Heh, I didn't expect to see my BF1 C96 Carbine video show up in this @ 4:48 - an excellently entertaining and informative video on the pistol and its history. Thanks!
The C96 is commonplace in Kungfu movies since it (as well as various domestic copies) were used by gangsters and warlords in the 1920's. Sometimes with interesting manufacturing marks such as "Wauser" and so on.
China had hundreds of unlicensed copies of C96 pistols including an modified variant that fires .45 ACP in a 10 round box magazine. It's unknown how many were produced as records were scarce.
@@SpetsnazVDV22 I remember those being for sale in the gun shops. There were many different grades, from rusty junkers to cool looking chrome and parkerized finishes. Wish I had got one...
Churchill did not carry a Mauser in WWII. His Police Bodyguard was issued a Colt 1911 at the beginning of the War but preferred the .38 Webley he had always carried. He complained about this to Churchill who produced his own Webley and handed ii to the PC and said "give it here" about the Colt. He carried it throughout the War and many years after. Winston was fond of automatics. Very correctly in the clip from Young Winston (superb film BTW) he is shown wearing the issue .455 Webley on his belt but produces the C96 from his own kit.
Always loved that the two famous german early semi automatic pistols, the Luger and Mauser C96, ended up as the base for the blasters used by Leia and Han solo, who were fated to become lovers. Guess they have similar tastes in distant galaxy weaponry.
Fun fact: Peter O’Toole, while most famous in his titular role in Lawrence of Arabia, would go on to star in a few media, such as President Hindenburg in Hitler: Rise of Evil (2003) and, more recently, as the voice of Anton Ego in Ratatouille (2007).
He became Lawrence of Arabia in that movie, and he is one of my most favorite actors. The movie is my most favorite movie. When shown on the original theater big screen, the scene going from the dark Egyptian headquarters to the rising sun over the desert was a physical shock. Doesn't come across on any other media, not even big screen tv's. Nostalgia, oh Nostalgia. Sigh. Time for my nap!
As a kid in 1966 I had a cap firing C96 in a kit with a Walther P38 with a removable silencer from the TV series "The Man From UNCLE" with Robert Vaughn and David McCullum.
I recently received a Mauser C96 that was used by my Great Great Uncle he used it in the Easter Rising and then again in the Irish war of Independence and Civil War
There was a scene in The Unknown Soldiers where an old Finnish officer was carrying a Mauser C96 while rallying his men to move before getting shot. Interestingly enough, if a Finnish officer was carrying a Mauser, he was most likely a civil war veteran officer who fought for the White side.
Col. Laurila -Matti ,arvo,armas one of 3. Snowplow of Lapua, yes ammo factory is from there too. His father Matti and brother Ilmari KIA 1918 march 16 at Länkipohja/ white guard Comp CO
The C96 was a pet project of mausers brothers. The 7.65x25 was a powerful and straight shooting cartridge with a high velocity. These cartridges can accurately shoot out to 200m or even 300m with hot loads or using the carbine varient. Its one of the few cartridges that if loaded hot can pass soft pistol body armour without needing a steel core. Later iterations and Spanish knockoffs had large detachable magazines and some had a fully auto selector that usually had a crazy rate of fire. In the west it was known as the broom handle but in China it was known as the box cannon. If you had Western clothing a box cannon and a pocket watch you where a wealthy man in the warlord era. Some arsenal's in China made copy's nearly as good as mauser made, one warlord who imported a load of Thompson SMGs had C96s made in .45 acp and it was very large. For a long time before domestic 8mm mauser rifle production took off it was a main infantry weapon due to inbargos. The first weapon to use the mauser 7.65x39 was the borchart pistol that then became miniutuised into the luger, the first lugers had been chambered in 7.65 luger a smaller round but people wanted a bigger round so he pretty much made the world's most popular handgun cartridge the 9mm luger as a stopgap. The Russians used the 7.65x25 apart from they used steel cases and hotter loads and called it the 7.62x25 for tokerver and PPSH SMG a tokarev pistol using surplus ammo will reliably puncture soft body armour. It also made the PPSH have much more range. Never use 7.62x25 in a c96 For all you star wars fans in the US please don't modify working mauser pistols into prop guns, it's very wasteful and its kind of dangerous to have a prop gun that can fire live ammo. Everytime I have ever seen a real C96 made into a blaster it makes me cringe as its destroying history. Also in the later parts of the wild west C96 and bolt action mausers where used by people who could afford them. Having the most powerful pistol round in semi auto with 10 rounds or 2 gives an advantage over revolvers. Plus the fact you can add the stock and use it as a carbine. If you find a good C96 I would always recommend the 7.65x25 as you can't rebarrel 9mm. You don't need a NFA short barreled rifle paperwork as they are exempt so you can use the wooden holster / stock with no NFA paperwork.
Some of the Chinese warlord c96 clones are known to be very rare and highly collectable such as ones chambered in 45 acp which are extremely rare if they are in the U.S. going for tens of thousands of dollars sometimes
I have a 1936 Chinese contract broomhandle that I used in bowling pin shoots inspite it's only an 86 grain bulletit still keeps up there with the knocking power of 45
This was a very futuristic design for that age, it's logical that has became such an icon in in historical (& others) movies, also if you aren't a weapons' expert you probabilly will recognize it
When I take my C96 out to the range I get two types of comments. Old people (like me)" Wow that's a Broomhandle Mauser." Young people. That's a Star War's gun."
