“.the push rod, the hammer spring and the magazine holder are combined into a unit, the insertion and removal of This is the equivalent of German patent 688511, but this patent isĪttributed to Alex Seidel and shows the hammer and sear mechanism. Shows an early hammer design in which the hammer opening is sealed whether cocked or uncocked, preventing dirt and debris from getting into the mechanism. This is Alex Seidel’s patent for the trigger and double-action lockwork mechanisms. German patent 689183, filed 7 August 1935 and granted 22 February 1940.This is a further elaboration of German patent 670241, the safety mechanism that moves the firing pin out of the path of the hammer. German patent 673766, filed 18 July 1935 and granted 9 March 1939. The hammer is not shown in the patent drawing.Įarly Seidel Patent Drawing - Filed 7 August 1935 This is a patent for a magazine release, tensioned by the main spring which surrounds the hammer strut, although German patent 688511, filed and granted 1 February 1940.This is Alex Seidel’s patent for the trigger bar and magazine safety. German patent 680451, filed and granted 10 August 1939.German patent 640721, filed 17 July 1935 and granted 17 December 1936.This is Alex Seidel’s patent for the basic trigger and sear mechanism. German patent 671000, filed 7 June 1935 and granted 5 January 1939.It requires the trigger guard toīe extended toward the front rather than the rear. The new method is more elegant in that the mechanism is mostly hidden from view and is spring-loaded. The idea may have come from the barrel retention mechanism of the WTP, which places the mechanism behind the trigger and requires anĮxtension of the frame behind the trigger guard. This is Ernst Altenberger’s patent for the barrel retention and release mechanism used in many of the German patent 679683, filed and granted 20 July 1939.This patent of a design by Ernst Altenberger is the first to show a safety that moves the firing pin upward German patent 670241, filed 21 August 1934 and granted 22 December 1938.This patent, attributed to Ernst Altenberger, is for the magazine safety mechanism. German patent 634577, filed 21 August 1934 and granted 13 August 1936.We will try toĭeal only with the ones related in some way to the Mauser HSc, and for brevity’s sake we will only list German and U.S. Ī large number of patents were filed between 19 in multiple countries. Translated as “self-cocking hammer.” The “c”, according to August Weiss, means that it is the third production pistol with an external hammer, following the Mauser C96 and the Nickl pistol of 1922. The HS in HSc stands for “Hahn Selbstspanner,” literally “hammer self-spanning,” but generally Which were chambered in 9 mm Parabellum and four in 7.65 mm Browning. Over the course of those five years at least 13 documented prototype pistols were made and tested, nine of Parabellum locked breech pistol and a 7.65 mm Browning unlocked breech pistol. Initiated the fact that he was required not to infringe any existing patents, particularly those of the litigious Walther company and the fact that the team was tasked to build two guns at once, a 9 mm Probably no single reason that development took so long, but factors include: the youth of the engineer in charge of the project, Alexius Seidel, who was 25 years old when the project was There is no need for us to repeat the entire story here, but suffice it to say that the HSc development time was lengthy, about five years from start to completed product (1934-1938). Other weapons manufacturers needed to offerĭouble-action designs to stay competitive, and Mauser was no exception. With the advent of the Walther PP pistol in 1929, most existing single-action designs were superseded. This article is particularly indebted to the latter book. Detailed information about the development of the Mauser HSc pistol can be found in two excellent sources: Weaver, Speed, and Schmid’s Mauser Pistolen and Burnham and Theodore’s The Mauser HSc Pistol.