Hell in a Handbasket

The C96 was originally patented in 1896, hence the name. Production didn't get started until the next year, and it lasted at least through the 1950's. I have even heard that a Chinese firm still makes an improved model, but I have yet to see any examples of this. (Maybe I should go to the big gun shows more often.)

The C96 originally had a ten-round internal magazine that was reloaded by stripper clips, a system obviously adapted from the Mauser line of military rifles.

This meant that a moderately skilled handgunner could fire off twenty rounds in a minute. Considering that the 6-shot revolver was the most ubiquitous handgun in the world at the time, it must have seemed as if the future had finally arrived.

The round was also pretty snazzy. The C96 is chambered for a small bullet pushed up to a really impressive muzzle velocity. In technical terms, the 7.62X25mm cartridge fires a 96 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 1400 feet per second.

This means that the bullet imparts about 417 ft/lbs of energy right as it emerges from the barrel, which compares favorably to the 9mm Parabellum and the .45 ACP on the surface. The problem is that the small .30 caliber bullet from the C96 was so small that it would overpenetrate like crazy, making small holes that didn't encourage blood loss. This meant the Broomhandle was rather a poor manstopper when compared to those large caliber six-shot revolvers I mentioned above.

Still, there is something to be said for a high velocity round when it comes to long range accuracy. The Broomhandle was equipped with rifle quality sights, the first notch set at 50 meters and the last set at 1,000.

That last sounds impressive as all get out ("A pistol that can make a kilometer long shot!"), but it was pretty much hype. The accuracy of the C96 is very impressive, and it is the only non-target handgun I have ever shot that can consistently hit human sized targets at 100 meters with little problem. But shot placement gets really problematic very soon after, and I wouldn't trust it past 150 meters or so.

Just a bit of trivia for you. The C96 had the highest muzzle velocity of any handgun until the Tokarev TT was introduced in 1933. Not too shabby.

There are many variants of Broomhandle Mausers. Some are chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge, some of them have short barrels, and a few were even made to fire full auto. It makes you wonder why the various military organizations of the world weren't more interested.

The reason why is probably because the weapon is very finely made, with incredibly close tolerances. Parts are hand fitted to each gun at the factory, making repair very difficult or even impossible in the field. Although the pistol is fairly rugged, that kind of precision is a potential point of failure that no government wants to shove off on their troops.

My own C96 is a real mess, a worn out POS with a barrel severly worn and pitted. None of the parts have similar markings or serial numbers, meaning that the gun was slapped together from loose parts that someone had lying around. This was done by American GI's in Germany at the end of the war from castoffs found in factories, the idea being that they would have a war trophy they could send home even if it didn't actually work. This is probably where my own gun came from, though it is impossible to tell for sure. At any rate, it will certainly never be able to fire again.

But I have been able to fire working examples before, most notably the last time I visited Knob Creek. The main question is: How do they shoot?

The answer is pretty good! It certainly looks ungainly, but the C96 is surprisingly well balanced. It points very well, and I felt that my own rather modest marksmanship skills were improved by the basic design.

Would I carry it for defense? Probably not. The gun is rather large, although it would be comfortable enough to carry it in a shoulder holster. The problem is that the dimensions are pretty close to a .357 Magnum revolver, a gun that is about twice the power of the C96. I would rather carry the gun with the bigger punch if I was going to haul around something that large.

One of these days I would like to own a working C96 so I could take it to the range when the fancy strikes me. This is almost certainly never going to happen. The guns are popular collector items now, with a price tag that is out of my reach. Even if I could somehow afford a vintage gun, I would be too concerned about ruining my investment to put many rounds through it.

One last thing. Winston Churchill himself carried a C96 when he saw action in the Sudan, and he had one with him through most of the Boer War even though he was employed as a journalist at the time. If it was good enough for Winston....