I have some fun facts about the C96. When the C96 was made, no one understands the semi-automatic concept and as Hugo Borschart did his pistol, it was very intriguing but still, it was clunky at the rear due to the toggling mechanism at the rear, upsetting the balance quite alot. Paul Mauser at that time wanted to show off his incredible stripper clip mechanism soon made the "Boombox" Mauser C96. When he trialed it to the German military, they were somewhat skeptical and thus they didn't really adopt it and out of fear of bankruptcy, Paul Mauser decided to push it to civilian markets as the hype was building. So when Paul released it to the civilian markets, it was one of the 1st smokeless cartridge pistol that's also semi-auto that gained popularity with the masses and the British soon found themselves signing contracts thru Westley Richards & Co to resell it in the UK and at that point of time, British officers in the army were required to use their own pay to purchase a pistol on their own and soon, bulks of British officers soon got hands on it and loved it but no one pushed the gun to huge fame that soon enticed major armies to adopt it more so than ever was down to none other than Winston Churchill. Churchill at that time wasn't a pretty big shot in politics but his reputation precedes him and he bought one while being a military journalist and was sent to the Boer War. While there, he used his Mauser C96 to great effect and upon his escape from the Boer POW camp and made his way home from the war, he kept praising the pistol for it's high rates of fire and multiple round counts instead of the standard 6 shot from a normal revolver and the Mauser had enough firepower to keep him fighting till dozens of enemies lay dead and if it wasn't without his Mauser, he wouldn't be back in Britain. That sent quite a huuuge shockwaves across the world and soon quite a few major military adopted it like the Austria in small quantities, the Germans bought quite a lot of them for policing and naval or rear guard units and Turkey also bought quite alot to rearm their officer corp. Why those Kung Fu movies had soo many Mauser C96s was because that's the most popular sidearm of all time during the entire history of 1900s China. When the Qing was coup'ed out of power by the Kuomintang/Tongmenhui during the Xinhai Rebellion back in 1911, the weapon that almost all of the rebels used where Chinese broadswords, stolen arsenal Mauser rifles and most importantly, tons and tons of C96s. Even at the end of the war, the pistol was soo loved that many bootlegged arsenals started to rise up and manufacture unlicensed copies of it in various form and calibers be it in it's original caliber, the 7.63x25mm or the bigger, .45 ACP rounds. The Mauser was also the most saw weapon to be used during the entire internal conflict China had witnessed before the Japanese invasion which was the Warlord Era where every factions were armed with tons and tons of Mauser thus it's not surprising that they saw use by Chinese gangsters too throughout the 1920s-40s. It was soo popular that even during the Second Sino-Japanese War, most guerilla fighters and even general government troops would see tons of their units being armed with nothing but Mauser C96s in various forms be it the Astra models, locally made or actual German copies and use these troops as shock troops to dislodge Japanese positions who are firing back at them with rifles and machine guns.
The gun only features one screw. The rest is clock work. The gun also can’t be topped off like a bolt action rifle and is extremely comfortable to shoot if you don’t like the web of your hand however with the stock attached it turns into quite the handy little package
After watching the luger video this was the first thing I was thinking about! My uncle had a toy mauser from the 70s, proper metal, and I loved playing with it as a kid
Thirty years ago I acquired, through Century Arms, a well-used 4-inch barreled "Bolo" model, so called because large numbers were sold to Bolsheviks in Russia in the early 30's. It is a marvel of precision machining and a hoot to shoot. The weight-forward design minimizes barrel rise during firing. Churchill may have used his Mauser in WWI, when he spent some time as a front-line officer.
There was once a story during the warlord eras in China where a group of escaping soldiers were getting chased by enemy warlord soldiers. One of them turned to confront the enemy, pulled out his C96 and shot two birds at the same time as he fired horizontally instead of vertically. This scared the enemy and retreated.
Interesting fact: The 7.63 mauser cartridge is identical in size to the 7.65 borchardt cartridge in the c-93, the first commercially sucessful automatic, which was refined into the luger pistol. The difference was the mauser had a 30% higher pressure to it and would damage the toggle of a borchardt. Ammo manufactures started making a lighter pressure load and american gunstores would sell it, with the box labeled "for use in borchardt and mauser pistols." The downside to this is if you were a mauser shooter you were sacrificing velocity and power if you used this loading.
So, fun fact about the chinese clones of the c96. They were often chambered in .45, which made them a lot stronger and a lot less controllable than their German counterpart. It worked in its favour, however. The Chinese warlords of the era developed a technique called "bandit shooting" where they would hold the gun sideways gangsta-style and spray, letting the recoil carry the gun horizontally instead of vertically. This technique is seen in MGS 3 when Eva shoots her C96 from her bike.
The C96 that became Han Solo's blaster was used as the primary weapon in the film _The Naked Runner (1967)_ and the scope assembly came off another C96 in the film _Sitting Target (1972)._
Fun Facts: The C96 uses only two screws, which keep the handle panels on. The shorter barrel variants were imported into Russia in such a mass that its use by the bolsheviks spawned the nickname "Bolo Mauser" for the short barrel models. Yan Xishan (the Warloard of Shenxi) was equpping his trooped with locally produce Thompson Submachine Gun, he commissioned a variant of the C.96 chambered in .45ACP designated the Type 17. The Type 17 was featured in the video game Fallout 3, however chambered in 10mm. Unfun facts: Not a fun pistol to disassemble. Due to the National Firearms Act of 1934, the use of the stock on the pistol makes it a "Short Barrel Rifle" by law, and therefore have to be registered with the ATF as such or a Relic.
I thought due to the manufacture/pattent date on the c96 with it being a design before 1898 its exempt but I could be mistaken, I also remember hearing some statement along the lines of "If its the original stock, its exempt but if its a reproduction then its not" I could very well be wrong but this is what I remember hearing at one point or another.
Since you ask, I could add “Sitting Target” (1972), a great British crime thriller, where the Mauser C96 is wielded by Oliver Reed. It is also seen in “Shout at the Devil” (1976) and “King Solomon’s Mines” (1985), just two adventure movies that come to mind.
