Mauser Pistols

[roscott]

I love the look and history of the broomhandle Mauser, and I'm strongly considering buying one. However, I don't know much about them.

The gun would be a collector, but I would want something I could shoot and enjoy. Functional, but still a piece of history. How much should I be looking to spend on one?

Do any of you guys own one of these guns? I would love to hear info about them, know the history of them, and pretty much any input you have.

Rep for good info and especially pics!


Thanks guys!

 

[sgreen3]

My uncle has one of these, I honestly dont know what he paid for it hes had it longer than ive been alive. We have shot it a few times but mostly sits in his gun room. Its a pretty hot little round, for its time that was the highest velocity pistol cartridge(7.63x25) untill the .357mag came out. I would think it would make for a good investment pice, dont really see to many if you get it chamberd for the 7.63x25 round anyway, Hope this helps.

 

[Fordtough25]

I have a Walther P38, one of my brothers has a Luger, I have not seen a Mauser Broomhandle in person. They look cool in the magazines and on the net though and the two german pistols we do have are made with precision and quality. In short I agree it would be cool to have one, although it's a good ways down my list.

 

[M67]

I don't know much about them. But the Mauser Broomhandle is probably my 2nd favorite handgun behind the 1911. I'd love to own one, one day.

At the 1500, there's usually a booth that has 5 or so of them with the hollowed out stock that doubles for a container. I forget the price but over $1500; then again, the stocks are very rare it seems so that affects the price a lot.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

My uncle has one of these, I honestly dont know what he paid for it hes had it longer than ive been alive. We have shot it a few times but mostly sits in his gun room. Its a pretty hot little round, for its time that was the highest velocity pistol cartridge(7.63x25) untill the .357mag came out. I would think it would make for a good investment pice, dont really see to many if you get it chamberd for the 7.63x25 round anyway, Hope this helps.

Keep in mind that 7.62 Mauser & 7.62x25 Tok are NOT the same cartridges. Shooting one in the other would probably be disastrous.

(The older, much more mild Mauser cartridge will feed/shoot in a Tok weapon {depending on weapon}, but the Tok cartridge should NEVER be fired in a Mauser-chambered weapon)

-J-

 

[Claddagh]

Big +1 for Indy-Guy's post. The Soviet/Warsaw pact round is loaded much hotter and trying to use the cheap surplus 7.62x25 Tokarev (particularly the Czech/Yugoslav stuff) through C96 Mauser isn't worth the risks. Most especially if the pistol happens to be one of those refurbed Chinese pistols that were coming in a few years back!

 

[sgreen3]

Keep in mind that 7.62 Mauser & 7.62x25 Tok are NOT the same cartridges. Shooting one in the other would probably be disastrous.

(The older, much more mild Mauser cartridge will feed/shoot in a Tok weapon {depending on weapon}, but the Tok cartridge should NEVER be fired in a Mauser-chambered weapon)

-J-

Only thing I know is that its stamped 7.63 on the side of the pistol, lol

 

[Claddagh]

Dimensionally, the cartidges are almost identical. Close enough that they'll feed from the same magazines and fit into either chamber, anyway. This has led some folks to believe that they're interchangable, sometimes with very dire consequences.

The Mauser design dates from before the turn of the last century (manufactured from 1896-1939). Copies of widely varying quality were also produced by Unceta (Astra), Zulaica y Cia (Royal) and various Chinese arsenals. While a C96 in sound condition and with modern replacement springs should certainly be safe to fire with modern commercial .7.63 Mauser cartidges, its breech locking mechanism is just not strong enough to safely handle the much higher pressures and stresses generated by the 7.62x25 Tok. If it should fail, having the bolt come rocketing back through one's face becomes a distinct possibility.

 

[Disposable Heart]

Still kicking myself for not picking up a nice condition Red 9 that was at AAC in the consignment case when I worked there. Excellent bore, some metal wear, finish was rough (project for reblue), but only $600. STILL kicking myself...

 

[Leadeye]

I have several, the result of a lot of years collecting. You need to check them over pretty close these days due to people running Tok ammo through them. Crunched recoil springs, bent or rough firing pins, and the occasional cracked bolt block are what you find. Mine all eat cast bullets these days with loads that function well.

 

[roscott]

Thanks for the input, everyone!

So how do you discern if a Mauser has been mistreated? Couldn't there be stress cracks or such that would not be apparent if you bought one?

 

[tgallmey]

you can find them on gun broker starting at 600 but they also made one called the red nine which was a 9mm

 

[Leadeye]

Thanks for the input, everyone!

So how do you discern if a Mauser has been mistreated? Couldn't there be stress cracks or such that would not be apparent if you bought one?

You really need to do a short takedown by removing the firing pin, recoil spring, and bolt block. This is easy to do by rotating the firing pin 90 and removing it. The bolt block comes out the side and the recoil spring follows the firing pin. Don't buy for anything but parts if a seller won't let you make this basic takedown. Examine the three parts particularly the bolt block as this is the hard to replace part. Look also in the hole the bolt block came out of. These are strong pistols, that they can digest Tok ammo is a testament to thier toughness. Thier reliability kept them in manufacture long after the design was obsolete.

 

[r3126]

This one is a shooter.

 

[Leadeye]

This one is a shooter.

Nice bolo!