[PAGING ROXRAN] Good Pistol

The reason for this, of course, is that these ARE Han Solo's weapon (minus some crap that they glued on to make it look more futuristic).

 

I started to write out some stuff but found this article online while looking stuff up. It describes them better than I could. The only thing I can add is that the bottom one is a "Bolo" with a 3" barrel whose name is a shortening of Bolshevik because the Russian Communists were fond of them, and the top is a 1930's commercial with a 5" barrel.

[rquoter]

Made without pins or screws, composed entirely of hand fitted interlocking parts, Germany's C.96 Mauser pistol is a marvel of mechanical design and function. While never officially adopted by any country as its primary military sidearm, the C.96 "Broomhandle" quickly became the favorite of English officers, Chinese warlords and Bolshevik communists alike. All things considered, it was the first commercially successful semiautomatic pistol ever produced, and remarkably, it remained in production from 1896 until 1937.

Distinctive in appearance, reliable, accurate, and surprisingly well balanced, the C.96 was a competent combat pistol. Imagine in 1896 having a semi-automatic pistol that held 10 rounds in the magazine, could immediately be fully recharged with a 10-round stripper clip, could be used as a pistol or quickly converted into an effective carbine and fired an 86-grain bullet at 1,400 fps! And it was made of real steel. The heck with Glocks.

In one of those interesting sidelights of history, the first recorded use of the C.96 in combat occurred in 1898 at the Battle of Omdurman during Kitchener's Sudan campaign.

One of the shooters was none other than Lt. Winston Churchill, who had purchased his C.96 at Westley Richards & Co. in London before departing to Africa with the 21st Lancers. It saved young Winston's cookies more than once daring his military exploits.

The basic design of the C.96 is credited to three brothers, Fidel, Friedrich and Josef Feederle, who worked in the experimental department of Mauser. By 1894, the Feederles had a working prototype, at which point, Paul Mauser became involved in the design and threw his support and the resources of the company behind the project. By March, 1895. Mauser had a firing model that he patented in December, 1895. Production began in 1896 after Mauser received the go ahead from the board of Ludwig Loewe.

Ludwig Loewe? You see the Berlin based armament group of Ludwig Loewe, also known as DWM, held a controlling interest in the stock of Waffenfabrik Mauser. At the time, Loewe was frustrated with the lack of sales of their own Borchardt semi-automatic pistol so I'm sure the revolutionary C.96 design seemed like a gift from heaven. What Mauser did derive from the Borchardt design was its basic 7.65mm cartridge. Produced by DWM, the 7.63mm Mauser cartridge arrived on the stage as a very modern looking, rimless, bottlenecked, high velocity, 30-caliber pistol round.

Although Mauser aggressively pursued military contracts for the C.96, few countries actually purchased sizable numbers. On the other hand, commercial sales were fairly brisk with many being purchased privately by commissioned and non-commissioned officers throughout the world. Quantities of C.96s turned up in the 1899-1902 Boer War, 1912 Balkan War, World War I, Russian Revolution, 1932 Chinese-Japanese War and World War II.

In fact, the basic C.96 design was widely copied. The Chinese produced them at the Shansei Province and Hanyang arsenals and apparently still do. Recently, even the rare Shansei .45 ACP model has appeared in surplus ads. The Spaniards also were major makers of C.96 knock-offs. The Spanish models appeared under the name of Astra produced by Unceta y Compania of Guernica and "Azul" produced by Beistegui Hermanos of Eibar. Along with Mauser's own Model 712 Schnellfeuer, many of the Chinese and Spanish copies feature selector switches for full or semi-automatic fire.

There are numerous collectible variations of the C.96. In surplus circles, the three most commonly seen models are the Model 1912 in 7.63mm with a 5 1/2" barrel as pictured in this article; the Model 1916, similar to the Model 1912, produced for Germany in World War I in 9mm Luger and indicated as such by having a large red "9" carved into its pistol grip; and the Model 1920 "Bolo" in 7.63mm, readily identified by its short 3.9" barrel and a flat, rather than rounded, bottom of the pistol grip.

