Chinese 9mm Broomhandle

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Redcoat3340

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0118171613[1].jpg 0118171613b[1].jpg 0118171613[1].jpg I can't imagine anyone in the gun world doesn't want a 96 "Mauser" broomhandle in the safe and on the firing line. I mean, talk about iconic.

I know I was looking at them 30 years ago and never bought one.

Well, there's one in my LGS and it's almost affordable. Of course, it's Chinese. But still.....

I have no earthly idea about these and will spend the evening cuddling up with the Google.

But I thought I'd ask here and see if I can get some help.

It's clearly Chinese. In very good condition. Missing the magazine? . Refinished? But nicely it would appear.

Here's some pics. Anyone know what the symbols mean?

Price is under $1,000 but if mags cost $200 (LGS estimate) it's gonna be right around a grand....without my asking for a break (I'm a pretty good customer there). (Are there "mags" for this. I didn't think so, I always thought they loaded like a rifle...stuff the bullets in the top one by one or user a stripper clip. But the guy in the store says the mag is missing. Beats me for now.

So, H E L P ! What is this thing? What is it worth? Should I be even tempted. (It would look good next to my Swedish "Lahti.")
 

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IIRC, back in the day a warlord in the Shansei Province was so impressed with the Broomhandle that he ordered his armorers to make one...I have one in .45 ACP; I think had one in 9mm too, but it's been too long ago. There's a magazine on Gunbroker for $150, and another for $250... If it had the mag, I'd tell you to go get it, but without the magazine...I don't know. Wish I could be of more assistance.

Sam
 
Thanks to all who helped. I did a bunch of research last night and I think the gun is a modern (sort of) Chinese made pistol imported in the 90's by Navy Arms and labeled the TU-177.

It indeed had a magazine (10 or 20 rounds) may or may not have combined new and old parts, was advertised heavily in the old Shotgun News and now are hard to find.

Because this one comes without any mags, parts are impossible to find, some folks say they are great and safe to shoot and others say differently, and because if I make that sort of considerable investment ($1,000 is a bunch of dough for me) I want something more than a curiosity. Sooooo.....

Gonna look at a Walther PPQ M2. I really like the my Walther P99 AS so I think I'll consider its replacement.

Again, many thanks to all who commented....much appreciated.
 
Personally, I would rather have the original Mauser, although they have recently gone up dramatically in price. You can still find parts too if you scour the internet. I don't know if the inner mechanisms are the same. If not, you will never find parts if they break.
I have seen extended magazines for the Mausers (20 round) which are somehow inserted from the bottom by removing the floor plate, spring, and follower. From your pics, it appears the area where the Mauser floor plate is normally located is different.

Did the gun shop know where the Chinese magazines can be purchased? If not, you could wind up with a single-shot or worse a wallhanger.
 
I have seen extended magazines for the Mausers (20 round) which are somehow inserted from the bottom by removing the floor plate, spring, and follower. From your pics, it appears the area where the Mauser floor plate is normally located is different.


I thought there were different models, with the ones imported post war to the US having the full auto receivers replaced with semi-auto only receivers and detachable magazines by design, not by adapting. IIRC they have a magazine catch button built into the frame, unlike those that had an internal magazine.


.
 
The Chinese "Box" pistols in .45 ACP should only be used with reduced loads. Many of these pitols have fractured with Milsurp .45 ACP. The .45 Box/Broomhandles are going as high as $4,000. Too expensive to blow up. I have never seen a Chinese 9MM Broom?
I would try to find a C-96 Mauser if you want a shooter. I prefer the C-96 in the 7.63 Mauser. It is a 7.62X25 with lighter load. These are some that I shoot. The 4" "Bolo" was re-chambered to a 9MM.:thumbup:

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I have a Red Nine, but it is a German C-96. That Chinese one is really cool!
 
These are all Mauser pistols. The 4" 9MM was popular with the Russian Communist during the 1918 Russian revolt. The Communist were called Bolsheviks/or Reds. The C-96s used by the Bolsheviks/Reds were nick named "Bolo" pistols.o_O
 
Mauser sold some C96s to the Chinese. A lot of these were imported into the US back in the 60's or 70's. As I understand, they were refurbished somewhat and changed from 7.63X25 to 9mm and sold to the public. These will be stamped on the right side with Chinese symbols which I read meant "Made In Germany", but since I don't know Chinese it might say "Xuan's Pawn Shop"! All it would take is to buff out the Chinese and slap on a set of repro grips and voila you have an authentic fake "Red 9".
 
I have been buying Mauser Brooms for many years. They were copied and produced in many places. I have stayed with the Mauser produced C 96 Brooms. It simply became to complex separating the Sheep from the Goats.:D
 
I have one of these, ordered from EMF, I think, back in about 2000 or 2001 for something around $500.00, more or less. It didn't work really well at first, and a trip back to EMF didn't help much, but a new Wolff spring kit (a real pain to install) and a little polishing on the magazine and feed ramp did the job. Now it works quite well and is a fun gun to shoot.
 
Must correct an earlier comment. I dug through my C96s and found my Chinese expatriot. The Chinese symbols will be on the left side of the magazine, down near the floor plate.
 
China was one of the largest markets for Mauser products in the late 19th and early 20th century centuries. Arms were needed not only by the "official" army and police but also by the armies maintained by the various "warlords" who really held power in that divided country. Eventually, some of the larger factions bought western machinery and established their own arms factories. Others made guns by more primitive means, sometimes not much above the hacksaw and file system we usually associate with the shops of the southern areas.

FWIW, the word "bolshevik" in Russian just means "large" or "big" (the Bolshoi ballet is the "big" ballet) or, in politics, the majority. Since the Communists were a "majority" in the parliament, they took over the government and the term came to mean the Communists or the Communist leadership in general. Hence, the short-barrel Mauser C-96 pistol often preferred by the Reds was called the "Bolo" Mauser, a shortening of the word "Bolshevik".. AFAIK, there is no connection, except as a kind of slang, to pistols or revolvers carried by soldiers whose main "armament". was a "bolo" or short machete used for cutting a path through the jungle, or as a weapon..

Jim
 
Oh doppy me.

Here this half century I was told and believed that the "Bolo" mausers were the ones having the more flattened bottom to the grip who's out line does strongly resemble the handle of a philapine short "Bolo" machete that Americans were VERY familar with before the revolution of 1917 and called such before the November Revolution. The selection process for the Reds of that particualar style of pistol consisted of the Naval stores /arsenal of St. Petersberg being turned over to the Reds when the Imperial Russian Navy stationed in St. Petersberg mutinied after the horror of the slaughter of the "Octoberists".

Are we not to discuss the difference between cone hammer and ring hammer C-96s?

Muzzle ring verses slim barrel?

Fixed magazine verses removable?

Flat side........

While in Europe I breifely had a magazine extention that was a 20 round box that replaced the floor plate of a fixed magazine C-96. It was not inteneded to be removed once installed and was loaded by 10 round strippers. I regret the discission to let it go as it was not in the best condition finish wise, but would have been nice to have looking back on it. It was of the same heavy construction as the receiver of the C96 rather than folded thin metal. it was just an extension and only functioned to hold ammunition when affixed to the gun.

I do not currently own any C96 pistols, clones, or mimics.

I once saw a Chinese crate of the .45ACP Chinese "police" guns in a gunshop in San Fancisco CA and had a very tough time talking myself out of spending all the vacation money on day two of a week long trip. They were not in a barrel but in a fitted crate with individual cells of each gun. I would not mind having to load "match" loads for a minimum cycle with issue springs in a 1911 to use in a .45ACP C96-ish at all.

I would not mind having one of the Oyster Bay reworks in either 7.62 or 9x19mm.

They always make me think of Winston Churchill and a much later comic book character "Jon Sable, Freelance" and his creator Mike Grell. If I ever own a Goldwing Studebaker, I have to have a C96 for a car gun........

-kBob
 
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