymodel).

• Shortlyafterthis,PaulMauserreceivedaletterfromLuger’slawyersrequestingcompensationfortheuseofthethirdsafetylug.

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MAUSER– LUGERCASE• PaulMauser wasoutragedwhenhereceivedtheletterfromLuger’spatentlawyers,seekingcompensationfortheuseofGeorgLuger’sGebrauchsmuster.

• ItwasafeaturetakenfromMauser’sowndesignandthatwaswellknownandusedbyotherengineersbeforehim.

• ThisprobablypainfullyremindedMauseroftheargumentshehadwithhisdeceasedbrotherWilhelmaboutfocusingonpatentrights.

• PaulMauserchosenottogiveupeasilyandanextensivecourtcasewaslaunched.

• MauserarguedthatthepreliminarypatentbyGeorgLugerhadtobeinvalidatedbecausetheideaheproposedwasnothingnewandhadalreadybeenusedbyothermanufacturers,includingMauser.

• CourtcasewasheldinBerlininApril1898.

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MAUSERLOSTTHECASE• ItwasnotpossibletoproveincourtthatGeorgLugerhadappliedforhispreliminarypatentafterhehadstudiedMauser’srifles.• Itwasevidentthatthistechnicalsolutionwasalreadyinusebeforehand.

• Baseduponatechnicality,Lugerwonthecase.ThereasonprovidedbytheCourtwasseenparticularlyinsultingtoPaulMauser.

• Thecourtruledthat,althoughtherewasevidencethattheconstructionofthe3rdlugwasnotanewidea,thepatentlawof1891statedthatanideacannotberegisterediftheideaorconstructionwasalreadyinuseinGermanybeforetheapplicationdate.

• AlltheriflesthatMausermade,whichhadthe3rdlug,wenttocountriesabroad.Sothecourtruledthatalthoughthe3rdlugwaspresent,itwasnotinuseinGermany.

• FurthermorethecourtruledthatGeorgLugerwasthefirstpersontoassociatethethirdlugwiththesafetyoftheshooter.

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MAUSERLOSTTHECASE• OneofthereceiptsforapaymentfromtheMauserCompanytoGeorgLuger,mostprobablyascompensationforroyaltiesassociatedwithuseofthethirdlugpatent.

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MAUSERPREPAREDHISREVENGE• EventuallyLoewe’sgeneralmanager,Isidor Loewesteppedin,wenttoOberndorfamNeckarandhadalong,difficultconversationwithMauser.

• PaulMauserwouldnotgiveinthateasilyandhehadhisrevengeready.

• In1895,theC96pistoldesignhadmaturedtosuchanextentthatitwasreadyforpatenting.

• MauserpatentedtheC96pistoldesignpersonallyinhisownnameratherthanthatoftheMausercompany.

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MAUSERJUSTIFIEDHISPATENTCHOICE• Inadocument,PaulMauserhimselfsummarizedhisreasonsfordecidingtopatenttheC96pistolinhisownnameandathisowncost.

• Inthisinterestingdocument,PaulMauserdescribedhisfrustrationwithLoewemanagementandaboutLugerpersonally.Hewrote:

ThesecondmotivewastheobservationthatanemployeeofthecompanyLudw.Loewe&Co.,Mr.GeorgLuger,madeithislife’sworktointerveneinmypatents.Iwillnotmentiontheothermovementsofthismanagainstme,whichwerenothiddentome.Aboutthecharacteroftheman,Iwillnotmentionawordhere.IonlyrememberinwhichwayhistransfertoLudw.Loewe&Co.went.Thatthisman,whosevastnumberofpatentsondifferent‘inventions’werenotpaidforfromhisownpocket,wasusedtodiminishthevalueofmyinventions,iswithoutdoubttome,sinceIhavenotforgottenthatIam‘tooExpensive’accordingtocertainmembersofourAdvisoryBoard.HereIgettothecruxofmyexplanationrequiredbytheevents…

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LUGER’SROLEINTHELOEWEGROUP• ItisinterestingtonoteLuger’ssomewhatspecialstatuswithintheLoewegroup.

• Asanemployedengineerandconsultanthewasabletodesignandpresenthisownrifle,whilecompetingdirectlywithhisformeremployers,notnecessarilytothebenefitofhiscurrentemployer.

• ThebestexplanationforthissituationisthatIsidorLoewewasbettingontwohorsesatthesametime,seeingwhichonewouldbevictoriousandsecuringproductionrightsforwhoeverwon:LugerorMauser.

• LoeweknewthatLugerwasmuchmorelikelytoacceptLoewe’slicensingschemes.

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C96ANDLUGERPISTOLSIMPLICATIONS• Inareportdatedthe9thofMarch1897,Mauserclaimed:

Theself‐loadingpistol,inventedandpatentedinGermanybyMr.KommerzienratPaulMauserwillonlybemanufacturedattheweaponsfactoryinOberndorf.WithoutpermissionofMr.Mauser,licensesinGermanywillnotbegranted.AdditionallyMr.Mauseristodecideonthepriceandmannerofsalesofthepistol.Thepricewillbecalculatedonabasisthataprofitof25%issecured.Mr.MauserobligeshimselftotransferthepatentforthepistoltotheCommandit‐Aktiengesellschaft "WaffenfabrikMauser"immediately.

• FromthisstatementitisquiteevidentthatMauser’sinflexibilityopenedthedoortothesuccessoftheParabellumininternalGermanForcescontractcompetitions.

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C96ANDLUGERPISTOLSIMPLICATIONS• IfweanalysethesequenceoftestsperformedbytheGermanArmy,itisevidentthatinthebeginningtheLugerwasnotyetready,withtheadvantageoftheC96beingquiteobvious.

• LackofadecentsafetydeviceontheC96influencedthetests.

• UnfortunatelyforMauser,thelackofsupportfortheC96byLoewepreventedacombinedMauserandLoewe/DWMeffortinpromotingtheC96.

• Ludw.Loewe&Cie.werenotallowedtoproducetheC96pistol,orlicenseittoothers.

• TheconsequencewasthatLoewewastotallyfreetomotivateandsupportLuger’schangestotheC93Borchardtpistol

• Thiseventuallyledtodevelopmentofthe“Parabellum”Lugerpistolandit’sacceptancebytheGermanarmy.

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ADDITIONALINFORMATION• WhoisinterestedinthecompletehistoryaboutPaulMauserandGeorgLugercanrefertothebook:PaulMauser‐ HisLife,Company,andHandgunDevelopment1838– 1914.

• Additionalinformationonthebookisavailableonthewebsite:

www.paul‐mauser‐archive.com

• Authorscanbecontactedat:mauser.archive@gmail.com

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