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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  GERMAN PISTOL BORCHARDT MODEL 1894 7.63MM SN# 649
Maker/Manufacturer:	BORCHARDT, HUGO
Date of Manufacture:	1893-1895
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1062
Measurements:	OL: 35.5CM 14" BL: 16CM 6 3/8" 2 lbs. 12 1/2 oz.

Object Description:

GERMAN PISTOL BORCHARDT MODEL 1894 7.63MM SN# 649
Manufactured by Ludwig Loewe, Berlin, Germany - German Borchardt semi-automatic pistol with 8-round detachable box magazine. Recoil-operated, toggle-locked, striker-fired. Fixed blade front, tangent V-notch rear sight graduated 100-700m. Blued finish with walnut grips. Complete with 8-round, single-column, detachable box magazine. First commercially successful self-loader and first with rising toggle-joint lock. Weapon weighs approximately 2 lbs 12 1/2 oz. Case and accessories for pistol in storage.

Markings:
Slide: SYSTEM BORCHARDT PATENT. Proofs. WAFFENFABRIK/LOEWE/BERLIN.
Bolt: DRP/No. 75837.
Butt: 649
Magazine: 649.

Exhibit label: "Hugo Borchardt, of Connecticut, invented an automatic pistol in the 1890. Unable to find an American manufacturer, he moved to Germany and began working for the firm of Ludwig Loewe and Company which put Borchardt's pistol into production in 1893. Borchardt's assistant, Georg Luger, modified the pistol which became famous under his name."

Springfield Republican, October 26, 1897 - "AUTOMATIC PISTOL TESTED. The ordnance department at the United States armory is at present making a series of tests of the new Borchardt automatic pistol, to determine its fitness for use in the army. The pistol is provided with a chamber holding eight cartridges, a spring forcing a new one into position for firing at each discharge. The user can therefore fire the eight shots as rapidly as he can pull the trigger, and as the loaded cartridge cases, or chambers, can be put in position with little delay, it makes a very effective small arm. The inventor, who claims American citizenship, produced his pistol abroad, and it has been tried by one of two foreign countries without adoption. The tests here have not advanced for enough for any decision on its merits. There are mechanical disadvantages in any automatic weapon which are hard to overcome, but this seems to be one of the best of the automatic pistols yet invented."

Springfield Republican, April 17, 1901 - "The Colt and Luger automatic pistols, whose action is dependent on the utilization of the recoil of the discharges, will also be shown. These have been tested at the armory in this city. The Colt pistol is already in use, and the government has just ordered 1000 of the Luger arm. The latter is a modification of the Borchardt pistol, which is manufactured in Germany."

Notes: In 1897 the Borchardt was tested at the Springfield Armory. The Board reported that "The results of this trial show the Borchardt Automatic Pistol Carbine to be of the highest excellence as a target arm but, as its suitability for the rough usage of the Military service can be determined only by actual test, the Board recommends that a limited number be purchased and issued for further trial."
Colonel Alfred Mordecai, commanding officer of the Springfield Armory, would not approve the purchase of any Borchardt pistols even for field tests.

Georg Luger improved on this basic toggle design to develop his famous "Luger" pistol, and the basic toggle action has appeared in several other weapons since.

"...As to automatic pistols, it is believed that such a weapon will soon replace the service revolver. The Mauser, Mannlicher, Borchardt and Bergmann types were submitted to the Board of Cavalry, Artillery and Ordnance Officers, who on December 28, 1898, reported as follows:
'The Board is of opinion, based upon a careful examination of the Borchardt, the Mannlicher, the Mauser, the Colt, and the Bergmann, repeating weapons, that the development of this type of pistol has not yet reached such a stage as to justify its adoption in the place of the revolver for service use; and in the case of the adoption of such an arm in the future, the Board believes it would be inexpedient to allow it to displace the carbine, the latter being a long range weapon of precision for dismounted fire action, while the former, with its shorter barrel and attachable stock, is, in the opinion of the Board, better adapted for use as a shoThe Armory Board composed of Ordnance Officers reported on these automatic pistols as follows: 1. Borchardt, caliber .301 or 7.63mm; weight of bullet 85 grains; velocity 1300; - stood all tests to which it has been subjected by the Board, in a highly satisfactory manner, but its light bullet makes it stopping effect questionable, especially for a cavalry weapon - recommended a limited number be purchased and issued for service trial; date of report, 1897....
It is recommended that 25 Borchardt and 50 Mauser Automatic Pistols, with suitable cartridge supply, be purchased and issued to cavalry and light artillery troops for a service trial with the service revolver, and with the Colt automatic pistol, as this should be the final test in adoption of any weapon.
When the reports of results of these service trials are received, it is recommended that a Board of Cavalry and Light Artillery Officers be ordered to select a suitable service pistol." - Captain John T. Thompson, May 14, 1900.

