<P> After Hiram Maxim introduced his recoil - powered machine gun in 1883 , several gunsmiths set out to apply the same principles to handguns , including Maxim . Maxim 's designs for smaller firearms using his recoil - powered ideas never went into production . In the 1880s , other designers worked on self - loading designs . The Schönberger - Laumann 1892 was the first semi-automatic pistol . The first model to gain any commercial success was the Hugo Borchardt - designed C - 93 , designed in 1893 and made its public debut in 1894 . Borchardt invented the C - 93 mechanism , based in large part upon Maxim 's toggle - lock principle . The C - 93 featured a clever locking mechanism , modeled after the human knee joint , in which the mechanical joint is called a knee , or in German Kniegelenk ( knee joint ) . </P>
<P> After Hiram Maxim introduced his recoil - powered machine gun in 1883 , several gunsmiths set out to apply the same principles to handguns , including Maxim . Maxim 's designs for smaller firearms using his recoil - powered ideas never went into production . In the 1880s , other designers worked on self - loading designs . The Schönberger - Laumann 1892 was the first semi-automatic pistol . The first model to gain any commercial success was the Hugo Borchardt - designed C - 93 , designed in 1893 and made its public debut in 1894 . Borchardt invented the C - 93 mechanism , based in large part upon Maxim 's toggle - lock principle . The C - 93 featured a clever locking mechanism , modeled after the human knee joint , in which the mechanical joint is called a knee , or in German Kniegelenk ( knee joint ) . </P>
when was the first semi automatic pistol invented
when was the first semi automatic pistol invented
1892
1892