NAME -Mauser C-96 Standard Prewar Commercial Model 12
COMMON NAMES – Mauser Broomhandle
TYPE – Semiautomatic pistol
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Germany
DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1896 (1912)
CALIBER – 7.63x25mm (7.63 Mauser)
OVERALL LENGTH – 28.9 cm (11.38 in)
LENGTH WITH STOCK – 64.1 cm (25.25 in)
BARREL LENGTH – 14 cm (5.5 in)
STOCK LENGTH – 35.7 cm (14.06 in)
RIFLING (TYPE & TWIST) – 6 Groove, right hand twist, 1 turn in 25.4 cm (1 turn in 10 in)
BULLET DIAMETER – 7.85 mm (0.309)
BULLET WEIGHT –5.51 g (85 grains)
MUZZLE VELOCITY – 433 m/s (1420 fps)
MUZZLE ENERGY – 519 j (381 ft/lb)
WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 1.12 kg (2 lb 7.5 oz)
WEIGHT (LOADED) – 1.21 kg (2 lb 10.7 oz) with 10 rounds
WEIGHT (LOADED WITH STOCK) – 1.69 kg (3 lb 11.6 oz) with 10 rounds and stock
STOCK WEIGHT – 0.48 kg (1 lb 0.9 oz)
SIGHTS – Open iron adjustable (range), Front sight – Barleycorn inverted V, Rear sight – Adjustable tangent, v-notch, Adjustable from 50 to 1000 m (55 to 1094 yards) in 50 m (55 yard) increments
EFFECTIVE RANGE – 50 m (55 yards), 150 m (164 yards) with stock
SERVICE – Wide military service, notably Germany, Russia, China, and South America, commercial sales
The Model 12 is the most prolific of the Mauser M1986 designs and is the most likely to be encountered. The Model 12 was issued to the German military among others and this resulted in a very high demand for the weapon. A major drawback of the Mauser 1896 design is that there is only a single screw in the entire weapon, and that holds the grip plates in place. All other components to the Mauser are machined to interlock together without pins or other means of securing the parts together. This design results in a very high demand for machining skills and skilled gunsmiths to finally assembly the parts together, it is a very labor-intensive weapon.
The Mauser M1896 was also the first commercially successful semiautomatic pistol. Designed by the Feederle brothers (Fidel, Friedrich and Joseph) the weapon was not liked by Paul Mauser, owner of the company. However, Mauser recognized the commercial appeal of the pistol and put it into production. The resulting weapon had more than one million units produced and the Feederle name is almost lost to history. The basic design of the Mauser is a semiautomatic pistol that is recoil operated. The barrel and bolt remain locked together as the weapon is fired and they recoil on the receiver rails for a short distance. When unlocked, the bolt continues its rearward movement until stopped by the bolt stop and compressed recoil spring. Returning to battery, the bolt strips a round out of the ten-round internal magazine and chambers it. The magazine is in front of the trigger guard and is loaded by the use of a ten-round charger guided through the top of the weapon. When the rounds have been stripped off the charger and are held in the magazine, removing the charger allows the bolt to move forward, chambering the first round. The bolt may also be held back with the operator’s thumb and rounds individually set into the magazine. Until the advent of the .357 Magnum round in 1935, the 7.63x25mm Mauser round was the highest velocity commercial handgun round in the world.