"Loewe, Ludwig & Co. - Makers of military arms and ammunition, Berlin, Germany, 1882-1904. Produced Mauser rifles for Spain and Argentina in the early 1890's. Operated a branch in London, 1892-1898." - Colonel Robert E. Gardner

"Designed by Hugo Borchardt, this large and heavy pistol first appeared in 1893, and with its detachable stock/holster saw moderate success as a cavalry carbine. It uses similar principles to Maxim's machine gun, in that behind the barrel is a separate bolt, held in place by a two-piece locking bar. When the weapon is fired, the recoil forces the bolt and barrel backwards, until the barrel hits a stop. At this point, the locking bar hinges in the middle, releasing the bolt and allowing it to continue to the rear. The bolt motion pulls the empty case from the breech and recocks the hammer. The bolt is then driven forwards by a powerful spring, picking up the next round from the box magazine in the box magazine in the butt, and feeding it into the breech. The lock bar snaps straight again, and the pistol is ready to fire." - Graham Smith

The U.S. Navy tested the Borchardt pistol before the Army. The "Boston Herald" on 22 November 1894 carried the following account of firing trials by a board of Navy officers at Newport, R.I.: "The naval small arms board had exhibited before it today a pistol which is likely to quite revolutionize this sort of equipment in the armies and navies of the world.
It is the invention of an American, Hugo Borchardt, now in Berlin, and was shown for the first time in America.
Georg Luger exhibited the new production, and besides admiring it the members of the board could not help expressing themselves as believing that it had a great future before it.
It is an arm possible of service for many branches, and the only small weapon in which smokeless powder may be successfully used, this sort of ammunition being quite unserviceable in revolvers.
It is after the style of the Maxim, being automatic in action; receiving its ability to load and extract the empty shell from the recoil of the shot. It is claimed to be the only small weapon capable of doing this continually.
In the exhibition of 100 rounds were fired without a hitch. The exhibitor fired 24 shots in 43 1/4 seconds at a range of 110 feet, and all were hits. He was not an expert with the piece."

"This unmistakable gun, patented by Hugo Borchardt in 1893, was the first commercially successful auto-loading design. It is now best known as the forerunner of the Parabellum. The Borchardt was locked by a toggle or "knee-joint" system. When a shot was fired, the barrel and receiver recoiled far enough to lift the axis of the knee-joint above the bore. The breechblock and the toggle-links thereafter ran back alone. The necked cartridges, loaded with smokeless propellant, generated surprisingly high power for a handgun. Equipped with a shoulder stock, the Borchardt pistol made a possible light automatic carbine. As a pistol, despite excellent performance when properly adjusted, it
"The Loewe brothers were German Jews, which may explain why so little information about them survived. In a 1939 history of the first 50 years of the German firm Deutsche Waffenfabrik Munitionsfabriken (DWM), there is only passing mention of the company's founder. Apparently, this Nazi government-sponsored publication did not wish to dwell on the fact that one of Europe's arms manufacturers had as one of its ancestors the weapon and machine tool empire of Ludwig Loewe." - Ezell

"Hugo Borchardt was born in Magdeburg in 1844 and emigrated to the United States in 1860. Nothing is known of his activities until 1865, when he first appears as Superintendent of Works (of factory manager) of the Pioneer Breech-Loading Arms Company, a fairly responsible position for a young man of 21 and evidence that he must have spent the intervening years learning the machinist's trade. The Pioneer company soon collapsed and Borchardt moved to the Singer Sewing Machine Company. After a few months with Colt he moved once more, this time to the Winchester Arms Company, where he became involved in the design of revolvers.
Several of Borchardt's prototype revolvers survive, though it is doubtful if he was entirely responsible for the design. Winchester was keen to develop a revolver to use as a bargaining counter with Colt, who had begun marketing a lever-action rifle. The ploy worked: Colt stuck to making pistols and Winchester to making rifles. By that time, however, Borchardt had moved once again, becoming factory Superintendent for the Sharps Rifle Company in 1876, where he designed a very successful rifle. But the company was under-capitalized and went into liquidation in 1880, leaving Borchardt without a job. He left the United States and went to Hungary to work for the Hungarian arsenal in Budapest, becoming works manager by 1889. It is probable that during this period he saw demonstrations of the Maxim machine gun, then being touted around Europe, and, impressed by the toggle locking system used in the Maxim, began working on a design of automatic pistol.
He returned, briefly, to the USA in 1891, but after that his movements become a mystery. He took out German patents for his pistol in September 1893, and there is evidence that Borchardt pistols were being manufactured by the Ludwig Loewe factory in Berlin in July of that year. But the precise relationship between Borchardt and Loewe is not clear: the best estimate is that he approached Loewe as a private individual, gained Loewe's agreement to finance and produce the pistol as licensee, and was thereafter retained by Loewe as a designer and consultant.
What is in no doubt is that Borchardt's pistol was a viable, commercially successfully, locked-breech automatic pistol. As to being the first automatic pistol of all, there is room for suspecting that the Bergmann No. 2 of 1894 might take that position; unfortunately there are no surviving production or sales records that would settle the argument." - Hogg

See, Post Order Springfield Armory #40 1897.
See, Dr. G.L. Sturgess' article "Borchardt'sche Selbstlade Pistol," THE GUN REPORT, February & March, 2001.

References:
Ezell, Edward C. HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD. Stackpole Books. Harrisburg, Pa. 1981.
Gardner, Robert E. SMALL ARMS MAKERS. Crown Publishers, Inc. N.Y., N.Y. 1963.
Hogg, Ian. GERMAN HANDGUNS: THE COMPLETE BOOK OF THE PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS OF GERMANY, 1869 TO THE PRESENT. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2001.
Smith, Graham. MILITARY SMALL ARMS: 300 YEARS OF SOLDIERS' FIREARMS. Salamander Books. London, England. 1996.
Zhuk, A.B. THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HANDGUNS: PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS OF THE WORLD, 1870 TO THE PRESENT. Greenhill Books. London, England. 1995.

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