Another great video Johnny!! And your eye for detail is top notch!! I have a pair of C96 Broomhandles. (OK, they're .177 CO2 powered KWC, but they look quite good in the display case.) Cheers from Ontario.
I know for some bizarre reason In 1917 an Austro-Hungarian aircraft gunner used a weird mashed up anti-aircraft gun made out from Mausers C-96, it had 10 barrels up and over each other. Each pistol held a clip of ten bullets and the device attached to them fired them in unison, giving the gunner the ability to rapidly fire 100 rounds in volleys of 10
1:41 the Sherlock Holms Films had a few firearms that wouldn't be around until after the turn of the 20th century such as submachine guns which the first one wouldn't be invented until 1920 which was the Thompson Submachine Gun. I believe the gun Watson uses while escaping the arms factory in Germany was a submachine gun. 3:37 Jackie had his eyes pointing in two different directions just then.
Some of the later original Sherlock Holmes stories are set in the pre-war early 1900s. A C96 wouldn't necessarily be out of place, but I'm not sure what the time period is for Games of Shadows.
I love my C96. I'm pretty sure mine is a commercial 1930s model. Works pretty well for its age. I love how it all fits together like clockwork, I find it both fun to shoot and to clean. I am that weirdo who actually enjoys cleaning guns so... I really want to get my hands on one of those Chinese Type 17s in .45 ACP, but cash is a little tight right now.
The Bolo name of the c96 came from the Russian Bolsheviks. They had ordered a large number of them in the 7,63x25 caliber. That caliber is the father of the 7,62x25 (7,62 Tok). The two cartridges are very similar. However in this case, they are not interchangeable. The Chinese were not lost to the advantages of the thunder maker. The effective range varies a little and can be 300+ meters with the stock on the weapon. I have both an M1920 in 7,63x25 and a Norwegian contract in 9mm. Ammunition is still available for the 7,63 (30 Mauser) through S&B. Reloading is straight forward. Although all parts are hand fitted it not really finicky about what it eats. Stripper clips can be had for a couple of bucks each. All in all, 100+ years in and they are great weapons still.
One of my most Favorite Guns that Were Conceived before World War 1, I like it mainly Out of Aesthetic and Design, but because of that Design, and its Complexity is what Brought it out of Favour, regardless I Love this Gun as Much as I Love the M1911, Luger and Revolvers. This Gun is Just a Masterpiece! And I LOVE it with a Burning Passion! Great Video as Always Johnny! Keep it Up, my Friend Also just to Share... Because of your Videos... I Have Found a LOT of Movies to Watch! Thanks for that! Its quite Boring in these Trying Times... Now I Have a Bunch of Movie to Kill Time! Thanks Again! For your Awesome Content and Hard Work!
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Well thats Quite thw Goal you have there, and Consider it Successful and Achieved in a Way, once Again, cuz I Have a lot more Movies to Watch thanks to it! Cheers, my Friend!
This is the most widely used handgun from the warlord period of 1920s to the Civil War in 1950s. It appeared in numerous black and white films and is a crowd favorite. Lucky to obtain one particular made in 1914 model chambered in original 7.63X25mm Mauser rds. (similar to Tokarev)
I remember in Medal Of Honor Airborne where there is a Safe if you shoot it there is a M712 that you can use and obtain in the Mission Operation: Varsity
The C-96 had an almost starring role in a 1965 spy spoof entitled "The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World." The protagonist carried the weapon in a small of the back holster suspended by a shoulder harness. As a 14 year old I fell in love with it, which is why I remember that inauspicious movie to this day.
It shows up in a lot of my favorite Spaghetti Westerns - my favorite being The Great Silence! Also makes a great appearance in the opening scene of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot!!
My husband is going nuts his Uncle past away 2 years ago and now his personel boxes are coming from South Africa to the USA. Box number 5 has a fully functional C96 Mauser captured during the Rhodesian bush war. My husband’s heritage has many firearms last year his great grandfather’s Martini Henry entered our collection and after that a webley.
Great video. My C-96 is chambered in 9mm, but no Red-9 stocks. Note that the 4-inch barrel version was sold to Russia in large numbers, where it was called the "Bolo," short (ha ha) for Bolshevik. My personal C-96 cost almost 4 grand in 2015 (?) from Simpson's, but it is worth it; the tempered parts are still heat-blued, the innards are pristine, and the exterior is very good. The excellent bore makes it an accurate shooter. It is not as cumbersome as you would think, a .357 mag. revolver is more front-heavy. --Old Guy
I did have one years ago, it was originally in the 7.63 Mauser cartridge but someone at some time BULGED the barrel somehow so I sent it off to be rechambered to 9mm Luger. It was nickel plated sometime for some reason, shame because it had matching numbers and was commercial pre-WWI and NS (new safety)! Very interesting piece of machinery only one screw that held the grips on!! Interesting how it comes apart for cleaning and servicing. Since being nickel plated and not in its original chambering I traded it for a unfired MAS 45 22lr training rifle with original sling AND original factory tag on it!!! I LOVE MY 22LR RIFLES AND PISTOLS!!!😉😁👍😎
Some weapons with insane range adjustment never cease to amaze me I understand for the rifle rounds given they can travel over 1000m and still be effective at killing someone but I cannot imagine a pistol fired at over 1000+ meter away I recall Browning Hi-Power has it and also M1928 Thompson with it, now I'm not in a country where Firearm is free to buy and own but certainly questionable that you would ever fire a pistol caliber over 1000+ meter is beyond me.
I'm not sure if it was a marketing thing or what but even if you were a potential buyer how could you take that seriously. Might as well sell me a car with a speedometer that goes light speed.
Good video!! Also believe that this weapon was featured in a John Wayne movie called, "Big Jake". This weapon is also in the Play Station 3 game, "Red Dead Redemption", which quickly became my weapon of choice just because of its firepower.