Atrocious

Most of the recent C.96 surplus imports have arrived from China and the condition of the pistols has ranged from excellent to atrocious. Many were nicely reconditioned and refinished. There were even some ersatz Schnellfeuer and C.96 carbine models made up for the retail trade so do your homework and read Berger's "Know Your Broomhandle Mausers" before parting with your hard earned cash.

The C.96 pistol is composed of four major parts: the one-piece barrel and barrel extension; frame; lock assembly; and bolt. It's a locked breech, recoil operated pistol. The barrel and barrel extension ride on rails on the frame. The bolt is locked in place by a swinging locking block. When fired, the barrel and barrel extension recoil back about 3/16" camming the locking block out of battery, thereby permitting the bolt to move rearward, ejecting the empty case, cocking the hammer and then moving forward to strip-off and chamber a fresh round.

The magazine of most models holds 10 rounds. It can be loaded by holding back the bolt and thumbing in individual rounds or by loading all 10 with the zip of a stripper clip. The bolt is locked back by the follower when the magazine is empty. To empty the magazine, you merely cycle the bolt to eject the remaining cartridges.

The handy, rocking safety is "On" in the forward position and "Off" when it is thumbed back, except for some early guns with serial numbers below 35,000 that function exactly the opposite.

The most common rear sight is an adjustable tangent model calibrated to 1,000 meters in caliber 7.63mm and to 500 meters in 9mm. A 1,000 meters! Talk about Mauser sales hype or just unrestrained optimism. The single most sought after C.96 accessory is its distinctive detachable shoulder stock holster. Made of wood and carried in a fancy leather harness sporting pockets for a cleaning rod and extra magazine spring, the shoulder stock holster both encased the C.96 and when snapped into the female dovetail at the rear of the pistol grip, converted the pistol into a small carbine. Original stock holsters are pricey, but we are blessed with the availability of a variety of Chinese and aftermarket copies from companies like Sarco and Gun Parts, Inc. that sell for about $125 and are totally functional. If you go to the expense of buying a C.96, by all means buy a shoulder stock holster, harness and a reproduction cleaning rod.

Shooting The C.96

The C.96 is a hoot to shoot. For the best possible performance, buy a C.96 with matching serial numbers. The full serial number or the last three digits of the number appear on the frame, barrel extension, lock assembly, hammer, and recoil spring abutment.

Before shooting your C.96. I would recommend stripping, cleaning and lubricating. While doing so, check overall condition. Replace the old springs. New springs, most parts and stripper clips are available from the Gun Parts Corp.

7.63mm Mauser ammunition is readily available under the Fiocchi label. If you reload, dies are available from Lee, brass from Starline, and a special run of 86-grain Hornady bullets from Huntington. Sierra now makes an 85-grain RN, too. Of course, 9mm fodder is available everywhere.

My refurbished 7.63mm with a decent bore will group Fiocchi into 3" at 25 yards. Velocity of the 88-grain load averages 1,322 fps. All, but attaching the shoulder holster stock, I can cut that group in half. And at 100 yards, using the holster stock, I can consistently keep all my shots within the 8-ring of the humanoid B27 target offhand. I imagine an original gun in excellent condition or a tailored handload could do better. Fiocchi ammunition is a bit on the mild side. Some Portuguese surplus I have yields an average velocity of 1,405 fps. That's the velocity the C.96 was designed for.

The Mauser C.96 represents the epitome of 19th, and 20th century military handgun craftsmanship. The machining and hand fitting lavished on the C.96 will never be seen again. it's a surplus gem to be collected, shot and savored.

[/rquoter]

 

I have one but not for the type of firearms you are looking for. Mine is a C&R FFL--"Curio and Relics". That would be weapons over 50 years old or designated as a Curio/Collector item.

My favorite stuff: WWII Battle Rifles, which I am literally overrun with. You DEFINITELY save big bucks with a C&R FFL if old rifles/pistols/carbines are your thing.

 

Nice Broomhandles Ott...I'm a sucker for purrrdy wood