Many years ago when I was young and foolish, I had acquired a C96 broomhandle Mauser pistol. It had an inscription engraved on its right side indicating that it had been liberated from a German officer during WWI, and it gave the date and the location. Well, I kept it as a curiosity for a number of years, and then finally traded it for a mint - yes, factory new - U.S. Model 1842 musket. I was more into U.S. military long arms in those days.

I always regretted letting go of that broomhandle, though. I have no idea if the inscription on it was spurious, but I suspect that it was probably genuine. At any rate, broomhandles today in good condition are almost untouchable, so I never got another one.

Until yesterday. BIG Phoenix gun show yesterday, and I was among the first in the door. And there it was. It wasn't factory fresh, but it had been skillfully restored, and I think it will make a great photo model for a future article on this breed. I snapped it up, together with a wooden shoulder stock holster, and I'm tickled pink to finally have another C96 to play with!



Anyone here have any shooting experience with these old timers? I estimate this one was produced in 1914.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

No experience shooting them, but they are quite a handful and really neat old guns.

Some pretty famous folks carried them, as I'm sure you know, including Winston Churchill and...Han Solo.

Congrats on finding one!

I have owned 2 over the years one was an Oyster bay re work both were in 9mm and were fun to shoot. I always found them I hate to say romantic.

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Stan

I have a 95% pre-war commercial made in 1916 with matching holster stock. I don't shoot it much, but it is pretty accurate. Surprisingly, it points rather well considering how awkward it looks.

If you're going to fire yours, avoid the Tokarev 7.62x25 ammunition. A steady dose of this, especially the hotter stuff, will eventually wreck havoc on the locking block. Fiocchi 7.62 Mauser ammo works well, and I have seen some S&B also marked "7.62 Mauser" that should be OK. These will cost about 2X the ComBlock ammo, but your pistol will appreciate it.

As always, looking forward to your review.

Buck

I have 2-one that my wife's grandfather brought back from France after WW I that was subsequently reblued & one that my father was given while billeted on a Navy ship in occupied Japan.I have the certificate allowing him to bring it back as well.We shot his quite a bit when we both were younger-very different action & an unusual gun to shoot.I credit that pistol with stimulating my life long interest in firearms of all stripes-I remember pestering dad regularly to get it down from the closet & unwrap it so I could look at it.I'm glad to have it.
Regards,
turnerriver
SWCA # 1426

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turnerriver

Picked up a "few" of the Chinese returns in the 80's - only one screw (grips) and the rest of the parts are one big puzzle.

Had one "top" restored in 9mm and shot mostly lead to keep the pressures down. The sights are rather optimistic but I guess the original cartridge was up to it.

Sure wish they would drop the ban on Chinese imports - lots of interesting items came out - such as the C96's clone made in 45ACP

The C96 broomhandle is certainly fun to shoot, I should know. Be careful about shooting a fine collectible though. Years ago, I bought a pristine broomhandle, matching numbers and excellent bore, for $1200.00; this included the matching stock. One Saturday afternoon, I was blasting away with Fiocchi factory ball and hitting cans and bottles out to 200 yards and beyond.

And then came the fatal TINK! I blew off the extractor along with a chunk of bolt metal where the extractor dovetails into the bolt. I converted a $1200.00 collectible into a $300.00 shooter; yes I bought and installed a mis-numbered bolt.

The point is, many of these old guns are worn and may have improper heat treatment or metal fatigue. I will never shoot a nice collectible firearm again. There are too many modern, strong firearms to shoot.

My .02

Charlie

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SWCA # 2294

I gotta admit I've always had a soft spot for the old "Broomie"! I never shot one but did play with a Bolo model a few years back. I often wondered if it would be possible to use said pistol in a Cowboy Action shoot? They're letting the 1911 in these days so why not the Mauser?

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"Long live the S&W 3rd. Gen.!"

Have you ever watched "Joe Kidd"?

Buck

I bought my C96 almost 20 yrs ago from a friend of mine, its a reblued job, but I mainly want one to see how it works and as a shooter, I second the comment about those 7.62 Tokarev ammo, some are loaded for sub machine gun and way too hot for the broomhandle, and accuracy are worst than a shotgun pattern at 25 yds!

