According to Kelver in, 100 Years of Shooters and Gunmakers of the Single Shot Rifle, A.O. Zischang was born in Germany in 1846 and worked for the Sharps company shortly upon arriving as an immigrant in America. In 1879 he opened his own shop and became widely known as a master craftsman who built custom schuetzen rifles for some of the best shooters of his day. Following his death in 1925, his son William O. Zischang continued on in the business, but, according to John T. Dutcher in his article entitled "Pope, Schoyen and Zischang Bullet Molds" printed in The Gun Report, April 1989 p. 14-25, William probably did not continue to produce accessories as his father had done.

Here are examples of three molds attributed to Zischang...all of these molds have "plugs" at the bullet base which could allow for adjusting the weight/length of the bullet. The molds are not marked as to maker, although the handle on the top mold is marked "Grossman". "Grossman" was probably an early owner of the mold, but that is not certain. The thick, block-like sprue cutter seen on the bottom mold is quite typical for Zischang. Also, note the neat recessing of the metal around the brass insert and sprue cutter; that allows for a tight fit of the moving metal parts; again, a feature quite typical for Zischang.