Karl Wilhelm Maier

Dr. phil. Karl Maier

Karl Wilhelm Maier was a German mathematical physicist and employee at the German arms manufacturer "Mauser" (originally the Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik). Today he is considered one of the pioneers of scientific weapons technology, but also, due to his idiosyncratic use of physical terms, the originator of the German weapons language.

Life

From the early 1920s, Dr. Maier calculated the bolts of firearms and was able to prove, among other things, that the principle of the Bliss bolt of the Thompson submachine gun did not work as the inventor claimed. Dr. Maier is primarily responsible for the term "recoil loader", which is often used incorrectly in German. Maier always referred to the impulse of the bolt body as the recoil impulse. However, this is physically incorrect, since an impulse must have a mass, a direction and a force. However, recoil, as a form of counter-reaction, only has direction and force, but no mass of its own. Dr. Maier considered the bolt movement regardless of whether this actual movement impulse was caused by the recoil, the back pressure or both forces. In his calculations, Maier concentrated only on the consequences of this movement and less on its causes. He did not differentiate between the individual breech forces, but considered them as a sum.

Weapon designers Ludwig Vorgrimler and Karl Maier from the Mauser Department 37 were responsible for the design of the MKb Gerät 06 (Maschinenkarabiner Gerät 06 or "machine carbine device 06") prototype assault rifle chambered for the intermediate 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge, first with the Gerät 06 model using a roller-locked mechanism which was unique for being gas operated, as opposed to recoil operation, originally adapted from the MG 42 machine gun, but with a fixed barrel and conventional gas-actuated piston rod. The resultant weapon, the Gerät 06 H (the "H" suffix is an abbreviation for halbverriegelt or "half-locked") was assigned the designation StG 45 (M) or Sturmgewehr 45 (M).

WWII

One of Mauser’s scientists, Dr Carl Maier, analysed the [Gerät] 06’s action and noticed bolt bounce before the action locked. From this he calculated that the heavy gas system could be removed and the bolt simplified by using a roller delayed, rather than locked, blowback action. This is where the rifle gets its “H” suffix, meaning “half-locked”.

When the bolt on the Gerät 03 slammed forward into the barrel extension upon loading a new round, it would bounce slightly open again before settling down into the intended locked position. It was possible for the gun to be fired in the middle of this bounce, and when this happened the bolt would open much faster than the rifle’s gas piston was supposed to make it. The block used to push out the rollers had the firing pin at its tip, and an angled wedge to smoothly move the rollers. What Maier realized was happening during these out-of-spec firings was that the rollers were resting on the angled sides of the wedge when discharged, instead of on the main parallel sides of the block. As a result, the force pushing back on the bolt would slide the rollers in by itself, without and input from the piston needed. This sequence of events kept rolling around in Maier’s head while he worked, and by the middle of January 1944 he had conceptualized a brand new action, which would be simple and cheaper still than the roller lock.

Maier’s idea was to carefully calculate the angle of the wedge in the system, and get rid of the gas piston. By using the basic principle of a wedge, he would take the recoil force pushing back on the bolt during firing and split it into two components. Some of the force would push out into the receiver and center wedge, and some would continue to push backwards. By using the right angle, he could reduce the rearward force to just the right amount of force to open the bolt only after the bullet had left the muzzle and pressure in the barrel had dropped to a safe level. This is the principle used in simple blowback submachine guns and pistols, but in those guns the timing is controlled by changing the weight of the bolt. Maier’s idea was to redirect the force pushing on the bolt, and thus achieve the same result without adding a lot of weight.

"According to the 1944 austerity measures introduced material is a simplified version of the MG 42 was required. The Mauser company then developed a simplified version of the MG 42 while at the same time the company Puvel the MG MG 42V or 45 designed with a weight-assisted closure role. This weapon has been tested in June 1944. However, further development took in the length so that when the war ended only ten weapons were manufactured. [...] material shortages of the Third Reich led to the development of a newer version of the MG 42, the MG 45 (or MG 42V). This had a different operation mechanism that used delayed blowback as opposed to roller locking." Großfuß had already developed the Roller Lock MG 42 and then the simplified Roller Delayed Blowback MG 45/42V, but history credits Dr. Karl Maier, from Mauser, as the inventor/creator of the Roller Delayed Blowback out of the Roller Locked Gerät 03, and later on used in the Roller Delayed Blowback Gerät 06 (H)/STG 45 (M). "What Maier realized was happening during these out-of-spec firings was that the rollers were resting on the angled sides of the wedge when discharged, instead of on the main parallel sides of the block. As a result, the force pushing back on the bolt would slide the rollers in by itself, without and input from the piston needed. This sequence of events kept rolling around in Maier’s head while he worked, and by the middle of January 1944 he had conceptualized a brand new action, which would be simple and cheaper still than the roller lock.

After the war ended, Department 37 was assumed control of by the French; come 1946, equipment was transfered to Mulhouse in France. German firearm designer Ludwig Vorgrimler (1912–1983) later moved to France to begin work under the newly-formed Centre d'Etudes et d'Armament de Mulhouse, where he and colleague Theodor Löffler were tasked to design roller-locking carbines for use by the French. Löffler's design was preferred, so Vorgrimmler decided to dedicate his work to improving the former's designs. Growing increasingly sick of his job, Vorgrimmler eventually resigned from his position at CEAM in August 1950. Shortly after leaving CEAM, Vorgrimmler was recruited by Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales (CETME). Vorgrimler made his way to Spain to build a new rifle. There he took the German design and designed of the Spanish roller-delayed CETME 58 battle rifle. Meanwhile, by 1955 Mr. Henk Visser’s Dutch ammunition company NWM, established a relationship with CETME and introduced the rifle in the Dutch Army. NWM went on to develop and produce ammunition for the US Army. Vorgrimmler's roller-delayed designs would be used in a similar fashion by Heckler & Koch for their HK G3 and HK MP5.

The StG 45(M) was marked with the Mauser logo and the serial number ‘V-20’. The ‘V’ stands for ‘Versuchsmodell’ (experimental model), while the number 20 was the result of Visser’s information that another 19 sets had been assembled previously. As noted by Dr. Maier, less had been completed, and none of them were completely faithful to the original Mauser technical drawings. Thus, V-20 is the sole surviving fully authentic StG 45(M) and has been authenticated by Dr. Maier in 1996 based on the measurements taken by British gunsmith John Cross.

USA

After the war, Dr. Maier was captured by the Americans and eventually came to the United States as part of Project Paperclip, a program designed to keep German scientists out of the hands of the Russians. In fact, Dr. Maier spent many years working at the Springfield Armory before becoming an independent firearms consultant.

Dr. Karl Wilhelm Maier headed a group of 15 people for mathematical and theoretical research. He was recognized for enhancing the firing rate of the MK 213 revolver cannon by implementing a semi-elliptical drum drive cam. A paperclip on his file led him to Springfield Armory in 1948, followed by the Armament Section of Northrop Aircraft in 1953, and Winchester Repeating Arms in 1956. Four years later, Dr. Maier ventured into self-employment, continuing his work until 1981.

External links

• MKb Gerät 06H (StG 45), waffenlager.net