The Mauser is hardly the only early 20th century firearm used as a basis in Star Wars. The stormtrooper's E-11 blaster rifle was based heavily on a Sterling submachine gun, for example, and Jyn Erso's blaster pistol in Rogue One was built around a Luger P08 pistol. Can never really go wrong with an old classic.
This was my great-grandfather's sidearm in WWI. Two more movies for the list: In Thomas Vinterberg's "Dear Wendy" from 2005 Mark Webber makes use of the C96's excellent long range performance to take out a sniper. And in Milcho Manchevski's "Dust" from 2001 both antagonists use C96s - as a contrast to the protaginist's six-shooter.
It was built ON this gun! They added some model airplane parts, a bull barrel, and a flash hider from an MG 81. As well as a Hensoldt and Wexler rifle scope.
My father had one in the 1940s but his brother sold it when he was in the USAAF. He told me that it's easy to take it apart for servicing but you need five hands to put it back together. Is that true? I've always liked them and would own one if it were possible. But, here in Canada it's just not going to happen.
The Fiochi 7.63mm ammunition gave *huge* whitish, lightning-colored fireballs when fired out the one I once had. They’re nowhere near as awkward to handles as they look to be - they’re a bit muzzle-heavy, which can help a less-steady aim. They have a good long sight radius, which also helps.
I love this channel cuz it show great movies I’ve never seen but now need to!!! I wish he would tell people where to find the film (If possible). I think it would help people scratch the itch you started!!!
The legendary Philippine Revolutionary General, Antonio Luna, was said to be armed with a Mauser C-96 Broomhandle when he was assassinated. Complexity in the C-96's manual of arms could have been One reason Why he was not able to quickly fire back, being caught by surprise by bolo wielding assassins. Had he been armed with a revolver..as was the normal carry then..he might have pulled it off.
Heh, I didn't expect to see my BF1 C96 Carbine video show up in this @ 4:48 - an excellently entertaining and informative video on the pistol and its history. Thanks!
Is that you!? Thanks brother you helped me out. I'll pin this message so people will check out your channel.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Yeah, that's me! And thanks! I'm just glad it was of some use to ya.
I saw that and was wondering how it could be loaded with the bolt closed. I'm a collector of the c96 and Lugers. So I guess I notice such things, lol.
many people fall in love with this gun thanks to games like Resident evil 4 , Red dead or Hunt Showdown.
@@kmorris180 It indeed cannot
The C96 is commonplace in Kungfu movies since it (as well as various domestic copies) were used by gangsters and warlords in the 1920's. Sometimes with interesting manufacturing marks such as "Wauser" and so on.
Probably because of its popularity in China in the 20s
China had hundreds of unlicensed copies of C96 pistols including an modified variant that fires .45 ACP in a 10 round box magazine. It's unknown how many were produced as records were scarce.
I liked how they would hang tassels from the lanyard ring and dual wield.
@@BHuang92 I once found one of those Shanxi 45. caliber c96 copies at a gunshow in florida, still regret not looking at it
Chinese mystery pistols are whacky.
I love the Mauser C96! I own a rare bolo variant that was my grandfather’s! It was re-chambered to 9 millimeter during WW2.
Very cool
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq it was a Chinese import that my grandfather picked out with my dad back in the 80’s 😂
That’s really cool! You are lucky man
@@SpetsnazVDV22 I remember those being for sale in the gun shops. There were many different grades, from rusty junkers to cool looking chrome and parkerized finishes. Wish I had got one...
So your dad was a Nazi? that's not cool bro....
Churchill did not carry a Mauser in WWII. His Police Bodyguard was issued a Colt 1911 at the beginning of the War but preferred the .38 Webley he had always carried. He complained about this to Churchill who produced his own Webley and handed ii to the PC and said "give it here" about the Colt. He carried it throughout the War and many years after. Winston was fond of automatics. Very correctly in the clip from Young Winston (superb film BTW) he is shown wearing the issue .455 Webley on his belt but produces the C96 from his own kit.
He did look very happy in that one picture of him shooting that Thompson :)
He carried a the Broom handle Mauser at the battle of Omdurman .He says it saved his life.
Always loved that the two famous german early semi automatic pistols, the Luger and Mauser C96, ended up as the base for the blasters used by Leia and Han solo, who were fated to become lovers. Guess they have similar tastes in distant galaxy weaponry.
The only pistol I recall Leia using was ion the moon of Endor, when she wielded an unmodified Soviet .22 target pistol.
Leia's pistol was a .22 target pistol. The only time a Luger has been used in Star Wars was in Rogue One.
Leia's blaster is not a Luger.
MyDifferentUsername has made a Lego version of the C96 and a conversion of the blaster that he uses!
many people fall in love with this gun thanks to games like Resident evil 4 , Red dead or Hunt Showdown.
Fun fact: Peter O’Toole, while most famous in his titular role in Lawrence of Arabia, would go on to star in a few media, such as President Hindenburg in Hitler: Rise of Evil (2003) and, more recently, as the voice of Anton Ego in Ratatouille (2007).
He became Lawrence of Arabia in that movie, and he is one of my most favorite actors. The movie is my most favorite movie. When shown on the original theater big screen, the scene going from the dark Egyptian headquarters to the rising sun over the desert was a physical shock. Doesn't come across on any other media, not even big screen tv's. Nostalgia, oh Nostalgia. Sigh. Time for my nap!
Also: as Sir Reginald Johnston in The Last Emperor (1987).
Holy fucking shit, actors from one movie, were also in other movies?
@@MaxwellAerialPhotographyYeah amazing, almost like it was a career 😂😂😂 wasnt he the first dumbledore too 😂
Also as King Priam in Troy.
