Talk:Georg Luger

Ludwig Loewe Co. vs. DWM
In 1869 Ludwig Loewe began producing sewing machines and three years later started producing rifles for the German Army. When he died in 1886, his brother Isadore took over. In 1891 Georg Luger began working for the Ludwig Loewe Company. About the same time Hugo Borchardt developed a semiautomatic pistol (C-93) and went to Ludwig Loewe and Co. to manufacture in 1893. The following year, Georg Luger demonstrated this pistol to the US Army who rejected it, but the complaints from the Army became a checklist for his redesign which started in 1894 and resulted in prototypes starting in 1895 (https://www.germandaggers.com/Gallery/GL1.php). Originally referred to as Borchardt-Luger, production beginning in 1900 are referred to as Luger (though they were likely known as Pistole Parabellum for the early production years). The Gewehr 1888 rifle was produced by several companies including Loewe and was experiencing serious problems. In 1892 a leading anti-Semite, Hermann Ahlwardt, started blaming the Ludwig Loewe Company for defective rifles. None of the claims were proven, but the company's name was ruined. So in 1896, Ludwig Loewe Co was merged with other Loewe controlled arms and ammunition companies to become Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM).

While you will find Wikipedia articles to validate each of these references, the 1886 death of Ludwig Loewe and 1896 change from Ludwig Loewe Co to DWM seems to have been overlooked in several articles. For example, in 1894 when Luger demonstrated the Borchardt C-93 to the US Army, it was NOT made by DWM because DWM didn't exist until 1896. Ludwig died in 1886 so the company name wasn't changed 10 years later due to Ludwig's death. Clinocio (talk) 18:48, 19 August 2022 (UTC)