Career
He is known for his inventions of the Borchardt C-93 pistol and the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle. In 1860 he emigrated to the United States, and by 1872 he was Superintendent of Works for Pioneer Breech-Loading Arms Company of Trenton, Massachusetts In 1874 he became a foreman for Singer Sewing Machine Company, then was employed by Colt"s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, later went to Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and then was Superintendent and Treasurer for the Sharps Rifle Company on June 1, 1876.
After the dissolution of the Sharps Rifle Company in 1881, Borchardt returned to Budapest where he was employed by Fegyver és Gépgyár Részvénytársaság and by 1890 gained the position of works director
His return in Europe was interrupted by a short stay (1890-1892) in the United States as a consultant to Remington Arms in relation to the development of the Lee rifle for the United States Army trials. By 1893 Borchardt had an association with Ludwig Loewe & Company of Berlin, Germany, a manufacturer of machine tools, to produce the C-93, a semi-automatic pistol that he had invented based upon the Maxim toggle-lock principle.
He also developed the 7.65x25mm Borchardt cartridge around which the C-93 was built. Hugo Borchardt had many non-firearms patents: a rock drill, a shirt-neck shaper, gas burners, ball-bearings, a wire-straightener, and various electrical apparatus.
Borchardt died of pneumonia in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1924.
United States.
#185,721 26 September, 1876
#206,217 23 July, 1878
#273,448 6 March, 1883
#571,260 1896
#987,543 21 March, 1911
Germany
#75,837 9 September, 1893
#77,748 18 March, 1894
#91998 10 October, 1896
#227,078 27 February, 1909
British
#18,774 1 November, 1893
#29,622 20 February, 1909.