Charles Petter
Charles Gabriel Petter (26 March 1880 – 7 July 1953) was a Swiss firearms designer.
Charles Petter, born in Lavey-Morcles, studied mechanical engineering in Bern and was a lieutenant in the infantry of the Swiss Army. He became an employee of Krupp in Essen. During World War I he served in the French Foreign Legion, where he obtained French citizenship and the rank of captain. After that, he was director of the French branch of the Belgian company Armes Automatiques Lewis and consultant of the Société de Constructions Alsacienne Mécaniques in Cholet.
His French patent FR 782914 (Swiss: CH 185452, U.S. Patent 2,139,203) for the French Modèle 1935A pistol was acquired in 1937 by SIG and used for the SIG P210 pistol. The Browning-Petter system or Browning-Petter-SIG system of breechblocks goes back to John Browning and Charles Petter.
Charles Petter was married twice, in 1909 to Louise Marguerite Paule Charavet, and in 1926 to Xenia Schegloff. His second marriage produced two daughters, Elizabeth and Hélène. He died in Montreux.