Mauser Broomhandle ID?

D

dbuffington

New member
Hi Folks!

A friend dropped of this beautiful Mauser Broomhandle -- Serial Number 288188 -- and shoulder stock/holster and wondered if I could give him any more information about it.

Alas, I'm mainly a Browning guy, not a military guy. So here are some photos ...

Broom1.jpg

Broom2.jpg

Broom3.jpg

Broom4.jpg

Broom5.jpg


By the way, I haven't found a serial number on the holster. (Were they serialized?)

Any information you can add would be welcome. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks!
Dave
 
Made sometime 1915-1921. Likely early in that period, a wartime commercial.

Somebody recently posted a rough looking Broomhandle with the stock iron numbered to the gun.
 
Hi Jim!

I don't see any kind of numbering on the stock iron.

And to answer some other questions …

- The grips have 33 grooves, which doesn't seem to correspond to any of the counts in the Blue Book.

- The barrel is approximately 5 1/2 inches long.

Thanks!
Dave
 
What caliber? It matters. Post-war to circumvent the Versailles Treaty some 9 mm were reworked to 30 Mauser.

From Breathed & Schroeder's book (p124-125), System Mauser, it appears to be a wartime commercial production with six grooves.

I suspect it has a short, wide extractor. Earlier C-96s had a long, narrow extractor. A photo would help.

Barrel markings too as well as a photo of the rear sight.

BTW, I suspect the stock and the harness are Chinese reproductions. They look too "fresh" to me. With respects to serial #s, the wood stocks were (to my knowledge) mated to their guns.

Last, from Charles Pate's book, The Broomhandle Mauser, 1896-1936, pages 90-91, from Serial #280,000 onward the hammers were marked NS (as yours does) and stands for Neue Sicherung (New Safety).
 
> What caliber? It matters.

It's not marked, which strikes me as odd.

> I suspect it has a short, wide extractor. Earlier C-96s had a long, narrow extractor.

It's approximately 32 mm long, the main width is about 5 mm.

> A photo would help. Barrel markings too as well as a photo of the rear sight.

I'll try to do that tonight. The rear tangent-style sight is graduated from 50 to 1,000 meters.

Thanks!
Dave
 
Here are the barrel markings, starting from the top and working around …

WAFFENFABRIK
MAUSER
OBENDORF A/N
---
288188
---
crown over "U" stamp
---
the letter "M"
a Star of David
the number "8"
and an ampersand "&"
---
crown over a symbol, possibly a stylized "D"
---
 
The Waffenfabrik Mauser Oberndorf A/N is pretty standard. It means auf Neckar or "on the Neckar River"

Serial #280,000 started during Nov. 1915. Per Pate, the wartime commercial Mausers were 7.63 mm and could be sold without the stocks.

Military contract models had sights marked for 50 to 500 meters and the commercial model was 50-1000 meters.

It was not until Dec. 1917 that 9mm caliber guns were marked with the red 9. This was in response to confusion/ignorance of the user with the wrong ammunition.

That Star of David intrigues me. I can't find anything about it in my books. Pictures when you have a chance.
 
FWIW, I have never seen a C96 with a caliber marking. Even the "Red 9" was marked on the grips, not on the gun itself.

That stock and harness are repros, and that raises a problem. Mausers, Lugers, and other pistols with shoulder stocks are exempt from the NFA ONLY if the stock is original, that is contemporary with the gun. An old C96 with a modern repro stock is still a short-barrel rifle and subject to the NFA. It is, realistically, not something BATFE gets worked up about, but it could be a problem if someone wants to make trouble.

Jim
 
James is right in that calibers weren't marked on C-96s. Hence the need for the Red 9 on the grip. The Hans weren't that clever to figure out marking the caliber.

I'm still trying to find info on that Star of David.
 
When turnover of personnel forces companies to go beyond the usual run of letters or numbers for inspection markings, they will turn to symbols. Common ones are a triangle, a hexagon, a five pointed star, a six pointed star, an anchor, a cross, a crescent, etc. For a comparison, the same type of symbolism is seen on railroad conductor's ticket punches.

The letters, numbers and symbols used have no meaning other than to identify the inspector involved. An example is the anchor marking seen on some Remington guns, mainly the Model 51 pistol, and the cross on some Ithaca guns. Some folks believe that the anchor indicates Navy issue, or that the cross has some religious significance. Neither is the case.

Jim
 
Thanks James. I found nothing about the six pointed star in my books. I did see pictures of Russian sailors and broomhandles though. There's a reason why the "bolo" or short for bolshevik was called what it was.
 
The C96 (and the variant "bolo") was used in a lot of countries, but AFAIK never formally adopted as standard by any of them. The Russians bought a lot of them, which is why they liked the cartridge and chambered their Tokarev pistols for it. Both pistols were in service together for many years, which is why claims that Tokarev ammo will blow up Mausers is a bit silly, as is the claim that Czech-made ammo for the VZ-52 will blow up Tokarevs.

For some strange reason, nations just don't issue ammo that will blow up their own or their allies' guns.

Jim
 
Searching for a lost Broomhandle

I know this is an old thread, but I was trying to find the post or pictures of that gun you were talking about. My Dad had a Broomhandle with matching stock that was found in a river in Germany around 1963 by a scuba diver friend. I was born in Germany in 1963, Pop snuck the gun back in the plane in our toy box. So my first memories as a kid was being allowed to hold this gun. It was in very rough shape but all there and everything worked as it should but not fireable. Anyway he gave the gun away to a special forces buddy. The special Forces buddy claimed he left is at his ex wifes house but i imagine it was sold. it broke my heart when i found out Pop gave it away and i have tried to find it ever since. I have no idea of the serial number but i would know it if i saw it. Thanks.

I was trying to reply to Jim Watson's comment "Somebody recently posted a rough looking Broomhandle with the stock iron numbered to the gun." Sorry if I messed up.
 
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