Broomhandled Mauser C96 Red 9

Jayne

Jayne

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
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Location
Ottawa
Hi all,

I am as giddy as a schoolboy. I just received my newest purchase, a 99 year old Broomhandled Mauser Red 9. I only received it in the mail yesterday, but already it is proving to be quite interesting.

I was fortunate to find this site:

http://askmisterscience.com/1896mauserbackup/index.html

Even before I received the pistol, I was able to determine from the pictures that my new pistol was part of the 1916 Prussian Contract (aka the Red 9s). It was later modified with a shortened barrel and had the adjustable sights removed and replaced with a fixed sight, making it a "1920 Rework". The serial number 40020 puts it at about 1/3 of the way through the contract, placing the manufacturing date in late 1916 or early in 1917.

Once I recieved the pistol, I was delighted to find some mysterious markings on the front of the magazine well. A little research led me with this site:

http://oldmilitarymarkings.com/police_unit_marks.html

From that site I was able to determine that after World War I, the pistol was assigned to the Prussian Police (Schutzpolizei). The markings are as follows:

S = Schutzpolizei
Mg = Magdeburg district
I = Schutzbereich I (roughly translates as precinct)
1 = Hundertschaft (police company)
67 = Waffe Nr. 67 (pistol number)

When I did some searching on that information, I came up with another pistol for sale just 22 numbers different from mine:

http://www.lot-tissimo.com/de/i/839...-kal-9-mm-para-nr-35284-nummerngleich-bis-auf

The description for that pistol translated through (slightly garbled) google reads:

Mauser C 96/16 , Reichswehr , police Weimar ( " 1920 Rework" )
Cal. 9 mm Para , no. 35284th number equal to the castle housing parts in equal number . Running slightly dull , length 96 mm . Fixed sight . Links inventoried the barrel housing with " 1920 " for the Reichswehr property . The front of the magazine well police inventory stamping " S.Mg.I.1.89 . " ( Police Magdeburg , the scope I , 1 hundred , weapon no. 89 ) . Original bluing with wear marks . Small and keypads blued. Same number walnut grip panels . Catching ring . Good to very good condition .
Shortened run by the Treaty of Versailles and sliding visor removed . A C 96/16 with an eventful history : German Empire , Reichswehr , police Weimar . subject to authorization
Condition: II
Click to expand...

I don't have any information on how the pistol made its way to Canada, but I am just excited to learn a little about its history.

I am planning to take it shooting on Saturday.

TTYL

- Jayne











 
Thats a very nice specimen of a C96 You got yourself a beauty. Thanks for providing the links, they have some very interesting reading .
 
Hi Horilka,

Yes.

The C96 is quite the pistol, it can be categorized as 12.2 (full auto), 12.3 (converted full auto), 12.6 (short barrelled pistol) and restricted. It just depends on the particular variant. In my case, the pistol's barrel was shortened to 3.9 inches to comply with the Versailles Treaty, making it a 12.6 short barrelled pistol, despite the fact that it is as large as most full sized pistols.

- Jayne
 
Hi all,

I took my C96 shooting yesterday, I thought I would give a follow up report.

Before taking the pistol out, I received a very kind e-mail from a concerned CGNer encouraging me to have the pistol checked out. Because of their age (and to certain extent their design) the pistols can fail. Specifically, the bolt stop can break off, allowing the bolt to fly out the back of the gun and injure the shooter.

The first thing I did was completely disassemble the pistol and inspect it for any broken or damaged parts. I made a specific point to closely inspect the bolt stop. It is an original (the serial numbers match) and appears to be in very good condition. There was no evidence of peening or cracking. So, I felt safe to proceed without sending it to a gunsmith first.

During disassembly, I noticed several things.

1) The firing pin appears to be a recent replacement. It is noticeably different, in colour and look, to the other parts. Also, the front 10% of the shaft is quite tight when passing through the bolt stop, once that section is through the bolt stop the rest moves freely.

2) The sear (?) does not appear to be original to the gun. It has a different serial number. It fits quite loosely.

3) The leaf spring that fits into the sear seems to be short by perhaps a 1/8 or a 1/16.

4) The pistol was completely dry, which makes sense. The person I purchased it from said that it had been owned by an elderly gentleman and may not have been fired for a while.

5) The rifling was worn, again, not surprising on a 99 year old gun. The barrel showed a lot of carbon when I cleaned it.

6) There is no real finish left on the gun. It has a brown, rust like patina. The finishing is crude and very workmanlike. However, it has more serial numbering than any gun I have ever seen. Every major part is serial numbered.

So, after a thorough cleaning and inspection, I took it to the range with a friend. I ensured that we had a first aid kit on hand and the vehicle was backed it for a quick trip to the hospital if this thing blew up in my hand.

We took it very slow. I used 115 grain Seller & Bellot ammunition. One round only for the first trial, then two, then two more, then five and five and finally my friend shot ten rounds.

Results:

1) The gun did not function reliably.

1a) The first type of failure was failure to cycle the cartridge all the way into the chamber and lock. I believe this is probably due to old, weak springs. Replacing the springs with new Wolf springs is recommended. I will be doing this. During our shoot we had to manually assist the bolt into battery before shooting.

1b) The second type of failure was failure to reliably fire when the trigger was pulled. I overcame this by pulling the hammer back an extra 1/4 inch manually to "set" the sear. I believe this was caused by the replacement sear and short leaf spring mentioned in 2 and 3 above. Overall the trigger feel was very spongy with no real "feel" or take up. The gun did not fire until the trigger was about 98% through its range of movement.

2) The pistol had a very wide spread at 25m. We were shooting at an IDPA target. Shots at the same point of aim were sometimes a foot apart. Some of this could have been from me, the sights are poor (a tiny V at the back and a massive house shaped fore post), but I think the worn barrel might have been to fault too.

3) The grip is poor. This is part of the design. Holding the broom handle is ok, but you hand tends to creep up. The area either side of the takedown catch is very square with only a slight round over. If your grip is too high, the edges will dig into the web of your hand.

4) The stripper clips work, but are difficult. I purchased some original stripper clips to go with the pistol. The were tight and required some oiling and pushing some rounds through them multiple times to loosen them up. Placing the clip into the guide and forcing the rounds into the fixed magazine was not easy. I cannot imagine doing this under pressure in combat or in the mud of a trench. I am glad fixed magazines did not become the norm.

Overall:

It was an exciting day and I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to fire this piece of history. I fired 15 rounds, my friend fired 10. Out of 25 rounds, we probably had about 20 stoppages! I will definitely be taking the pistol for a full overhaul and rebuild.

I would like to use this gun as a shooter. It will never be super accurate, but as long as it fires reliably, I think it will be a fun gun and a great conversation starter at the range.

TTYL

- Jayne
 
I have a Restricted C96 in 7.63 Mauser. Mine functioned perfectly from day one but wasn't very accurate with the surplus 7.63 Mauser ammo that came with it. The barrel still had rifling and a good crown but was noticeably worn and frosted / pitted. I slugged the barrel and found that it was so worn that the original diameter bullet was too small. I cast some soft lead projectiles and unsized they were a couple thousandths larger than the surplus projectiles so I reloaded with those and worked up a load. My C96 is now shooting very nicely and accuracy is excellent. I was worried that leading of the barrel may be a problem but that hasn't been the case at all.

I don't know if you reload but if you do you might want to try slugging the barrel and measuring to see if a slightly larger projectile would be of benefit. I would also recommend the use of soft lead projectiles over jacketed ones to improve obturation and increase barrel life.
 
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