If you are going to reload, keep velocity around 1,000 - 1,100 ft/sec with 100gr. round nose bullets, start with 5.0 gr. of Unique and work up.

Beware when striping the pistol, unlike many morden arms, every parts are interlocked with others and there are no pins or screws to held them together, be extra careful when remove the lockwork/hammer block, some small parts may come loose and drop out, so its best to do it on top of a clean work bench.

I knew a gentleman years ago who carried one concealed as his defense pistol. One can only imagine the bad guy's amazement if he would ever see that unusual beast come out of a holster!

Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews commented on the popularity of these in China during his scientific expeditions there in the 1920's and '30's. I think China may have been the largest foreign buyer, as well as copying the design widely.

Most of those found in Japan were probably captured from the Chinese.

I loved Churchill's comments on his use of one during the cavalry charge at Omdurman, Sudan in 1898. I think his gun was discovered recently in South Africa, where it had been captured by the Boers during the 1899-1902 war. But I think the buyer has remained confidential.

His other guns remained in the family at least until the 1997 UK handgun ban. They may be in some museum now. Does anyone here know? Man at Arms had a good article on them some years back.

John, great photo! (As ever...)

T-Star

One that has always been on my "dream" list. I kept a copy of Guns & Ammo from the '80's because it had an article on the Broomhandle in it. I've never even handled one, but am green with envy of anyone who has. Enjoy it, it's sure pretty...

Congrats on finding a nice one. I have owned 3. My first was a German Navy marked Red 9. I was 15yrs old. Gun shop owner was nice and let me put it on lay-away for a year!! Every Friday I would go in and pay on it. Sure wish I had it now. Next was an Oyster Bay rework. Nice shooter. Last was one of the Navy Arms Chinese reworks that would take a 10 or 20 round magazine. They are fun to shoot but wouldn't want to carry one. It raises eyes at the range.

I have a reworked one in 9mm and have fired it a few times.
Intended to get enough stripper clips to shoot it in a PPC type match but never did.
I had already amazed the cops shooting those matches by showing up with a Smith 1917 with full moon clips.
Figured a Broomhandle would really blow some minds.

Years ago at an MG shoot I was allowed to shoot 20 rounds from a Mauser 712 "Schnellfeur," in .30 Mauser. The stock was too short for me and I had to crane my neck back to use the sights. The gun worked fine though and I found shooting three or four round bursts of 90 grain bullets at 1,200 fps actually generated a fair amount of recoil.

When we were kids and saw a Broomhandle on TV we always called it a machine pistol. Were any ever made to fire full auto?

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

Yes, as posted above the Mauser 712 "Schnellfeur" in .30 Mauser had a selector switch for semi and full auto fire. They came with 10 and 20 round mags.

RonJ:
See my post above.

Thanks! I'm gonna have to stop skimming these replies.

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

I made a more foolish move, but was too young and "uninformed" to know any better. When in the USAF and stationed in England I bought one off a Tsgt that had just shipped over from Germany. It wasn't pristine by any means, maybe 25% blue left, but no rust or pitting, and it had the wooden shoulder stock/holster. Since it was illegal to own an handgun without a permit, and also against regs to have a gun in the barracks even if you had a permit I got nervous after a few months and skating by in a surprise inspection. I had originally paid $35 (1960) for it and then sold it $55 thinking I had made a good profit. Fast forward a few years, and back home in a gun show is one laying on a table for $1200. I then made the decision I would learn more about any gun I would think about selling or buying. Lesson learned.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Ron,