As a kid in 1966 I had a cap firing C96 in a kit with a Walther P38 with a removable silencer from the TV series "The Man From UNCLE" with Robert Vaughn and David McCullum.
aka TV series James Bond
I had that same kit! I've still got the C96 but it's showing it's age just like me!
The C96 is my all time favorite firearm in history and I love to see it get the recognition it deserves
I recently received a Mauser C96 that was used by my Great Great Uncle he used it in the Easter Rising and then again in the Irish war of Independence and Civil War
There was a scene in The Unknown Soldiers where an old Finnish officer was carrying a Mauser C96 while rallying his men to move before getting shot.
Interestingly enough, if a Finnish officer was carrying a Mauser, he was most likely a civil war veteran officer who fought for the White side.
Boys boys boys, this is not how to fight a war....
ish. Great film
The Colonel in Winterwar also carried a C96.
Col. Laurila -Matti ,arvo,armas one of 3. Snowplow of Lapua, yes ammo factory is from there too.
His father Matti and brother Ilmari KIA 1918 march 16 at Länkipohja/ white guard Comp CO
The C96 was a pet project of mausers brothers.
The 7.65x25 was a powerful and straight shooting cartridge with a high velocity.
These cartridges can accurately shoot out to 200m or even 300m with hot loads or using the carbine varient.
Its one of the few cartridges that if loaded hot can pass soft pistol body armour without needing a steel core.
Later iterations and Spanish knockoffs had large detachable magazines and some had a fully auto selector that usually had a crazy rate of fire.
In the west it was known as the broom handle but in China it was known as the box cannon.
If you had Western clothing a box cannon and a pocket watch you where a wealthy man in the warlord era.
Some arsenal's in China made copy's nearly as good as mauser made, one warlord who imported a load of Thompson SMGs had C96s made in .45 acp and it was very large.
For a long time before domestic 8mm mauser rifle production took off it was a main infantry weapon due to inbargos.
The first weapon to use the mauser 7.65x39 was the borchart pistol that then became miniutuised into the luger, the first lugers had been chambered in 7.65 luger a smaller round but people wanted a bigger round so he pretty much made the world's most popular handgun cartridge the 9mm luger as a stopgap.
The Russians used the 7.65x25 apart from they used steel cases and hotter loads and called it the 7.62x25 for tokerver and PPSH SMG a tokarev pistol using surplus ammo will reliably puncture soft body armour.
It also made the PPSH have much more range.
Never use 7.62x25 in a c96
For all you star wars fans in the US please don't modify working mauser pistols into prop guns, it's very wasteful and its kind of dangerous to have a prop gun that can fire live ammo.
Everytime I have ever seen a real C96 made into a blaster it makes me cringe as its destroying history.
Also in the later parts of the wild west C96 and bolt action mausers where used by people who could afford them.
Having the most powerful pistol round in semi auto with 10 rounds or 2 gives an advantage over revolvers.
Plus the fact you can add the stock and use it as a carbine.
If you find a good C96 I would always recommend the 7.65x25 as you can't rebarrel 9mm.
You don't need a NFA short barreled rifle paperwork as they are exempt so you can use the wooden holster / stock with no NFA paperwork.
Some of the Chinese warlord c96 clones are known to be very rare and highly collectable such as ones chambered in 45 acp which are extremely rare if they are in the U.S. going for tens of thousands of dollars sometimes
I have a 1936 Chinese contract broomhandle that I used in bowling pin shoots inspite it's only an 86 grain bulletit still keeps up there with the knocking power of 45
This was a very futuristic design for that age, it's logical that has became such an icon in in historical (& others) movies, also if you aren't a weapons' expert you probabilly will recognize it
When I take my C96 out to the range I get two types of comments. Old people (like me)" Wow that's a Broomhandle Mauser." Young people. That's a Star War's gun."
I have some fun facts about the C96.
When the C96 was made, no one understands the semi-automatic concept and as Hugo Borschart did his pistol, it was very intriguing but still, it was clunky at the rear due to the toggling mechanism at the rear, upsetting the balance quite alot. Paul Mauser at that time wanted to show off his incredible stripper clip mechanism soon made the "Boombox" Mauser C96.
When he trialed it to the German military, they were somewhat skeptical and thus they didn't really adopt it and out of fear of bankruptcy, Paul Mauser decided to push it to civilian markets as the hype was building.
So when Paul released it to the civilian markets, it was one of the 1st smokeless cartridge pistol that's also semi-auto that gained popularity with the masses and the British soon found themselves signing contracts thru Westley Richards & Co to resell it in the UK and at that point of time, British officers in the army were required to use their own pay to purchase a pistol on their own and soon, bulks of British officers soon got hands on it and loved it but no one pushed the gun to huge fame that soon enticed major armies to adopt it more so than ever was down to none other than Winston Churchill.
Churchill at that time wasn't a pretty big shot in politics but his reputation precedes him and he bought one while being a military journalist and was sent to the Boer War. While there, he used his Mauser C96 to great effect and upon his escape from the Boer POW camp and made his way home from the war, he kept praising the pistol for it's high rates of fire and multiple round counts instead of the standard 6 shot from a normal revolver and the Mauser had enough firepower to keep him fighting till dozens of enemies lay dead and if it wasn't without his Mauser, he wouldn't be back in Britain. That sent quite a huuuge shockwaves across the world and soon quite a few major military adopted it like the Austria in small quantities, the Germans bought quite a lot of them for policing and naval or rear guard units and Turkey also bought quite alot to rearm their officer corp.
Why those Kung Fu movies had soo many Mauser C96s was because that's the most popular sidearm of all time during the entire history of 1900s China.
When the Qing was coup'ed out of power by the Kuomintang/Tongmenhui during the Xinhai Rebellion back in 1911, the weapon that almost all of the rebels used where Chinese broadswords, stolen arsenal Mauser rifles and most importantly, tons and tons of C96s.
