My new to me C96 Mauser

[J.D.]

Hi Guys,


Just picked up this C96 & am very happy with it, all matching even the sear is numbered. The red & white dots on the side is that to have a firearm brought into Australia the safety must be marked so it can clearly be seen !!!! so that is why the marks are on it as this happened when the pistol was brought into the country. Now what about the safety From my limited research I thought this was a pre war commercial 1905-1906 but the safety is marked NS & is numbered to the pistol so does that then make it a wartime commercial ? The safety lever has a hole right through it too
Any help with my new addition would be very much appreciated.
Thanks & all the best.
Jason

[broomie]

Hi Jason,
What is the caliber of your C96 do you know ? Judging from the serial number alone can be misleading cos it is in the Prewar Commercial serial range. However the gun looks like it has 6-groove rifling which means that it was made at some point after 1912.
I have a funny feeling it is a Red 9 , as its serial number falls within the Red 9 range which starts from 1 to 135,000 or so, the only thing is the grips do not have the usual Red 9 burnished into them. This sometimes happened, and is considered to be a "factory error".
Love to know more about your C96 
Kind regards,
Broomie

[broomie]

Sorry, looking at your pics one more time, it looks like some kinda contract gun and not a Red since the rear sight is not calibrated from 1-500 (meters). A very interesting gun all the same.
Regards,
Broomie

[J.D.]

Broomie,


It is the 30 Mauser cal...... very interesting isn't it pre war commercial number but the pistol has most of the wartime commercial thing happening with it & the grips are numbered to the pistol 

[broomie]

Hi J.D,
Your C96 is very interesting indeed, in all my collecting years I have only ever come across that is the same !!! It was also a Wartime Commercial and exhibited all the hallmarks of guns serial numbered from the 290,000 range to 433,000 range. The gun I saw actually has only a 3 digit serial number !!! I believe these guns were of some kinda military contract , but to which nation I don't know ?
The only "error" I see with your gun (albeit a minor one) is the safety. Guns with the NS monogram (New Safety) normally have a solid safety button that is not drilled through like the example on yours. However, this is by no means a hard & fast rule.
Still love your C96 by the way, what a great find !!! 
Kind regards,
Broomie

[1914mauser]

You have a very interesting C96. Congratulations! I would of guessed Wartime commercial too but broomie has brought up some good points so it is a bit of a mystery which is common in the C96 arena.

Regards,

[broomie]

Hi Mauser1914,
Yeah, I have seen some weird stuff over the years imean stuff that don't exist in books or any publications !?! For example (going off topic a little bit) I have seen an early removable mag Model 1930, serial numbered within the regular C96 production, and not one of those converted Schnellfeuers ! It actually has a Model 1930 lock mechanism and innards & milled out panels, moreover it once belonged to a chauffeur of some Nazi bigwig and its serial number is also very special. It comes with a leather holster and is slotted for a Schnellfeuer woodstock but without the extra cut-out for the selector switch button !?! Oh, being that it once belonged to a (minor) Nazi, who spent 2 years in prison after the Nuremberg trials before his release[size=78%], the gun is naturally Nazi marked on the lhs of the diagonal flat of the chamber.[/size]
[/size][size=78%]Regards,[/size]
[/size]Broomie[size=78%]