In the late 1920s, the Spaniards made some full-auto unlicensed versions. Mauser quickly made a selective-fire version of its own, called the Schnellfeuer Pistole (rapid-fire pistol). It was designed by one Joseph Nickl in 1930, with production starting in 1932 and ending in 1936. Some went to China and to both sides in the Spanish Civil War. The "Model 1932" full-autos were also provided to the German Wehrmacht during WWII, where the pistol was designated as the M712. These are virtually impossible to control without the use of the standard detachable wooden shoulder stock/holster. The rate of fire is over 1,000 rpm and the magazine empties very quickly. It's estimated that only about 200 of these pistols exist in the U.S. today due to government restrictions.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Paladin that's a very nice Mauser, and an excellent photograph!
Here is a C96 Mauser I aquired a few years ago. It's a pre-war commerical model, with holster, caliber .30 Mauser (7.62x25).
Manufactured 1914.
It's all original, including the matching grips. The only thing missing is the lanyard ring.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Paladin: Nice pre-war commercial (hole through the safety burr. Rear sight probably has the 900 meter position). They were sighted for use with the shoulderstock: without it, they shoot about 14 inches high at 25 yds due to the increased flip. Loading one without the stripper clip is an interesting exercise in avoiding 'M1 thumb".

I got mine in 1983 at a gun show in Boulder, Colorado. It is apparently war era (1915-1921 is the closest I could find for date of manufacture) with the rough machining marks. It was a reblue over a finish with pitting. Matching serial numbers throughout. I, too, used to shoot the Russian ammo. I, too, noticed a piece chipped off the top of the bolt face. Back when I did that (in the 80s) I didn't know there was a problem with the Russian ammo - live and learn...

A fun gun to shoot. I was thinking of getting mine relined for 9mm. I was unable to find a 9mm liner so never pursued that avenue.

I'll have to check around a bit more to see what I can find out about it. It's been a while since I tried.

The tangent rear sight on this one is rather optimistically graduated from 50 to 1000 meters. I suspect that hits with the shoulder stock out to 200 yards would be possible, but I wouldn't want to depend on it much beyond that.

Based on what I'm told here, I think I'll keep my hot S&B Tokarev ammo strictly for my Tokarev. I'm not even sure that I will fire my Mauser, even with 7.63x25 Mauser ammo - it's in really good shape now, and I do want to keep it that way. Just as a work of art, I love it. And as a nearly century-old piece of history, it deserves preservation for future generations.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

ACP230,

I've got a deal for you. I think shooting these older guns in modern competition is a real hoot. I do it too. I've shot an IDPA match with a 1911 Steyr Hahn using 9mm Largo in stripper clips, and another with a Vietnam bring-back Chinese Tokorev.

Here's the deal. Years ago, I bought a large number of Mauser stripper clips from China. Most of them had some rust, but the springs were good. I did a little work with a bead blaster on the disassembled clips to lose the rust, then lubed and re-assembled them. They won't win any beauty contests, but they do work.

If you will use them to shoot a PPC or IDPA match, I have five that I will give you. Just PM me your address, and I'll get them out to you.

Of course, the Forum would like to hear a report on your adventures, whenever they occur.


Buck

Ever since I saw Joe Kidd I knew I had to have a C96. I finally got one in the late 90's that was a 7.62 muaser that had been rebord to 9mm. Great fun gun and a good shooter. I had to sell it when we declared bankrupcy. The friend I got it from also had one of the ones in .45. Massive gun, but it sure would scare to crud out of you if you looked down the barrell.

I got in on this lovefest a little late but let me add my admiration and close to an addiction for the C96. I currently have 2, both in 7.63 mauser, but want many more. I have a Westley Richards marked conehammer owned by Sir Rivers Wilson (English banker and Canadian railroad executive in the late 19th and early 20th century) and a non-factory engraved pre-WWI with stag grips that may have come from Mexico. I've shot the conehammer with a new modern steel bolt stop installed and it's very comfortable and easy to shoot well. I've been looking for a large-ring but I haven't found one that I can afford yet. Here are the current two:

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It's good to be the king.

I have a pre-war commercial in 7.63 Mauser. I would call the finish worn but 85% anyway. The interior of the piece looks new and almost unfired with sharp edges in the bolt. All matching numbers. My problem is it fires, extracts the empty, picks up the new cartridge and closes the bolt to within a 1/2 inch. You tap it lightly and it slams home and shoots, and then the same thing happens again. Of course, there are no good, old gunsmith's who work on these guns around here. I almost believe it's because it hasn't been fired in a long time. The more rounds I put through it, the smoother it gets, but still won't close the bolt that 1/2 inch most of the time. Any ideas?

