c96 mauser pistol "broomhandle" or "bolo"

S

shiroikuma

New member
Anyone used one? I see that some chinese made copies are for sale (not new) in .45 and 9mm. I am wondering just how much fun they are? I have always thought that the Mauser pistol was the coolest looking gun ever. I have never fired one allas or evern touched one in the flesh.

Anyone want to share some experiences?

Hopefully

Shiro

PS I did a search and found almost nothing
 
They may look neat, but they are not a very good gun for practical purposes. The grip is designed to tear up the hand even with the 9mm or 7.63mm round; with the .45 it is wicked. The gun is big, heavy and awkward to boot, again with the .45 being more so. With the shoulder stock, they are not a bad short barrelled carbine, being easier on the ears (if unprotected) than a shoulder stocked Hi-Power or .45 Colt, as the stock and barrel are longer so the muzzle is further from the ears.

All of that being true, they are great collector items, and if you can afford the tab I recommend buying the .45 version. They are impressive and OK for limited shooting. I don't quite trust the Chinese quality of that era enough to put the guns through a lot of use. For that matter, I don't recommend the original German Mausers for extensive shooting; the metal is old, the gun is not the world's greatest design, and broken parts are very tough to replace.

Jim
 
I have shot both the standard and the bolo, with and without the stocks and they are fun to play with. A 100 year old designis not my favorite range toy but they do turn heads when you take then to the range.
 
They are a large gun to pack but they will put out the fire power with the stripper clips. Very positive controls and they function and function,they are very reliable and can be maintained by a sheep almost. A C-96 is like a 98 mauser, out dated, not the best design, heavy but works and works. Probably the only thing that will take more abuse than a 1911 and still go. As Jeff Cooper said "it was a very good gun in 1896 and still is a very good gun now". And on the down side all the .45 versions are made in China so not so good on that cal. They do not tear up your hand and are a delight to shoot as they point on target very well. They are old and parts are almost as expensive as custom colt parts is the bad part.:):) And if the 10 rounds in the mag wont take them down it will make a very good club.:):)
 
Golly, Radom, I didn't know I was disagreeing with the famous and always right (in any meaning of the term) Jeff Cooper. I would say that the C96 Mauser was not a very good gun in 1896 (the Borchardt was better, though its cartridge was not as powerful) and is worthless today as a practical gun. You are correct that firepower can be put out with stripper clips, but loading without them is difficult as there is no bolt latch and you have to hold the bolt open by hand while loading. Not impossible, but tricky. As to being hard on the hand, I guess that is a matter of the hand. My grip is not that strong and it bothers me, but as in other cases, some people may have no problem with it.

I don't think there is a valid comparison with the the Mauser 1898. The rifle was a developed design, building on previous successes. The C96 pistol was a one shot, not a developed design, and little effort was ever made to improve it. It was a design dead end.

As for metal quality, I mention only that a friend carries a scar on his forehead where the back part of a C96 bolt hit him after glancing off the frame of his shooting glasses.

But then, who am I to argue with JC? (Not the original "JC", just the guy who seems to sometimes get himself confused with the original.)

Understand, I am NOT discussing collectibility. As with Lugers, I would love to have a bushel basket full of the old Mausers. But I think I would choose something a little more modern if I were in harm's way.

Jim
 
Hmmm. Well to adress some points. I'm not going to carry it under my shirt..Little big for that... It's just a really neat looking gun. The ones I was looking at are supposedly mauser top ends and internals with a semi auto reciever or frame to replace the full auto one they originally were. I'm not sure of the semi reciever is mauser or a copy. These come with removable clips (1-10 rounder and 1-20 rounder).

As to safety, I think after reading about these old mausers I would buy a new bolt stop and new springs at least before I shot it much. These are definatly not collectors guns as the 9mm has been rechambered too. I understand the hammer spring is what slows the bolt down like a slide spring on a 1911 so you definatly want a GOOD one of those.

shiro
 
On a friend's gun, I got hammer bites when the shoulder-stock was affixed to it.

When shooting my own (7.62 Mauser), I found that while it shot high (2") at 25 yards, it shot a nice tight group. They are nifty guns and even Winston Churchill carried one (it's still in their family).
 
Gee, I'm letting my GEEK shine through, but I've always wanted the "Han Solo Blaster" :D
Where can I get one of these?

han_blaster1.jpg
 
Hi Jim K... uh...

concerning your discussion with Radom about JC...

I thought for a minute you were describing Dr. Laura.

;)
 
Hi, Shiroikuma,

The hammer spring on the C96 does resist bolt movement to some extent, like the hammer spring on any other hammer type auto pistol, but the recoil spring is in the bolt. It bears against the bolt stop which goes into but not through the receiver. The bolt stop is not a very solid arrangement, and one of the minor drawbacks of the design is that the gun can be fired without its being in place.

Another weakness is the amount of machining of the bolt, making it a weaker arrangement than it appears.

I think it worthy of note that, though it has been used all over the world, no nation, except China, adopted the C96 as its standard service pistol. Churchill's use of the Mauser was in the Boer war, when there were few other auto pistols available; IMHO, there are better ones now.

Jim

Jim
 
My $.02:

Mine was a 1930's German commercial production, all matching serial numbers, but it had been refinished which made it a shooter.

It shot fine. Pointed naturally, like a Colt SAA. Had a level of fit and finish that I've seen on no other gun; I mean, this thing was put together like a Swiss watch. Precise machining, no tool marks anywhere inside or out, mirror-like bearing surfaces. OTOH, the level of quality on the 2 Chinese-made .45 Broomhandles I've had the displeasure of tinkering with was uniformly the worst I'd ever seen. One of them would not fire semiautomatic, no matter what, due to the rough machining on the bolt; it was essentially a manually operated repeater. The customer who had just shelled out roughly a grand for the thing was less than pleased, so we ordered a replacement. It was worse.
 
My Model 96 is an early imported pistol with the US importers markings on it. It shoots quite well with good ammunition.
As Tamara just said "Had a level of fit and finish that I've seen on no other gun; I mean, this thing was put together like a Swiss watch. Precise machining, no tool marks anywhere inside or out, mirror-like bearing surfaces."
and she's right.
 
The mainspring (hammer spring) on the Mauser is responsible for providing much more of the resistance to recoil than on just about any other firearm. Not only does the rear of the upper receiver cam against the hammer, but the other end of the hammer spring pushes forward on the locking block to hold the receiver in its forward position.

This is not to say that the recoil spring is unimportant, but the mainspring is even moreso.
 
I had a matching #s Red 9 years ago.

Not the greatest for combat reloads but a fun gun. It did try to chamber my thumb once when I was loading it.:) I wish I still had it but I wouldn`t shoot it.
 
loading without them is difficult as there is no bolt latch
Click to expand...

I have a Bolo Mauser on loan that does lock the bolt back. However, looking into it convinced me not to fire the gun.

Sights on that one go to 1000m :D

I'd say it was a fine design for the late 19c (beats some contemporaty revolvers) but the 1903 Browning and all that followed it were a big improvement.
 
High 9s neatness factor, low 3s for just about everything else.

Be VERY VERY careful of the Chinese-made guns!!!!!

That cannot be stressed enough!

China in the 1920s/40s was no where NEAR the 20th century when it came to heat treating/finishing of metal.

I've seen a number of these C96s that are made from extremely soft steels that were not properly heat treated.

Exended firing with them could result in a catastrophic failure.

Also, I've yet to see a Chinese C96, German or copy, that has anything even remotely resembling a bore on it. Most of them have sewer pipe for bores, the rifling having long ago been rusted away after firing with corrosive ammo and no cleaning.
 
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