New-to-Me Mauser C96 Broomhandle

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Dave Markowitz

Dave Markowitz

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I picked up this Mauser C96 "Wartime Commercial," made probably about 1915 - 1917, at a gun show yesterday. The caliber is 7.63x25 Mauser. It was supposedly a WW2 bring back and came from a high-end York, PA collection.

The original blueing is in excellent shape and the serial numbers on the barrel extension, frame, and bolt match. The bore is excellent. There is still some of the original fire blueing on the rear sight leaf and it's basically intact on the extractor. There is still some old grease visible in the bolt and the hammer recess. I haven't taken it down yet. (This is my second Broomhandle, so I've done it before.)

The stock which is in excellent shape is original, but not matching. Since it's an original German stock, BATFE doesn't consider the gun to be an SBR when it's attached. (I have an email from Tech Branch, addressed to me, to this effect.) The stock has some pretty nice grain on the left side and its even visible inside the stock where it's cutout to hold the pistol.

The attachment of the stock to the grip frame is solid, with no wobble. Out of curiosity I attached it to my other, much more well worn Broomhandle, and the fit on that gun is sloppy.

I have some original stripper clips (it loads like a Mauser rifle into the 10 round magazine ahead of the trigger guard) and a few hundred rounds of Prvi Partisan 7.63 Mauser ammo. Damn skippy I'm going to shoot it after I verify that the locking block is in good shape. On my other Wartime Commercial C96 I replaced all the springs and this one is still more difficult to cock. Because it appears that the gun has seen very little use I'm going to hold off on replacing any springs.

Without getting into specifics, the cost was reasonable for the condition of the gun and stock.

C96-stocked-left.jpg


C96-left.jpg


C96-stocked-right.jpg


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C96-serials.jpg


I've wanted a Broomhandle in shootable condition since I was a kid in the '70s, even before I saw Han Solo use a tarted-up C96 to wax Greedo in Star Wars.

As an aside, picking this up made even more annoyed at the NFA with respect to Short Barreled Rifles. When put in the stock it fit completely into my Maxpedition Baby Condor pack. A modern stocked pistol would be so handy for backpacking or taking as an "in-case" gun on road trips.
 
Very nice score. SInce I live in a non-SBR state (although we can own pre-papered C&R SBS and SBRs here but they are impossible to find!), what are the implications of putting that stock on? Does it become an SBR with the stock?
 
The letter I got from ATF said that, since the original C96 Mauser is likely to be owned as a collectors item and not as a weapon, it will be treated as a Title I (1968 GCA) handgun with an original stock or accurate reproduction of an original stock. Title II (1934 NFA) rules on SBR do not apply.

If a C96 Mauser is not original (some Chinese imports had newly made frames from parts sets), Title II (1934 NFA) rules on SBR do apply whether the stock is original or not.

If the stock is a modern design that is not an accurate repro of an original, Title II (1934 NFA) rules on SBR do apply whether the pistol is original or not.

That's federal. My home state defers to federal law on Title II NFA weapons. Since CA has state laws against SBRs, it would be best to find a CA lawyer who knows federal and state law on this.
 
Can't get a pistol with a more steampunked look than a broom handled Mauser, love it. Friend's father had a bringback and we used to shoot it. Great, cool looking, mechanical looking piece of history.

Good luck with yours.
 
Nice find. Most Broomhandles I've seen are no where near the condition yours is.
 
Nice score. That is a beautiful C96 and stock. I am sure you will enjoy shooting it and showing it to your friends.
 
Carl N. Brown said:
The letter I got from ATF said that, since the original C96 Mauser is likely to be owned as a collectors item and not as a weapon, it will be treated as a Title I (1968 GCA) handgun with an original stock or accurate reproduction of an original stock. Title II (1934 NFA) rules on SBR do not apply.

...
Click to expand...

One of the problems with the BATFE's guidance on whether you can use a replica stock on a Broomhandle with Form 1ing the gun is that it's been inconsistent. Carl got a letter saying it's OK. On the other hand, I received an email from the Tech Branch saying that a replica stock is not legal to use without Form 1ing it as an SBR.
 
I enjoying shooting the Mauser Brooms. The old 7.63X25 round is impressive. The 7.62X25 is to risky to fire in these classic handguns. There is some high pressure machine gun ammo out there.
I bought 1,000 rounds of 7.62X25 pulled and reduced the powder and replaced the bullets. They worked out OK.

