Colonel Rudolf Schmidt was a Swiss arms designer and army man.
History[]
Schmidt was born in Basel in 1832 and completed his education there, before going to Rolle to learn French. From there, he started an apprenticeship as a grocer in 1847; he completed said apprenticeship in 1851. He would then move onto the textile industry, which he apparently disliked.
Over time, Schmidt got more and more interested in arms design and weaponry, and was then appointed director of weapons production at SIG in 1866. Schmidt proposed to the federal arms council to open an arms workshop in Bern where he was based, which opened in 1871; continued persuasion led to the opening of a fully-fledged arsenal in the area, which would eventually be known as Waffenfabrik Bern.
When W+F Bern opened, he assumed the position of director. He designed a revolver based on the Chamelot-Delvigne M1873 revolver, as well as a rifle with colleague Eduard Rubin. He retained his position as director, but he ultimately had to resign from said position in 1894 as his leadership was being met with increased resistance. He died in 1898.
Works[]
Schmidt is known to have worked on the following weapons:
- Schmidt M1882 - revolver
- Schmidt-Rubin - bolt-action rifle