MANNLICHER, Ferdinand von
* 30. 1. 1848, Mainz, Germany
† 20. 1. 1904, Vienna, Austria
Mechanical engineer, inventor (magazine rifle)
M. originates from an old noble Bohemian family from the town of Most. His father was a military official. In 1875 M. arrived to Vienna, where he entered the Technical University and was in 1869 employed at the Southern Railway Company. After a short time with the state railway company he again moved to a private Northern Railway Company, where he was employed in the construction department. After leaving the railways in 1887, he made a career dealing exclusively with defence technology. His specialist knowledge in this field was based on a study of hundreds of patent descriptions of small arms, which he made during his visit to the 1876 World exhibition in Philadelphia. After several drafts and improvements, the Austrian military administration in 1885 adopted the new magazine fed rifles for its army.
The M 86 11 mm calibre rifle was reduced to 8 mm two years later. From 1890 on the cavalry was equipped with the M 90 magazine carbine, which was also developed by M. By the turn of the century, M. was engaged in the development of semi-automatic rifles. In the First World War Austria-Hungarian army was equipped with the M 95 model. M’s rifles remained in use in the Austrian Federal Army until 1938.
The Austrian army was at the turn of the 19th century equipped with the best fire arms – the rifles developed by M. M’s rifles were used in the Chilean Civil War in 1890 and the Armies of Italy, France and Switzerland. The production of M’s magazine rifles seemed a decisive support for the Austrian arms factory in Steyr since 1886 and a great help in overcoming the crisis and the difficult economic situation.
In 1892 M. was ennobled and in 1899 appointed a lifelong member of the Austrian Upper House.