IMG_0287.JPG
 
My letter is postmarked 3 Jan 2003 signed by Curtis H.A. Bartlett, Chief, Firearms Technology Branch, and includes:.
"ATF has previously determined that Mauser Model 1896 pistols with reproduction stocks, which duplicate or closely approximate the originals, have also been removed from the provisions of the NFA. Copies of the Mauser pistol using frames of recent manufacture, with shoulder stocks, are still subject to the NFA."
Original Mauser pistol was defined as "all semiautomatic German mfd variations produced prior to 1940, any caliber". Mine is ser num 107xxx pre-WWI commercial. It is not as pristine as the opening poster's pistol :envy:
I keep a copy of the letter in the gun case I take to the range but so far no one has asked. ATF has been known to change their minds.

A Mauser pistol with an M4 adjustable shoulder stock and one point sling would be clearly not owned as a collectible, but as a weapon.
 
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Did you get that at the Harrisburg show? I am in PA also. Many years ago I bought a refurbed C-96 as a shooter. It is a very interesting pistol! Nice score, that's a beauty!
 
What a gorgeous old pistol. I am jealous. Please let us know how it shoots!
 
Pilot said:
Did you get that at the Harrisburg show? I am in PA also. Many years ago I bought a refurbed C-96 as a shooter. It is a very interesting pistol! Nice score, that's a beauty!
Click to expand...

I got it at the Oaks show this past Saturday, and thanks.
 
Dog Soldier, those are myths that have been debunked time and time again. Tokarev ammo is NOT loaded to higher pressures than Mauser ammo, actually, during WWII the German ammo was loaded MUCH hotter. From Small Arms of the World, by Smith & Smith:

7.62X25 1390 FPS from a Tokarev 85 Gr bullet
7.63 Mauser 1575 FPS from a C-96 Same bullet weight.

The Mauser's barrel is 1" longer.....but that's not going to account for the nearly 200 FPS difference. Today, with better powders, the Tok round is pushing 1650 out of that 4 1/2" barrel another 50 out of my Mauser's. By the way, when I tried reducing the charge on some Polish surplus Tok ammo by 15%......my C-96 started short stroking and stove piping. If that worked on your gun, you probably had weak springs.

Subgun ammo in either 7.62 or 7.63 does not exist and never has. The vaunted CZ-52 ammo was never loaded to higher pressures that the other Warsaw Pact nations ammo....Russia did not allow it. If it had more velocity it was because of better powders, not higher pressures. Lyman's 49th reloading handbook treats both rounds as interchangeable.

Dave, that's a great find. I have a couple of Broomies myself, a shooter and a 99+ % gun that was apparently never fired after proof testing.

I can give you two pieces of advice. If you gun checks out OK, go ahead and fire all the 7.62X25 Tokarev ammo you want, it won't strain the gun. My shooter C-96 has ate thousands of surplus and commercial 7.62X25, near 4000 by actual count. So many I need to re-line the barrel. Broomies are enormously strong. Everyone seems to forget they were chambered, briefly, for the 9X25 Mauser round, which made the 38 Super look puny.

Number two is this: Do not ever drop the gun while it is in the wooden holster because the holster will almost certainly crack.

Good shooting !
 
That is one cherry Broom ! Congratulation I've never owned one that clean. The last one I had was an Oyster Point (by Mauser factory trained smiths) rebuild to 9mm and detachable magazine and I put it in a Dragon Carved repro stock and it was stunning. I bet I got what you paid for your really good investment ! :) Any way I was worried in CA about the BATFE repro stock thing as that is what the state goes on. So I invested in this real Chinese Contract Canadian HP and Canadian original stock. It is MY traveling companion as you described. It is much more accurate than I expected and I have Ca. approved 10 round Meggar mags for it and it runs flawlessly :)
011-4.jpg
 
Very nice! The only C96s I see around here look like battlefield relics with 0 blueing and tons of pitting.
 
tark said:
Dog Soldier, those are myths that have been debunked time and time again. Tokarev ammo is NOT loaded to higher pressures than Mauser ammo, actually, during WWII the German ammo was loaded MUCH hotter. From Small Arms of the World, by Smith & Smith:

...

Good shooting !
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I will quibble on the generalization that 7.62 Tokarev isn't loaded any hotter than 7.63 Mauser. It depends on the particular ammo. For example, I also have this Broomhandle, which has a shot-out bore:

C96.jpg


I shot some PPU 7.63 Mauser ammo in it and it would not cycle reliably; I kept getting failures to eject. I then tried a magazine or two full of some Yugoslavian surplus 7.62x25. It was noticeably hotter based on recoil and muzzle flip, and the gun did actually function as a semiauto.

While I have no doubt that the C96 is stronger than commonly regarded nowadays I see no need to run hot ammo through it just to punch holes in paper. I'll stick with 7.63 Mauser, and AAMOF, I ordered 500 rounds of PPU 7.63 from Midway today.
 
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