Welcome, in case you are a newcomer to this enjoyable bi-weekly phase of AllOutdoor.com! Last time we continued our campaign on reporting the details of the Mauser C96 and its variations and nicely, that article ran very lengthy so we break up it in two that is half two of the final one..however half three general. In the final article, I lined the beginning of the record of variations of the long-lasting Mauser C96 “Broomhandle” pistol. This time I plan to proceed on the place we left off beginning with what is taken into account an “actual variation”. I’ve a lot admiration for the Mauser Construktion 96 and all of its oddities and quirks. Let’s dive proper into the legendary Broomhandle!
Recent Curious Relics Coverage:
Note: Much of this text was drastically aided by a guide by Mauro Baudino and Gerben van Vlimmeren. This guide is a superb supply of particular data on the Mauser firm, its merchandise, and its folks. The guide is named Paul Mauser His Life, Company, and Handgun Development 1838-1914. In the longer term, I’ll do a full evaluation. Go examine it out!
Welcome to our recurring sequence of “Curious Relics.” Here, we need to share all of our experiences, information, misadventures, and fervour for older firearms that one may categorize as a Curio & Relic – any firearm that’s at the very least 50 years outdated in accordance with the ATF. Hopefully alongside the way in which you’ll be able to garner a better appreciation for older firearms like we do, and concurrently you’ll be able to educate us issues as nicely by means of sharing your individual experience and ideas within the Comments. Understanding the firearms of outdated, their significance, and their improvement which result in lots of the arms we now cherish at present is extremely fascinating and we hope you take pleasure in what now we have to share, too!
Variations Continued: The Mauser C96
Kicking issues off with a little disclaimer. There have been dozens of variations of the C96 in its lifetime and even after. There have been army contracts, clones, modifications, and so on. This record of variations will likely be composed of what I’d think about a mixture of Major notable variations and likewise some cooler and rarer ones. Some will embrace and exclude sure milling operations, security sorts, and hammer types. Please perceive there may be a lot extra on the market.
The “Actual” Variations Continued:
- 9mm Export C96: These pistols popped up in 1900 and have been paired with a brand new Mauser cartridge; the 9mm Export cartridge. 9mm Mauser Export or 9x25mm was produced in a bid for a cartridge that was extra highly effective than that of the 7.63 Mauser and 9×19 Luger. Military trials have been developing and a distinguished opponent was the 9mm Luger pistol and its 9mm cartridge. Only round 150 of those pistols would pop up between 1900 and 1930. The cartridge was way more profitable than the C96 weapons chambered for it which have been thought-about too highly effective for what they have been meant.
- Red 9 C96: This was a German army contract C96 in the course of the warfare of attrition that was World War One. The greatest notable modifications have been that they have been chambered for 9mm Parabellum (Luger, 9×19, and so on) and had the adjusted sight ranges to go along with the cartridge (50 meters to 500 meters). The well-known “Red 9” C96 pistols have been allegedly made out of 1916 and into 1918 with manufacturing numbers estimated at 150,000. I stated “allegedly” as a result of more moderen data says that solely round 95,000 had been produced by the tip of World War One (1918) and manufacturing really continued into the very early Nineteen Twenties (roughly 1924). The well-known and apparent distinctive function of the Red 9 C96 is, nicely, the big crimson “9” on the broom deal with grips. This was executed to ideally stop any cartridge confusion in World War One battlefields the place commonplace 30 Mauser C96 pistols have been already in use.
Lot 4367: Mauser Broomhandle “Red 9” Semi-Automatic Pistol with Holster. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. {photograph}. Retrieved January 3, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1039/4367/mauser-broomhandle-red-9-semiautomatic-pistol-with-holster.
- M1920/M1921/BOLO Mauser C96: I lumped the three of those collectively since they type of intertwine. Basically, after World War One ended and the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, Germany had sure limitations placed on it so far as small arms manufacturing goes. To drastically simplify, they weren’t allowed to provide handguns with barrels exceeding 4″ and cartridges 9mm or bigger. This left Mauser with their fingers tied however with a neater workaround of shortening the barrels to three.9″ and utilizing the outdated devoted 7.63 Mauser cartridge. These unexpectedly discovered numerous reputation attributable to their now elevated concealability and light-weight nature. Prewar government-owned C96 pistols needed to be modified with shorter barrels from older luger barrels that have been chambered for 7.65 Luger (30 Luger).
