Charles Gabriel Petter was a Swiss firearms designer.

Charles Petter studied mechanical engineering in Bern and was a lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 of the Swiss Army. He became an employee of Krupp in Essen

Essen

- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he served in the French Foreign Legion

French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...

, where he obtained French citizenship and the rank of captain

Captain (OF-2)

The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...

. 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

Elsässische Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Grafenstaden

The Elsässischen Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Grafenstaden was a heavy industry firm located at Grafenstaden in the Alsace, near the city of Strasbourg....

in Cholet

Cholet

Cholet is a commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire department. It was the capital of military Vendée.-Geography:Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century...

.

His French patent 782 914 (CH 185,452, U.S. 2,139,203) was acquired in 1937 by SIG

Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft

Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft , or SIG, is the former name of SIG Holding AG, a Swiss company that has been active in various businesses during its more than 150 years of operation. Since the year 2000 the Society has undergone strategic refocus, concentrating on its core compentence in...

 and used for the SIG P210

SIG P210

The SIG P210 is a locked breech semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured in Neuhausen am Rheinfall by Swiss Arms AG, formerly SIG Arms AG .It is of all steel construction chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum and 7.65x21mm Parabellum...

 pistol. The Browning-Petter system or Browning-Petter-SIG-system of breechblock

Breechblock

A breechblock is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a weapon at the moment of firing....

s goes back to John Browning

John Browning

John Moses Browning , born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world...

and Charles Petter.

Petter Charles was married twice, since 1909 with Louise Marguerite Paule Charavet and since 1926 with Xenia Schegloff. His second marriage produced two daughters, Elizabeth and Hélène.

• Biography