Replaced all the springs. Shoots like new! I am a happy camper.

Here's my two................

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Armyphotog; the bolt return spring is worn out. Get a new one from Wolff, they're cheap. In addition to not closing the bolt completely, the weak spring is beating up the bolt stop and the back of the reciever where the bolt stop makes contact.

Paladin: yes, most Mauser sights go up to 1000 meters; the point is that during WW I and after, they omitted the 900 meter graduation as an economy measure. I doubt many Mausers have been fired at the 900 meter sight setting.

Cyrano, is that the same as a recoil spring? They don't list anything called a return spring.

the C96 is next on my "short list". first was a luger..
I just like different what can I say?

I always wanted a nice Mauser broom to shoot, I just never see them in my neighborhood and have no idea about the price ranges on them.

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Vaya con Dios

We must remember that these older military pistols are ammo finiky and don't like the hotter modern ammo thats manufactured today. I been told not to shoot the hotter ammo in the P38's, P1's, Lugers and the broomhandles. Its not the old metal its they weren't manufactured nor designed to shoot the hotter ammo. Some of the 7,62x25 tokarev ammo today thats floating around is machine pistol ammo so its hotter. I have some older spanish 9mm parabellum ammo thats pretty stout too. I've shot some in my astra 600/43 but i won't shoot it any other german pistol. Broomhandles can run much higher than lugers price wise. I've seen some awesome looking broomhandles asking the price of 3k. Lets not forget the germans, the spanish and the chinese manufactured broomhandles too. I believe with all of these being ammo finiky i'd rather collect them and shoot them once in a while rather than shoot them more often. Bill

I had forgotten about this Heiser holster until going through my pics. I've never seen another one - a perfect carrier for C96 -

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It's good to be the king.

A long time ago I bought an Oyster Bay rebuilt C96. It had been bored to 9mm, and came with a new wood shoulder stock.

Externally, it looked very nice, but many of the small internal parts were very worn.

I replaced some small parts; they were readily available from Numrich.

I reload for 9mm, and my cast lead reloads, loaded very mild, functioned quite well in it. I loaded them to an overall length as long as possible, sing the C96 was designed for the longer 7.63 Mauser round

Accuracy up to 25 yards was acceptable, but at 50 yards and beyond was very disappointing, considering the barrel LOOKED very good, with sharp and clean looking rifling.

Using factory FMJ bullets in my reloads only improved accuracy at distance a small amount.

It was a very interesting pistol, but as the internal parts were so worn and pitted, I never felt very safe putting too many rounds through it.

I traded it towards a stainless steel Colt Gold Cup, and I recovered all my costs that I had in the C96.

As an aside: I have a 1936 Luger with all matching serial numbers, and I have found that ammunition for it has to be loaded to the maximum of the loading tables, to cycle the pistol reliably.

Unlike my C96, my Luger looks like new inside, with beautifully machined, sharp edges on all the internal parts.

The exterior shows significant holster wear, but the barrel looks factory new inside.

This Luger must have been issued to someone who rarely, if ever, fired it during the war, or took exceptionally good care of it, as the barrel shows no signs of the pitting so common from corrosive ammunition from WWII.

It is wonderfully accurate at reasonable distances, despite the minuscule sights, and horrendous trigger pull.

It shoots tight little groups, low and to the left. I have no desire to try to move the front sight, and file it to hit to POA, though.

I fire the 75 year old Luger very seldom, as serial numbered parts are very hard to come by, should I break one.

Goldenlight. To each his own, I always say. But to me a gun that either won't shoot, or you are afraid to shoot, is like a car that won't run. It belongs in the junkyard.

The three guns at the range that ALWAYS get attention are my Broomie, Luger and Thompson. Mine is a mixmaster Bolo in .30 Mauser but it is a ball to shoot. Here is a nice pictiorial for disassembly/assembly:
Surplusrifle.com's Collecting and Shooting the Mauser c96 Broomhandle Pistol - HISTORY

PS this is my own Bolo on the mug!
http://www.cafepress.com/+mug,201575392

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Always bet on stupidity.

