Karel Krnka is a name almost no one mentions. He's a virtual unknown these days, but 100 years ago, he was as creative as Borchardt, Browning, or Maxim. Karel Krnka designed many items, including weapons. His handgun designs were prominently used in the Austrio-Hungarian Empire.
Krnka was born in Vienna, Austria. According to Ian Hogg in his book Pistols of the World, Krnka's start with guns came about due to the fact that his father was also a well known gun designer. Krnka is often associated with Bohemia, which is part of the Czech Republic today, bordering Germany. Krnka had first hand gun training and experience; he was in the Austrio-Hungary Army infantry. Krnka developed a series a rifles prior to becoming the Chief Designer for the Gatling Arms and Ammunition Company then Manager of the Roth Cartridge Company. Roth was a major player in the small arms market in the early part of the 20th Century.
Krnka also worked for Austrian cartridge company Hirtenburg before joining CZ (Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka). He worked for, with, and allied himself with such early luminaries of the early gun designing world as Roth, Sauer, Frommer, and Steyr.
One of Krnka's early "trademarks" was the long recoil action in pistols. Per Iam Hogg, "The barrel and bolt recoiled together across the top of the magazine; the bolt then opened by rotation and held while the barrel ran forward alone. The bolt released as the barrel came to rest, running forward to chamber a fresh round and then rotated into its locked position." Krnka's designed usually incorporated a built in magazine which was non-removable and was fed by a charger through an open bolt. This is similar to Mannlicher style rifles.
Many of Georg Roth's famous pistols were desinged by Krnka. The Roth-Steyr, for example, was the main sidearm of the Austrio-Hungarian empire and ended up as an official sidearm of the Italian Army until World War 2. This pistol was the first automatic pistol adopted by a major military.
He designed revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, single shot rifles, bolt action rifles, and even automatic rifles. Krnka left is mark on the early arms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Much of his work has been used in later designs and some of that work lives on in today's arm, in spite of the fact that his name has been almost forgotten.
