Hugo Borchardt, firearms inventor and engineer, was born June 6, 1844 in Magdeburg, Germany. Married to Aranka Herczog in Budapest, Hungary. Died of pneumonia May 8, 1924 in Berlin-Charlottenburg. He is known for his inventions of the Borchardt C-93 pistol and the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle.

In 1860 he emigrated to the United States, and by 1872 he was Superintendent of Works for Pioneer Breech-Loading Arms Co. (Trenton, Mass.). In 1874 he became a foreman for Singer Sewing Machine Co., then was employed by Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., later went to Winchester Repeating Arms Co., and then was Superintendent to Sharps Rifle Co. on June 1, 1876.

After the dissolution of the Sharps Rifle Co. in 1881, Borchardt returned to Europe and was employed by Fegyver és Gépgyár Részvéntarsaság of Budapest, Hungary and gained the position of works director by 1890. Here is where he married. His return in Europe was interrupted by a short stay (1890-92) in the United States as a consultant to Remington Arms in relation to the development of the Lee rifle for the U.S Army trials.

By 1893 Borchardt had an association with Ludwig Loewe & Company of Berlin, Germany, a manufacturer of machine tools, to produce the C-93 (a semi-automatic pistol) that he had invented, based upon the Maxim toggle-lock principle. He also developed the 7.65 x 25 mm Borchardt cartridge around which the C-93 was built. Hugo Borchardt had many non-firearms patents: a rock drill, a shirt-neck shaper, gas burners, ball-bearings, a wire-straightener, and electrical apparatus.

Firearms Patents

U.S.

• #185,721 26th September, 1876
• #206,217 23rd July, 1878
• #273,448 6th March, 1883
• #571,260 1896
• #987,543 21st March, 1911

Germany

• #75,837 9th September, 1893
• #77,748 18th March, 1894
• #91998 10th October, 1896
• #227,078 27th February, 1909

British

• #18,774 1st November, 1893
• #29,622 20th February, 1909

See also

Luger (Pistole Parabellum)

Borchardt C-93

List of inventors