Broomhandle shooters?

I have one... it's the 'bolo' Mauser. It's one of those that came out of China about 25 years ago. Mine was refinished, parts replaced and shipped in a repro 'old' box with repro Mauser instructions. I got the Grade A... so it's pretty nice.

I fired it... for function, really and to just see what it's like.

It's in .30 Mauser and works great. FUN to handle and FUN to fire. I've even taken it down... SCARY!! the 'guts' slide out and man oh man... it's an inscrutable, Gordian Knot of interlocking doodads that will make you gasp and step backwards. Quaint, charming, mysterious, clever and just very very interesting. But really freaky.

Never shot it for groups... but it'll stay on a pie plate across a room. That's about all I can tell you.

At one point I broke the firing pin by stupidly dryfiring it repeatedly. Easy to replace, and lesson learned.

I'm glad I have it.

StrikeEagle

I have a C96 Broomhandle, one of the old chinese imports
sold by Keng's Firearms Specialties of Atlanta, Georgia,
years ago. MOST serial numbers match (ha-ha) and the
grips were black with oil and soft. Cleaned it up and put
new grips and new hammer and recoil springs in it.

There was a ghost of rifling left in the barrel: just a hint: the barrel
once cleaned up looked like polygonal rifling: no sharp lands
or grooves. Certainly not enough to grip a standard .307 - .308
diameter bullet for 7.63 Mauser.

I load .312" 90 grain JHP bullets intended for .32 H&R Magnum
over either PyroP for black powder cartridge match or Unique
for vintage military match and do good (scores in fifties out of
possible 60 on standard target at 25 yards (firing six)). More important,
I have recreational fun with a military antique.

I paid $500 for mine. You can end up paying too much for
a broomhandle: some sellers lack scruples. Some buyers want
one so bad they will pay anything. Watch out for rebuilds
being sold as mint condition originals, or faked "rare" models.

I don't know much about them, but I do have one that my grandpap took of a German prisoner in WWII. He had to remove the buttstock to "import" it. It actually has the metal piece that slides onto the handle...just doesn't have furniture. I imagine it would be fun to shoot, but it just doesn't feel very good in my hands...and it's something I'd want to give to my grandkids when I get older.

I have owned many and still own three. However most are in the "collector" category so most I've never shot. My shooter was a WWI era 7.63 Mauser that was a nice reblue and rebarrel and had all matching numbers. I never shot it extensively but the most fun I had was to shoot it with a shoulder stock.

The other I shot a bit was a WWI era 9mm Para that was part of a German government contract with Mauser (the so called Red 9 series except this one had a black 9). Again I mostly shot with a stock. I sold that pistol a couple of years ago and ironically it is for sale on the THR forum. Search under the name of "dunderhead" in the for sale forum and you'll find it. It had all matching numbers, good finish and good barrel. I thought the price he had on it was reasonable as well.

If you get one there are just a couple of things to remember. Should you have a 7.63 Mauser do not use the 7.62 x 25 Tokarev cartridge. My understanding is that it will fit the chamber of a broom and fire but the cartridge produces excessive pressures for the gun and may create a hazard. I have seen new commercially made 7.63 Mauser at the last couple of gun shows so the round can still be had at a reasonable price.

The second thing to remember is if you take one apart do not assemble the locking piece backwards, it is a bear to disassemble from that point.

Treat yourself to one and enjoy!

I have a rebuilt, refinished 1930 Commercial model C-96. The barrel was relined for 9MM. Its a good shooter and a real unique piece.

My Broomie is a Federal Ordnance 712 purchased in the late '80's. They imported, rebarrelled, refinished and machined new receivers to make them semi-only (as the 712 Schnellfuerer was select fire) and put them in a nice leather case with accessiories.

The serial # on this one says it was built in the mid 30's IIRC and it shoots well now. But, the first range trip was anything but positive. Each shot (with very mild handloads) seemed to kick REALLY hard and the non-ergonomic grip shape didn't help much either. Plus, it regularly ejected a couple of loaded rounds with the empty upon firing!

Found the main spring had been cut or broken and a new one helped out a lot. But, it still didn't feed well unless I loaded the rounds WAY long...just barely able to chamber. The mags were originally made for 7.63 and are a bit long for the 9mm.

If I held the thing with a two handed death grip, it would get through both mags without mishap...most of the time. It assumed safe-queen duty for 10 years until I found some Internet articles on the C-96 that opened my eyes to what was going on.

The hammer, which looks WAY too big compared to modern pistols, plays a much more important duty than just igniting the cartridge. It's mass and heavy spring are very important in holding the action closed during firing. My hammer spring turned out to be very weak and a complete set of new springs from GunParts completely changed the gun.

It now fires standard pressure ammo with very mild felt recoil and near 100% reliability! So, if you plan on getting a C-96 and actually shooting it (much recommended!) I would advise a freshening of all the springs before firing the first shot.

Don't have one but you just got to love the looks.

Kevin

FUN to handle and FUN to fire. I've even taken it down... SCARY!! the 'guts' slide out and man oh man... it's an inscrutable, Gordian Knot of interlocking doodads that will make you gasp and step backwards. Quaint, charming, mysterious, clever and just very very interesting. But really freaky.

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I love your description of that, sounds like every gun I've ever taken apart
Mind If I use it as sig line?

Mind If I use it as sig line?

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LOL! Go for it!