Armyphotog: It's what they call the 'recoil spring'. It's the long spring inside the bolt, that is coiled around the firing pin (not the little spring at the tip of the firing pin). Put a new one of thes in your pistol, and your failures to close should vanish.

It's a good idea to replace all of the springs in a C96 with a Wolff set if you're planning to shoot it. Also check the bolt stop very carefully with a magnifying glass for cracks. In fact, if you have a matching number bolt stop, you might consider picking up a replacement and using it for shooting.
(And don't be too upset if you need to replace the extractor at some point.)

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Cyrano, It's on order. I'll keep you posted.

I picked up one from China years ago. The old time Chinese seemed wild about them. all of there 7.65 Mauser/tokerov[sp] ammo is C-96 safe however is corrosive and neeeds cleaned up right away.
Cheep reloadable cases can be made from 5.56/223 cases. 1) full length size in mauser die, 2) hack off most of neck 3) Trim to length & ream neck to .308 or .311 [can be done in one step on a Forrester Trimmer] and reload. With a band saw and a drill powered trimmer I made about 200 unprimed cases an hour- in my haste i'd loose 5-10 in the trimming process. I always used military brass that the pimer crimp was removed from and had been reloaded 1 or 2 times.
There is very little rifleing in mine but Chinese [Norinco] shot 2-2 1/2 inches, the Russian not so well, worse than cast reloads about 6-8 inches at 100 feet.
In the era these were made, I belive the sights to be correct out to 1000 whatevers, as volly fire would be the norm, but I don't know if it would go through your coat at that distance??? A 1000 yards it only has 26.5 pounds of energy and mid range of over 3600 inches! and it got there 4 plus seconds after the rifle rounds, but you would be a part of the group action and close to the barn size target.
All and all a great gun to shoot and plink with. By the way, I used 223 strippers with 8 rounds in them to get by.

Thanks, armyphotog, I'd like to hear how it comes out. I think a new recoil spring will solve yur problem.

Cyrano, Springs arrived. I installed the recoil spring which was shorter by the way, that the one I pulled out. Rain has kept me from the range to check it out, but it is slamming shut with no delay, so I expect it to perform prefectly. Will try to shoot it before weekend. Had a little trouble getting it back together, but finally did. Not holding my mouth right, I guess.

Second question. the firing spring is longer than the one currently on the gun, and a warning from Wolff stating, "firing pin spring requires fitting to the firing pin for the correct firing pin protrusion." Do happen to know how I am susposed to determine the correct length? The current spring stops at about the tip of the pin.

Hurray!! It worked!! it worked!!
I've never checked firing pin protrusion, but I'd proceed as follows; push the firing pin as far forward as you can get it. You can do this with a small screwdriver in the slot at the rear of the firing pin. If it protrudes from the bolt face a reasonable amount (not less than the depth of the firing pin indent in a fired primer), it's OK. However, I would probably continue to use the original firing pin spring if it hasn't given you any trouble.

Cyrano, Fired 40 rounds, (4 clips) everything A-OK in the bolt return department. Thanks for the tip.

Now I am noticing a really whimpy trigger return. Have to take the finger completely off the trigger to get it to recycle. Does that mean I have a mainspring problem? (I hope not, because it looks almost impossible to get to.) Or, perhaps that's just the way it is suppose to be. (wishful thinking.)

The trigger spring is a flat spring and is easy to replace.
The problem will be in finding one. Numrich shows them currently sold out. Maybe some other supplier.
(They are a special shape but you might be able to file one out using the old one for a pattern.)

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Try ""The Broom Closet", They don't appear to have an e-mail but their phone # is 904 964-5053. Their price list shows the trigger return spring for $10. Deadin must know something I don't as I find it difficult to fiddle with the trigger return spring: it's at the bottom of the receiver, and best handled with long, needle nosed pliers. Perhaps you can just put some more bend in yours. The mainspring isn't hard to get out, but you need some muscle to do it, as the spring is pretty strong.

Found one in England for $25.50. Am waiting to hear from them to make sure is new and not used.

Couldn't get answers from England that satisfied me. Found one at SARCO, and have replaced it. It seems fine but still need to take it to the range to be certain. Will keep everyone posted.

Shoots like it is brand new. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice.