mauser broom handle

[raiden654]

at first i thought this gun was fake.i saw the gun in resident evil 4(video game)then i was watching speed racer last night and saw the gun.then i did a little research on it and decided it would be nice to own a working one. thought i'm short on cash and the economys going to so i probobly wont be able to get one even if i had the cash.(would have to spend cash on other things)i want to know if anyone has actually shot this gun before and i would like their opionion on it.

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.

Surprisingly good shooters, considering it was designed over a century ago.

It's greatest handicap is the method of loading using stripper clips through the action.

And of course, it's looks, which are very odd by modern standards.

rcmodel

 

[GrandmasterB]

Good shooters, and very high on the "cool factor" scale.

 

[wulf]

I remember when Fed Ord had a barrel full of them

for around 100 per. They were the dregs deemed unworthy of restoration but they were complete. Most of the C96's in this country were imported from China where they were used for decades. China purchased them from Mauser and they have Chinese markings on them in addition to the Mauser Werke stampings. Most have been extreemly uses and few have Any rifling left in the bore. There are companies that have been refurbishing these by welding on a new barrel (9mm or 30 Mauser) or relining the barrel. These have Zero collectors value.

 

[cluttonfred]

If it's good enough for Han Solo...

 

[onebigelf]

I always wanted the "Han Solo Model..."


John

 

[raiden654]

do any of you know if there is any company that seels fully functional replicas that can use like 9mm bullets or something like that

 

[Vaarok]

It's called a "Red Nine", because the original Broomhandle C96 pistols were in .30 Mauser, which is the same casing as the 9mm, but necked down to fire a .30cal bullet. In 1908, they decided the .30 Mauser was crappy, and straight-walled the case to make 9mm Parabellum.

They converted a lot of the .30 cal pistols, and made new ones in the new 9mm chambering, and to make sure nobody screwed up and put a .30 Mauser round in the wrong gun they carved a big number nine on the grips and filled it in with red paint.

They're not uncommon pistols, and not too terribly expensive in either caliber if you just want a shooter- collector guns are a whole nother matter, though. The one thing is .30 Mauser ammo is fairly pricey, so a lot of people use 7.62 Tokarev... Not particularly recommended, but people do it.

 

[6_gunner]

The Mauser broomhandle has always spoken to me. I don't understand why the design never caught on. Since the grip doesn't have a magazine crammed in it, it could be made as ergonomic as a revolver. My preference for revolvers stems at least partly from the fact that they fit my hand better than any auto.

Anyway, Broomhandles command a similar price to Lugers. They're not terribly expensive, but still a lot of money for somebody on a budget. Probably upward of $1,000 for a decent one. Shortened Bolo models seem to go for a little bit less. .30 Mauser ammo is expensive and not very plentiful, but that would be the only setback to shooting one.

I've never shot one, but I've heard that they're quite accurate and extremely reliable (probably due partly to the bottlenecked cartridge). Not bad for the first succesful auto pistol!

Astra made a copy which can be found for cheaper than the real deal. I believe I saw one for $500, once. I've heard that China copied it, too. I'm not sure about the price of those.

To my knowledge, nobody makes a modern replica. Its a complicated pistol. I would guess that to make a replica comparable to the real thing, it would have to cost as much as a minty original. It wouldn't be economical.

 

[highlander 5]

The machining required to make a Broomhandle would make a new pistol very expensive. Remember there was only one screw in the pistol and that held the grips on. Several years ago a gentleman made a modern versions of the Luger in 45 acp made a run of 1000 pistols and as I recall got $10,000 each. I had a Broomhandle Mauser 30 cal biggest problem was the rear sight kept coming loose as in falling off.

 

[Famaldehide Face]

It would be nice if the C96 could be remade in the .30 Carbine round or .357 Magnum. The .45 Shansei Broomhandle was well the best one ever made.

 

[PotatoJudge]

Here you go, Red Nine for $2000:

http://collectorsfirearms.com/admin/product_details.php?itemID=24677

Got a lot of good things on sale, stranger.

 

[SNEAKY PETE]

Old Sneaky here: About 20 years ago my wife bought me one in 9mm with all matching numbers and it was and still is "Cherry". When I do shoot it the rear of the trigger guard kind of smaks me in the fingers BUT who cares!!! I use it as a demonstrator in my NRA --"Firearm Safety in the Home" classes cuz it's kind of tricky to unload(using dummy rounds of course). and I perfer to 1st empty the magazine thru the bottom and then jack the chambered round.
For the little housewife it's easier than jacking the slide 10 times. OBTW from what I understand the term"BOLO-9" referred to the Bolschaviks(sp?) shorter barreled 9mm C-96--but who knows??? THANX--SNEAKY

 

[Jim K]

The 9mm Parabellum was developed by opening out the 7.65 Parabellum (.30 Luger), not the 7.63/.30 Mauser. Mauser did expand the 7.63 case to 9mm, but the result was the 9mm Mauser (9x25 or 9.08x25), a longer cartridge than the 9x19 or 9mm Parabellum.

The "Red Nine" was never a commercial product. It was made only on contract for the German army in WWI and chambered in their standard caliber, the 9mm 1908, the German army nomenclature for the 9x19 or 9mm Parabellum. The red 9 on the grips was to indicate that the pistol was NOT in 7.63, as most Mausers seen in Germany at that time were in that caliber. (Pistols made in 9mm Mauser were mostly for export.)

The original "Red Nines" are rather rough, befitting wartime production.

FWIW, caution needs to be exercised when buying a Red Nine, since there are many fakes, mostly made up from Chinese guns imported several years ago. Some importers rebored and re-rifled the guns, or installed new barrels for the 9mm P, since 7.63 Mauser (.30 Mauser) is expensive. That was perfectly OK, but then some folks decided to install fake "red nine" grips and pass the guns off as original Red Nines.

Jim

 

[Speedo66]

OK, someone has to repeat it.

This was the gun that Winston Churchill carried through the Boer War and is said to have saved his life.

I've shot one, a 9MM WWII souvenir, and it was cool in a very mechanical, machined way.

 

[raiden654]

jeez i want one so bad it seems like its good by modern standards 2 aside from the way its loaded

 

[Famaldehide Face]

The C96 is one of my faves from the pistol range, the "Broomhandle Carbine" is a unique variant.



Although the weapons on the link below are deactivated, it holds the nicest gun images.
http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/detail/C96_carbine.htm

 

[rcmodel]

jeez i want one so bad

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=8606007

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=8059236

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=8812794

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=8667007

rcmodel

 

[4v50 Gary]

As a child,

the C96 Broomhandle was the very first handgun I ever wanted. In college, I bought a large ring, flat-side one that was made circa 1899. The dealer afterward told me that he would have asked a lot more if he had seen the book that I had brought in before buying it. It showed that mine was a very early gun that was probably an overrun from the Italian Navy Contract. I fired it once and found it was very accurate.

I fired one with a shoulder stock in Germany and found that I got hammer-bite from it. That particular gun was a small ring hammer model in 9mm. Without the shoulder stock on it, it shot fine and there was no bite.

 

[raiden654]

did someone say they were bought by the chinese? i found a one with chinese markings on it at a gunshop. it was in piss poor condidtion. i told the guy i would buy it for a nickle and he called me a cheapass

 

[rcmodel]

You are.

Everyone knows even a Chinese Broomhandle is worth at least a quarter!

did someone say they were bought by the chinese?

You obvously didn't even read the answers to your OP we bothered to post for you. :banghead:

Look at the third link in post #18 for a Chinese broomhandle.

rcmodel

 

[Sunray]

"...bought by the Chinese..." The Chinese have used everything over the years.
"....30 Mauser ammo is expensive..." Not so bad, now, at $18.79 per 50 from Midway. Prvi-Partisan. $36.99 per 50 for Fiocchi. 85 and 88 grain FMJs respectively. Dies aren't horribly expensive either. $52.39 for Redding. Bullets aren't expensive either.
Mind you, you still have to find a pistol in decent condition. The last 'Red Nine' I saw, long ago, was in poor condition and the guy wanted $1100Cdn as I recall.

 

[rfurtkamp]

None of them are cheap any more, even the beater Chinese.

I got a non-refinished 1920ish commercial (hard to find, even if it's a 5% finish gun, these days) Bolo in 7.63 a few years back, it was the last gun on my 'always wanted one of these' along with a MP5K.

Mine shoots high without the shoulder stock. With the stock, it's dead on at 50-100m and is scary.



It's literally two different guns with the stock or as a pistol - different grips, different safety concerns with hammer bite, etc. Finish is extremely faded on mine, pictures don't do what's left justice, but the rifling is near 100%, a real rarity on these guns. Once blueing starts to go on these guns, it's gone fast, period blue wasn't very durable.

As a handgun, it's atrocious, but so were most of the guns at the time. I can manage center of mass shots at social ranges but it took a *lot* of practice to get there.

As a period carbine when it was new in the 1890s, give me 10 on tap with stripper clips and firesuperiority to just about anything out there that was individual-user-capable.

It is a work of art though, the internals are like taking apart a beautifully made watch.

I don't shoot it much, but it's probably one of my favorite guns to 'have' even if not to shoot.

Expect even a shooter variant to hurt you for 1k these days.

They aren't getting any cheaper though.

 

[raiden654]

hmmm wow i geuss i not gonna buy one then not like i had the money to begin with.so are there any other guns styled like the red9 or mauser broomhandle

 

[rklessdriver]

I wanted one really bad too. Ever since I first saw Clint use on in that 60's Western movie. I bought mine about 10 yrs ago. Back then it was one of the many surplus C96 M-30's that were comming into the country. I rember it cost me about $250.00 then and considering what most were going for at that time, I got a pretty good deal.



It's been rusted, pitted and arsenal refinned somewhere in the third world. The bore is dark but the lands and groves are strong, typical of C96's. I'm sure its got one hell of a history. I've shot it a few times over the years and its real accurate but the sights are regulated more like a rifle or carbine than a pistol.

I'm NOT advocating the parctice but I've used both surplus .30 Mauser and 7.62X25 Tokarev ammo in mine (only Norinco 7.26X25). The Czech 7.62X25 surplus ammo that was availaible a while ago is quite a bit hotter than the Chinese stuff and could damage a C96. Since neither are readily availiable now, If I shoot it again it'll be with Privi .30 Mauser since it's everywhere and reasonable $$$ wise.

These days my Broomhandle see's me showing it off to folks more than me actually shooting it.
Will