Louis Wilhelm Stange[1] was a German firearms designer associated with Rheinmetall-Borsig.
History[]
Stange was born in Sömmerda in 1888; at age 19, he was employed by Waffenfabrik von Dreyse, run by Franz Dreyse, the son of Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse, after the company was acquired by Rheinmetall. Stange was apprenticed to Louis Schmeisser while he worked at the factory.[2]
Under Schmeisser, Stange assisted in the design of a number of weapons, such as the Dreyse Model 1907 pocket pistol; he would serve as Schmeisser's assistant until the latter's death in 1917. Just after World War I, Stange developed the MP19 submachine gun, which was developed further into the successful Steyr-Solothurn S1-100.[2]
Stange would continue to design firearms for Rheinmetall where he developed the FG 42. After World War II, Stange was arrested and convicted by the Allied Tribunals for war crimes; he was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment in a prison camp.[2]
After he was released, Stange moved to Haßleben where he retired from gunmaking and became a grocer. He lived there until his death in 1971.[2]
Works[]
Stange is known to have designed the following firearms:
- Rheinmetall MP 19, submachine gun
- Steyr-Solothurn S1-100, submachine gun
- Steyr-Solothurn S2-200, light machine gun
- FG 42, automatic rifle