Dave Markowitz
Member
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.
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.
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.
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.