Mauser C96 Pre War Commercial

[Trupa]

Hello everyone! I will soon turn 30, and I have decided to give myself a special gift. I had a good opportunity and I could not refuse it. It's a Pre War Commercial, with all matching numbers, even the stock. Are presents only the imperial German marks of the time, in fact there are no modern import marks and not even various cataloging numbers, which here in Italy where I live are mandatory to be affixed since the national firearms catalog was created after the Second World War.
In fact, this gun was hidden for a long time by a partisan here in my part, he refused to deliver it when the war was over and preferred to keep it hidden. Years later, on the death of the partisan, the gun passed to the grandchildren, who decided (fortunately) to sell it to a collector who legalized it through the police, so now it is 100% regular, without having been affixed modern brands, without having been deactivated, or worse without having been destroyed.

Who knows how it got here in Italy, some were brought home as war trophies by the Regio Esercito soldiers after the ending of WW1, others were bought by private individuals citizens and officials of the Army, Navy and Aviation.
Still others came into the hands of the soldiers of the Whermacht and the SS in WW2, here in my part, in Piedmont, northwest of Italy near Turin, near the Alps, there were many Nazi-fascist occupation troops to fight the partisan liberation forces. Many members of my family fought the fascist Germans and Italians, and several of them died in combat.

I like to remember this especially today, infact the 25 april is national holiday here in Italy, because the day of liberation is celebrated, the 25 april 1945 Italy was finally freed from Nazi-fascism. Even if today unfortunately many (especially many politicians) do not remember these events, and unfortunately many praise the opposite...

But let's not digress, let's go back to the gun! From what I think I have understood by reading in books and online, based on the type of invoice and the serial numbers, it should have been made around 1908, correct me if I'm wrong.
The barrel is in decent condition, you can see that it fired a lot, but it is still definable as good. The beautiful original blue finish has unfortunately changed to this color, but personally I like it very much and I appreciate the fact that it has not been refurbished. I find it has a lot of character! If only this weapon could speak...

[Trupa]

[Trupa]

Here are the imperial marks:




Could anyone explain to me what these brands refer to under the barrel?

[AZPhil]

Hello Trupa,
Very Nice!!
And an excellent Gift to yourself for a Bday present.

I do love these.
I only have a M1930 version that was part of the Mauser one's sent to China for the Chinese contract.
So mine has some Chinese characters on the mag well , But the other marking are what you show.


I'm at work right now and will check mine when I get home for that marking under the barrel.
I also have the book; Know your Broomhandle Mausers by R.J. Berger. It covers all the model's and has information about production of the different models.


I'll look when I go home for lunch and see if I can find something for you.

It's possible that someone else may chime in in the mean time and have that information available.

I used to have a local gun shop that stocked the ammo and I would shoot mine He closed his shop and moved on to his custom guitar builds.

Do you plan on putting some rounds down the pipe?

Thanks for sharing

Semper Fi
Phil

[stahlelm16]

Great piece Trupa! For AZ Phil: I would like to see your "Chinese contract" 1930, I own one "Chinese contract' Schnellfeuer pistole. With stock.

[AZPhil]

Great piece Trupa! For AZ Phil: I would like to see your "Chinese contract" 1930, I own one "Chinese contract' Schnellfeuer pistole. With stock.

Schnellfeuer!! Oh Baby!!! I have only drooled at those!!

The stock I have is a Chinese reproduction. I bought it back in the 80's after I purchased the Pistol. It a Chinese contract , But the stock is Chinese.
Does that count as matching!!! Just kidding!!

Yeah I had a short lunch and didn't have time to mess around with the Broomy or the Book.

When I get off work here in a couple of Hours I'll make sure to do both and get back to you Gent's

Semper Fi
Phil

[Richard2]

That's a really beautiful gun and a great story to go with it! I have a 1930 Chinese contract broomhandle like Phil. The Chinese guns you see here in America are usually very worn; I almost never see a broomhandle in as good a condition as yours. Mine has some markings under the barrel like yours, but they are worn to the point of being illegible. One might be like the mark on yours closest to the breech, but smaller. The other two marks on mine are nothing at all like the marks on yours. Unfortunately, I don't know the meaning of any of the marks. You gave yourself a great gift. Happy Birthday!

When I bought mine, many years ago, I took it apart and tried to put it back together. I put one part in wrong and had to send it to a gunsmith specializing in broomhandle Mausers to repair it and put it together correctly. Be very careful if you take your gun apart.

[AZPhil]

Like Richard mentioned the Chinese contracts were well used. Like mentioned I got mine in the late 80's and it was out of a Shotgun News sight unseen and a friend who had an FFL ordered it for me. Used and worn I still love it. It filled a childhood dream of owning one after I had built a 1:1 scale plastic model of it. I have to say though, That model was exact and I knew how to strip and reassemble it when I got the real thing. If the OP needs help this book also goes into stripping it down and reassembly
Here is mine and I also included some pages from "Knowing Your Broomhandle Mauser" written by RJ Berger. It's a small pamphlet of 96 pages published by Blacksmith Corporation.



Attachment 1499364

Here are the 3 Chinese character on the Magwell. The book says these translate to "Made In Germany"


This is the only marking I have on the underside of the barrel.


Here are a couple pages for the book mentioned above. I thought it had more info in the SERIAL NUMBER section, But minimal



Here is the page on markings. I don't see yours.



These are the 2 pages that talk about the commercial model

[MAP]

All beautiful examples. A dream to own one of these. Quite jealous!

[stahlelm16]

Beautiful Phil! My stock is just like yours! Sure that is a copy? Because I know that copies are made in two pieces, not one piece. As soon as possible I show you some pictures of my schnellfeuer. Thank you