Note: “Pre-war” BOLO pistols did exist since barrel lengths may usually be adjusted in accordance with batch orders. It is broadly accepted that the “Bolo” time period is derived from its reputation with the Russian Bolsheviks.
Lot 1374: Post-Wwi Mauser C96 Bolo Commercial Broomhandle Pistol – Excellent Post-World War I Mauser C96 Bolo Commercial Broomhandle Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. {photograph}. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/1374/postwwi-mauser-c96-bolo-commercial-broomhandle-pistol.
- M1930 Mauser: The Mauser M1930 (M30 for brief) is regarded as an improved and simplified C96 the place some machining measures have been simplified. They all have longer barrels 5.2″ to five.5″ and enormous “pre-war” grips. My Mauser C96 is what’s sometimes called the M1930 variant. It is amongst the final of them ever made full-scale. My private one is an earlier M1930 (in all probability round 1932-1933). They are identified for being a excessive polish blue and having small arts nitre blued (strawed). These Mauser pistols have been the final of the usual C96 pistols to see manufacturing that ceased in 1934. There have been very uncommon situations of M30s having detachable magazines.
- M1932/M712 Schnellfeuer: A choose fireplace Mauser C96 that was designed by Josef Nickl. These used a removable journal and have been most definitely a results of competing clones popping up in Spain within the late Nineteen Twenties. They are unofficially known as the M1932 since they have been in full-scale manufacturing from 1932 till 1936 however would later be referred to as the M712 Schnellfeuer by the German Wehrmacht throughout World War II.
Lot 1515: Mauser 1932 Schnellfeuer Pistol Machine gun 7.65 mm Mauser. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. {photograph}. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/66/1515/mauser-1932-schnellfeuer-pistol-machine-gun-765-mm-mauser.
Honorable Mentions:
- M1917 Mauser Trench Carbine: A literal trench carbine that was requested by the German authorities throughout World War One. It was to be in 9mm and featured a 40-round prolonged journal. Very few have been produced.
- PASAM: In the Nineteen Sixties Brazil modified current M1932/M712 Schnellfeuer pistols to have totally different shares and even vertical foregrips.
- Astra Model 900 / 901 / 902 / 903: Spanish made copies of the C96 which began round 1927 and can be produced in various numbers till 1941. Internally they’ve variations from true C96 pistols. Spoiler…they’ve a bunch of pinned elements.
Lot 4478: Astra Model 900 Broomhandle Semi-Automatic Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. {photograph}. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1029/4478/astra-model-900-broomhandle-semiautomatic-pistol.
- Shanxi Type 17: Made from 1928 to 1931 this powerhouse of a Chinese C96 copy was chambered for 45 ACP. This period in Chinese historical past sees numerous troops being geared up with Thompson Machine gun copies so to be able to restrict provide chain points it was determined to provide a preferred pistol design in 45 ACP.
Lot 4754: Chinese Shansei Arsenal C96 Broomhandle Semi-Automatic Pistol – Chinese “Shansei Arsenal” C96 Broomhandle Semi-Automatic Pistol with Stock and Shoulder Holster. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. {photograph}. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1030/4754/chinese-shansei-arsenal-c96-broomhandle-semiautomatic-pistol.
End of Part Three: The Mauser C96
This one concludes the broad world of the Mauser C96 variations. There have been a number of army contracts and orders of the C96 (Italy, Norway, Germany, and even Mexico) all of which have small variations that basically mirror positively on the Mauser firm as an entire. They consistently innovated, modified, and utilized desires and must their orders of small arms. Paul Mauser put it finest when he stated “When something can no longer be improved, it is obsolete”. Thank you all for sticking with me by means of this lengthy haul of an article and a giant thanks to Mauro Baudino for getting in contact with me and serving to me safe a evaluation copy of his guide which will likely be featured in its personal article in a while. See you of us subsequent time!
In closing, I hope our Curious Relics phase knowledgeable in addition to entertained. This all was written in hopes of continued firearm appreciation and preservation. We didn’t simply understand how weapons have been purported to look and performance. It was a protracted and tedious course of that has formed the world we dwell in. So, I put it to you! Is there a firearm on the market that you just really feel doesn’t get a lot notoriety? What ought to our subsequent Curious Relics matter cowl? As at all times, tell us your entire ideas within the Comments under! We at all times recognize your suggestions.
