Original German WWI Antique 1897 Mauser C96 Broomhandle Cone Hammer Semi-Automatic Pistol – As Seen on History Channel Pawn Stars Original Items

This very C-96 Mauser Pistol was featured and test fired on an episode of History Channel’s Pawn Stars in 2022. You can watch it on the episode below:

Original Item: Only One Available. Serial Number 11073 signifying that this was manufactured in the year 1897 making it legally an Antique. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms.

Early Mausers were imported from Germany by “Westley Richards & Co Ltd” who resold them to other British Gun-makers who sold them to military personnel serving in the far away colonies. Probably the most famous of these being Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence or Lawrence of Arabia.  it was the base pistol for Han Solo’s blaster in the Star Wars films. The Mauser C96 is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century.

The distinctive characteristics of the C96 are the integral box magazine in front of the trigger, the long barrel, the wooden shoulder stock which gives it the stability of a short-barreled rifle and doubles as a holster or carrying case, and a grip shaped like the handle of a broom. The grip earned the gun the nickname “broomhandle” in the English-speaking world, because of its round wooden handle.

This example retains about 85% of its metal finish.C96 Cone hammer 7.63mm Mauser Broomhandle Pistol with all matching Part numbers including grips. The Walnut Shoulder stock is a reproduction with replicated matching serial number. Typical early features including cone-shaped hammer, deeply milled panels in frame, rear sight graduated 5-500M, early firing pin retainer, 1st type safety catch, separate trigger unit, long extractor. Typical rust-blued finish on frame and barrel/barrel extension, extractor and rear sight ‘fire blued’, trigger ‘strawed’, internal parts and the hammer case-hardened. 23-groove walnut grips.

Pistol has a good bore that shows use but with visible lands and grooves (not uncommon for this vintage) Rust-blued upper & Lower frame, Peacock
blue (nitre-blue) extractor, Rear sight assembly (graduated from 50 to 500m), Bolt stop, Dovetail firing-pin retainer, safety lever, Magazine plunger, Lanyard ring. Straw to Trigger assembly, Lock frame stop and firing pin end.

The top of the barrel chamber is marked “WAFFENFABRIK / MAUSER / OBERNDORF A/N” and the left side with a double crowned “U”. The right side of the barrel is marked with an Oberndorf antler proof. The rear face of the hammer, the rear face of the firing pin retainer and the top of the backstrap are marked “11073”.  The rear face of the hammer is also marked with what looks like a script “M”. The inside surfaces of the grip panels are also marked “11073”. Serial number is matched on all significant parts.

Dimensions
    Barrel    Length    5 in
    Barrel    Length    140 mm
    Overall    Length    295 mm
    Overall    Weight    1 kg

Caliber
    7.63 mm
Cartridge type
    7.63 x 25 mm Rimless Mauser (aka .30 in Mauser Automatic)
Serial number
    11073