Wolfgang Theimer
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Wolfgang Theimer | |
|---|---|
 Wolfgang Theimer in 1903 | |
| Born | Wolfgang Theimer 18 July 1880 |
| Died | 16 March 1970 (aged 89) |
| Occupation | Weapons designer and Engineer |
| Spouse(s) | Francesca Kirkpatrick |
| Children | Emil Theimer |
| Relatives | Isara Theimer (great-granddaughter) |
Wolfgang Theimer (18 July 1880 - 16 March 1970) was a Gallian engineer, inventor, and arms designer, best known for his series of inventions that were highly-prized by several armed forces that included the Royal Gallian Armed Forces, Lucis Armed Forces, and the Imperial Army of Erebonia. He made his first gun at his father's workshop at the age of 13. He was a certified engineer at the age of 15. Despite his Darscen ancestry, he was considered to be a child prodigy. By the age of 24, he had successfully secured nearly 124 firearm patents. His Darscen ancestry costed him the early years of opportunity. He was not called to developing military-issue rifles until in 1900, when he introduced his ideas for what would later become the M1903 Gallian Standard rifle.
He is regarded as one of most successful firearms designer of the 19th and 20th Century. Apart from firearms, Theimer also went into designing armoured vehicles, including the Theimer Suspension, which saw use in many Lucian tanks such as the Cromwell and the Comet tanks. He is also the leading designer of the famous Gallian tank, the M4 Theimer tank and was also an advisor to the Lucis Army when they came up with the Theimer Firefly.
Theimer influenced nearly all categories of firearms design, including the autoloading of ammunition. He mad significant improvements to repeating, pump-action rifles and shotguns. He also invented the first reliable and compact autoloading pistols by inventing the telescoping bolt, then integrating the bolt and barrel shroud into what is known as the pistol slide. Theimer's telescoping bolt design is now found on every modern semi-automatic pistol, as well as several modern fully-automatic weapons. He was also one of the contributors to the success of the Gallian Model 1899 machine gun, a system that surpassed mechanical recoil operation to become the standard for most high-power self loading firearms.
Theimer's most successful designs include the Theimer Model 1911 pistol, the water-cooled GM1917, the air-cooled GM1919, and the GM21 heavy machine guns, the TM18 Automatic Rifle, the M1903 Theimer, the Theimer Model 21 submachine gun, famously known as the Tommy Gun after the first Lucian Army users, the Theimer Hi-Power, and the M1 Theimer, the first official semi-automatic rifle adopted as a standard issue. Nearly all of his guns are still manufactured in present day through licenses and royalties. One of the more well-known producers of his guns is Rainford Group, whose founder, James Gwyn Rainford had a close friendship with Wolfgang's son.
Following his death, his son, Emil Theimer owned the patents of his father. Emil had 1 son, Carl Theimer, who inherited the patent ownership following Emil's death in 1992. Carl Theimer would tragically die in 1998, leaving her only daughter, Isara Theimer as the sole owner of the patents and licenses. Remaining unmarried and childless, in the event of her death, Isara agreed to turn the ownership to her adoptive elder brother, Welkin Gunther.