Even at the end of the war, the pistol was soo loved that many bootlegged arsenals started to rise up and manufacture unlicensed copies of it in various form and calibers be it in it's original caliber, the 7.63x25mm or the bigger, .45 ACP rounds. The Mauser was also the most saw weapon to be used during the entire internal conflict China had witnessed before the Japanese invasion which was the Warlord Era where every factions were armed with tons and tons of Mauser thus it's not surprising that they saw use by Chinese gangsters too throughout the 1920s-40s.
It was soo popular that even during the Second Sino-Japanese War, most guerilla fighters and even general government troops would see tons of their units being armed with nothing but Mauser C96s in various forms be it the Astra models, locally made or actual German copies and use these troops as shock troops to dislodge Japanese positions who are firing back at them with rifles and machine guns.
You were wrong,... Tgey weren't fun facts. 😂
The gun only features one screw. The rest is clock work. The gun also can’t be topped off like a bolt action rifle and is extremely comfortable to shoot if you don’t like the web of your hand however with the stock attached it turns into quite the handy little package
You managed to include Clint Eastwood, Archer, Resident Evil 4, Star Wars and Lawrence of Arabia. You are a genius !!! Well done !!
It was also in the first Mad Max movie.
It didn't feature 1940-41's Green Hornet nor 90' Flash Nightshade...
After watching the luger video this was the first thing I was thinking about! My uncle had a toy mauser from the 70s, proper metal, and I loved playing with it as a kid
I had that too, till threwit off a roof and off sheared the handle. Never seen copy since
@@nellyprice why did you throw it off the roof?
@@nursestoyland friend had run out of ammunition needed a gun...Not a great 6 year old decision
@@nellyprice oh
Thirty years ago I acquired, through Century Arms, a well-used 4-inch barreled "Bolo" model, so called because large numbers were sold to Bolsheviks in Russia in the early 30's. It is a marvel of precision machining and a hoot to shoot. The weight-forward design minimizes barrel rise during firing. Churchill may have used his Mauser in WWI, when he spent some time as a front-line officer.
Churchill had several ,atleast 1 of them is in the Mauser Archive book.
There was once a story during the warlord eras in China where a group of escaping soldiers were getting chased by enemy warlord soldiers. One of them turned to confront the enemy, pulled out his C96 and shot two birds at the same time as he fired horizontally instead of vertically. This scared the enemy and retreated.
Glad you mentioned Young Winston the C96 is mentioned in his autobiography.
Interesting fact: The 7.63 mauser cartridge is identical in size to the 7.65 borchardt cartridge in the c-93, the first commercially sucessful automatic, which was refined into the luger pistol. The difference was the mauser had a 30% higher pressure to it and would damage the toggle of a borchardt. Ammo manufactures started making a lighter pressure load and american gunstores would sell it, with the box labeled "for use in borchardt and mauser pistols." The downside to this is if you were a mauser shooter you were sacrificing velocity and power if you used this loading.
I think you have confused the Borchart with the Soviet Tokarev cartridge, which is virtually identical to the Mauser, but loaded to higher pressure.
@@666toysoldier the tokarev cartridge also used the borchardt as a parent cartidge, jus a much higher pressure
Your narration is getting so much better as you put these out. Keep it up, Johnny!
Thanks so much. I keep working on it.
So, fun fact about the chinese clones of the c96.
They were often chambered in .45, which made them a lot stronger and a lot less controllable than their German counterpart. It worked in its favour, however. The Chinese warlords of the era developed a technique called "bandit shooting" where they would hold the gun sideways gangsta-style and spray, letting the recoil carry the gun horizontally instead of vertically. This technique is seen in MGS 3 when Eva shoots her C96 from her bike.
Dayum, you covered a lot of info, nicely done!
Last thing I saw one in was when I recently rewatched "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot."
I could have gone on forever with the clips of this pistol. It was tragic having to exclude a few.
The C96 that became Han Solo's blaster was used as the primary weapon in the film _The Naked Runner (1967)_ and the scope assembly came off another C96 in the film _Sitting Target (1972)._
Thank you for listing each movie.
Fun Facts:
The C96 uses only two screws, which keep the handle panels on.
The shorter barrel variants were imported into Russia in such a mass that its use by the bolsheviks spawned the nickname "Bolo Mauser" for the short barrel models.
Yan Xishan (the Warloard of Shenxi) was equpping his trooped with locally produce Thompson Submachine Gun, he commissioned a variant of the C.96 chambered in .45ACP designated the Type 17. The Type 17 was featured in the video game Fallout 3, however chambered in 10mm.
Unfun facts:
Not a fun pistol to disassemble.
Due to the National Firearms Act of 1934, the use of the stock on the pistol makes it a "Short Barrel Rifle" by law, and therefore have to be registered with the ATF as such or a Relic.
I thought due to the manufacture/pattent date on the c96 with it being a design before 1898 its exempt but I could be mistaken, I also remember hearing some statement along the lines of "If its the original stock, its exempt but if its a reproduction then its not" I could very well be wrong but this is what I remember hearing at one point or another.
you explanation's make me go back and watch so many movies again.
Really cool gun with so many movies that feature this iconic gun
Since you ask, I could add “Sitting Target” (1972), a great British crime thriller, where the Mauser C96 is wielded by Oliver Reed. It is also seen in “Shout at the Devil” (1976) and “King Solomon’s Mines” (1985), just two adventure movies that come to mind.
Young Churchill also, and some episodes of Young Indiana Jones.
I wait for this one since several months, thank you Johnny :-)
I got you.
Another great video Johnny!! And your eye for detail is top notch!! I have a pair of C96 Broomhandles. (OK, they're .177 CO2 powered KWC, but they look quite good in the display case.) Cheers from Ontario.
