ÖWG (Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft) produced the Werndl and chambered it for the 11mm scharfe Patrone M.67[1] (11.15×42mmR) cartridge.

The army received 14 million florins in funding to acquire Werndl rifles and ammunition in 1868.

As a result, by November 1870, only 316,650 Werndl breechloaders had been produced and the army still needed an additional 302,810 rifles to fulfill the needs of the regular troops, without taking into account the demands of the Imperial-Royal Landwehr and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd.

In February 1873, the war minister Franz Kuhn von Kuhnenfeld stated a need for 370,000 more Werndl rifles for the army.

In spite of the Werndl being long obsolete by World War I, the Austro-Hungarian forces issued Werndl rifles to rear-echelon units to free up more modern rifles for use by front-line troops.