Eduard Alexander Rubin (17 July 1846 – 6 July 1920) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

mechanical engineer who is most notable for having invented the

full metal jacket bullet A full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core (often lead) encased in an outer shell ("jacket") of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or, less commonly, a steel alloy. A bullet jacket usu ...

in 1882. His most famous cartridge was the

7.5×55mm Swiss The 7.5×55mm Swiss or 7,5mm GP 11 (or unofficially 7.5×55mm Schmidt–Rubin) is a cartridge developed for the Swiss Army. It originated from the ''Gewehrpatrone 1890'' (7.5×53.5mm) developed in 1898 by mechanical engineer Lt. Col. Eduard Rubin ...

which was the standard ammunition for the

Schmidt–Rubin The Schmidt–Rubin rifles were a series of Swiss Army service rifles in use between 1889 and 1958. They are distinguished by the straight-pull bolt action invented by Rudolf Schmidt and use Eduard Rubin's 7.5×55mm Schmidt–Rubin rifle cartrid ...

K31 The Karabiner Modell 1931 (K. 31/Kar. 31/Mq. 31) is a magazine-fed, straight-pull bolt-action rifle. It was the standard issue rifle of the Swiss armed forces from 1933 until 1958 though examples remained in service into the 1970s. It has a 6-ro ...

and Stgw 57 military rifles. Besides the full metal jacket bullet, Rubin developed the military Schmidt-Rubin rifle (together with Rudolf Schmidt), the Rubin-Fornerod ignition mechanism and the use of

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

to replace gunpowder in artillery grenades. His fully copper clad bullets were also the inspiration for the full metal jacket bullets introduced in 1886 for the

Lebel rifle The Lebel Model 1886 rifle (French: ''Fusil Modèle 1886 dit "Fusil Lebel"'') also known as the ''"Fusil Mle 1886 M93"'', after a bolt modification was added in 1893, is an 8 mm bolt-action infantry rifle that entered service in the French A ...

. He served as director of the Swiss Federal Ammunition Factory and Research Center in

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

. He held the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the

Swiss military The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, sol ...

and was married to Rosina Susanna Leuzinger, daughter of Swiss cartographer Rudolf Leuzinger. GP11.jpg, 7.5×55mm Swiss 7.5x55 Cutaway cartridge.jpeg, 7.5x55 Cutaway cartridge Schmidt-Rubin-2.jpg, Schmidt-Rubin Model 1911 Granatzünder 84 120 cm Kan.jpg, Rubin-Fornerod ignition mechanism

References

* *H. Ziegler, "Oberst Ed. Rubin : Direktor der eidg. Munitionsfabrik Thun" (obituary), ''Allgemeine schweizerische Militärzeitung'' 66.17 (1920), 281–283.

External links

"Manufacture Dates of Swiss Schmidt–Rubin Rifles" (radix.net)The History The 7.5 Swiss Cartridge (swissrifles.com)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Eduard 1846 births 1920 deaths Firearm designers 19th-century Swiss inventors