Thanks brother. Might look into a C02 mauser. Would be fun to have on display.
Love it .Always reffered to it as the broom handle. I have a replica with stock.
I know for some bizarre reason In 1917 an Austro-Hungarian aircraft gunner used a weird mashed up anti-aircraft gun made out from Mausers C-96, it had 10 barrels up and over each other. Each pistol held a clip of ten bullets and the device attached to them fired them in unison, giving the gunner the ability to rapidly fire 100 rounds in volleys of 10
I almoooost included that in this video kind of regret not doing so. It's a very interesting set up.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq tsk tsk Johnny, I might have to take over this channel for ya 😉
This pistol is one of my favorite guns from the and I love it so much,thank you for making this video
In MGS 3 snake eater, it was EVA's favourite pistol.
1:41 the Sherlock Holms Films had a few firearms that wouldn't be around until after the turn of the 20th century such as submachine guns which the first one wouldn't be invented until 1920 which was the Thompson Submachine Gun. I believe the gun Watson uses while escaping the arms factory in Germany was a submachine gun. 3:37 Jackie had his eyes pointing in two different directions just then.
Nope, the Germans were using an SMG late in WW1 in their SturmTroopen units on the western front.
Some of the later original Sherlock Holmes stories are set in the pre-war early 1900s. A C96 wouldn't necessarily be out of place, but I'm not sure what the time period is for Games of Shadows.
The best gun in history!
I love the Mauser C96
One of my favorite firearms
Getting it out of its Holster was a nightmare,
I love my C96. I'm pretty sure mine is a commercial 1930s model. Works pretty well for its age. I love how it all fits together like clockwork, I find it both fun to shoot and to clean. I am that weirdo who actually enjoys cleaning guns so...
I really want to get my hands on one of those Chinese Type 17s in .45 ACP, but cash is a little tight right now.
You are so lucky to even have one at all. Most of us can only daydream…
The Bolo name of the c96 came from the Russian Bolsheviks. They had ordered a large number of them in the 7,63x25 caliber. That caliber is the father of the 7,62x25 (7,62 Tok). The two cartridges are very similar. However in this case, they are not interchangeable. The Chinese were not lost to the advantages of the thunder maker. The effective range varies a little and can be 300+ meters with the stock on the weapon. I have both an M1920 in 7,63x25 and a Norwegian contract in 9mm. Ammunition is still available for the 7,63 (30 Mauser) through S&B. Reloading is straight forward. Although all parts are hand fitted it not really finicky about what it eats. Stripper clips can be had for a couple of bucks each. All in all, 100+ years in and they are great weapons still.
One of my most Favorite Guns that Were Conceived before World War 1, I like it mainly Out of Aesthetic and Design, but because of that Design, and its Complexity is what Brought it out of Favour, regardless I Love this Gun as Much as I Love the M1911, Luger and Revolvers. This Gun is Just a Masterpiece! And I LOVE it with a Burning Passion!
Great Video as Always Johnny!
Keep it Up, my Friend
Also just to Share...
Because of your Videos... I Have Found a LOT of Movies to Watch! Thanks for that! Its quite Boring in these Trying Times... Now I Have a Bunch of Movie to Kill Time! Thanks Again! For your Awesome Content and Hard Work!
Right on. That's one of my major goals is just exposing new movies/tele for people. :)
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Well thats Quite thw Goal you have there, and Consider it Successful and Achieved in a Way, once Again, cuz I Have a lot more Movies to Watch thanks to it!
Cheers, my Friend!
The C96 also appears in the movie "the great silence" (with klaus kinski)
MUST WATCH
I think Winston Churchill used it as his side arm during the Bour war
finally my favorite pistol of all time, so much so that made 3 cardboard versions.
also thanks Johnny was waiting for this for a long time.
I got you! Just be careful with that flammenwerfer
I have been waiting for this video topic.
This is the most widely used handgun from the warlord period of 1920s to the Civil War in 1950s. It appeared in numerous black and white films and is a crowd favorite. Lucky to obtain one particular made in 1914 model chambered in original 7.63X25mm Mauser rds. (similar to Tokarev)
The Mauser C96 is used by Booker Dewitt from Bioshock Infinite, when he visits the floating city of Columbia.
Many Mauser C96s appear in Japanese comic and animation "Attack on Titan".
This is a gun I've always wanted to own, but given their prices, unless I hit a lottery it's going to have remain a want.
I remember in Medal Of Honor Airborne where there is a Safe if you shoot it there is a M712 that you can use and obtain in the Mission Operation: Varsity
The C-96 had an almost starring role in a 1965 spy spoof entitled "The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World." The protagonist carried the weapon in a small of the back holster suspended by a shoulder harness. As a 14 year old I fell in love with it, which is why I remember that inauspicious movie to this day.
This is my favorite gun from RE4
The army commander in butvh Cassady carried a c96
Winston Churchill had one in the 1890s
He said he used one it was a gift from his mother
I have always wanted one for my collection to plink with and display. So much history.
Jin Roh is a good movie glad to see it shown here
It shows up in a lot of my favorite Spaghetti Westerns - my favorite being The Great Silence! Also makes a great appearance in the opening scene of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot!!
My husband is going nuts his Uncle past away 2 years ago and now his personel boxes are coming from South Africa to the USA. Box number 5 has a fully functional C96 Mauser captured during the Rhodesian bush war. My husband’s heritage has many firearms last year his great grandfather’s Martini Henry entered our collection and after that a webley.
