„Stutzen“ comes from the German verb stutzen, meaning to shorten or to clip. Formerly, from muzzleloader times on, it was used in the southernmost areas of the German language for any rifle shorter than a full length military musket, regardless of full or half stock or actual barrel length. Bavarians and Austrians spelled it Stutzen, the Swiss Stutzer. Added words often defined the purpose of the rifle- so there are “Scheibenstutzen”= target rifles, “Zimmerstutzen” = 4 mm rimfire parlor rifles, “Feldstutzer” = muzzleloading Swiss military sharpshooter rifles, and many more. Some, like the Austrian “Ischler Stutzen” are full stocked, most others not.
In central or northern Germany the designation was unknown. Most Germans called the things simply “Büchse” or, if short, “Karabiner”. This changed post-1900 only. In 1905 the Steyr factory started to offer their Mannlicher – Schoenauer sporters in Germany. As Austrians the Steyr people advertised all their hunting rifles as “Repetierstutzen”, still regardless of the short barrel, full stocked carbine or the longer barreled, half stocked rifle versions. Their short, handy carbines became much more popular all over Germany than the longer rifles. Soon the word “Stutzen” became associated with such short, fullstocked rifles all over Germany. So by now a “Stutzen” is understood as a full stocked, most often short hunting rifle. Some rifles with barrels up to 60 cm = 24” may be called Stutzen too if stocked to the muzzle, but never a half stocked carbine regardless of barrel shortness. "Stutzen" now is used in the same way as Americans use "Mannlicher stocked" in most of Germany. Of course, Austrians are still apt to call any sporting rifle a “Stutzen”. Quite recently I have even read “Doppelstutzen” for a double rifle.