Great video. My C-96 is chambered in 9mm, but no Red-9 stocks. Note that the 4-inch barrel version was sold to Russia in large numbers, where it was called the "Bolo," short (ha ha) for Bolshevik. My personal C-96 cost almost 4 grand in 2015 (?) from Simpson's, but it is worth it; the tempered parts are still heat-blued, the innards are pristine, and the exterior is very good. The excellent bore makes it an accurate shooter. It is not as cumbersome as you would think, a .357 mag. revolver is more front-heavy. --Old Guy
I did have one years ago, it was originally in the 7.63 Mauser cartridge but someone at some time BULGED the barrel somehow so I sent it off to be rechambered to 9mm Luger. It was nickel plated sometime for some reason, shame because it had matching numbers and was commercial pre-WWI and NS (new safety)! Very interesting piece of machinery only one screw that held the grips on!! Interesting how it comes apart for cleaning and servicing. Since being nickel plated and not in its original chambering I traded it for a unfired MAS 45 22lr training rifle with original sling AND original factory tag on it!!! I LOVE MY 22LR RIFLES AND PISTOLS!!!😉😁👍😎
Escape from Athena - long time not seen fun movie
C96 is also been seen the final season of AoT.
I remember that this handgun is also in Attack on Titan by the Suvery Corps and the Marleyan Army
ah damn that would have been good
I'm on that Borchardt C93 with foldable stock.
W.D.M. "Karamojo" Bell used one in Africa.
Having shot an authentic red 9, I can tell you it's surprisingly ergonomic.
Churchill's mother actually purchased a pair for him
Some weapons with insane range adjustment never cease to amaze me
I understand for the rifle rounds given they can travel over 1000m and still be effective at killing someone but I cannot imagine a pistol fired at over 1000+ meter away
I recall Browning Hi-Power has it and also M1928 Thompson with it, now I'm not in a country where Firearm is free to buy and own but certainly questionable that you would ever fire a pistol caliber over 1000+ meter is beyond me.
I'm not sure if it was a marketing thing or what but even if you were a potential buyer how could you take that seriously. Might as well sell me a car with a speedometer that goes light speed.
I know the unrealistic 2500 meter or more iron sights on rifles were for the volley fire tactic. Not sure why on pistol though
My father had a Mauser chambered for 45cal with detachable magazine during the war!!! It was a complicated piece of machinery.
Missed opportunity not showing a clip of Eva using it MGS: Snake Eater. That scene was badass.
Gear work JJ. Nice gun. Full auto versions were utterly uncontrollable. Like……totally off the map!
Watching Solo use it in star wars actually gives you a sense of how this might look haha
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq it climbs faster than Apollo 11
Good video!! Also believe that this weapon was featured in a John Wayne movie called, "Big Jake".
This weapon is also in the Play Station 3 game, "Red Dead Redemption", which quickly became my weapon of choice just because of its firepower.
The Mauser is hardly the only early 20th century firearm used as a basis in Star Wars. The stormtrooper's E-11 blaster rifle was based heavily on a Sterling submachine gun, for example, and Jyn Erso's blaster pistol in Rogue One was built around a Luger P08 pistol. Can never really go wrong with an old classic.
Steampunk weaponry at its finest
Great episode
I still have that C96 toy I had since I was in kindegarten but now it's broken obviously, also this gun is in mafia II =)
Very well done and accurate video. Kudos.
Insanely prolific weapon
Not a movie but Eva using it in Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater is my favorite
This gun is so cool
this is literally my dreamgun if i could add any one gun to my collection its this one for sure, such a neat design
This was my great-grandfather's sidearm in WWI.
Two more movies for the list: In Thomas Vinterberg's "Dear Wendy" from 2005 Mark Webber makes use of the C96's excellent long range performance to take out a sniper. And in Milcho Manchevski's "Dust" from 2001 both antagonists use C96s - as a contrast to the protaginist's six-shooter.
Lots of titles going on my to-watch list here
This my favorite pistol just because of the style
Please do the Fn Fal
It'll be a great idea and I'd love to see it!!!
Love your videos ❤
It's getting closer to the top of the list. Will enjoy making that one.
The most beautiful gun to ever have been invented in my honest opinion. The Mauser C96 and it's variants are peak AESTHETICS!
Han Solo's blaster from Star Wars was modeled after this gun
It was built ON this gun! They added some model airplane parts, a bull barrel, and a flash hider from an MG 81. As well as a Hensoldt and Wexler rifle scope.
A Clint Eastwood Western I didn't know about!
Joe Kidd. It's a good movie,and also stars a younger Robert Duvall.
There's also a warlord copy chambered for 0.45 APC.
My father had one in the 1940s but his brother sold it when he was in the USAAF. He told me that it's easy to take it apart for servicing but you need five hands to put it back together. Is that true? I've always liked them and would own one if it were possible. But, here in Canada it's just not going to happen.
The Fiochi 7.63mm ammunition gave *huge* whitish, lightning-colored fireballs when fired out the one I once had.
They’re nowhere near as awkward to handles as they look to be - they’re a bit muzzle-heavy, which can help a less-steady aim. They have a good long sight radius, which also helps.
Silence’s pistol in the excellent Italian western Il Grande Silenzio!
I love this channel cuz it show great movies I’ve never seen but now need to!!! I wish he would tell people where to find the film (If possible). I think it would help people scratch the itch you started!!!
I wish I could too but it's near impossible as it changes for every country and region where to find them online.
I´m surprised you didn´t use a clip from Corbucci´s "The Great Silence" ( Il Grande Silenzio), where it´s featured very prominently.
It was widely used as far as the Philippines during its war against Spain and the US
The legendary Philippine Revolutionary General, Antonio Luna, was said to be armed with a Mauser C-96 Broomhandle when he was assassinated.
Complexity in the C-96's manual of arms could have been One reason Why he was not able to quickly fire back, being caught by surprise by bolo wielding assassins.
Had he been armed with a revolver..as was the normal carry then..he might have pulled it off.
Winston Churchill carried one at Omdurman in 1898...
Thanks! Great job.