Among the early variants of the Mauser C96 pistol is the version made with a fixed forged-in-frame twenty-round magazine. Only about ninety of this model were made for the South and Central American market.
This pistol was made chambered for the 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge which boasted high velocity by comparison with other pistol cartridges of that time.
Fast Facts
- The Mauser C96 is one of the most historically significant pistols of the twentieth century. They were used in wars and conflicts, revolutions, and one had the distinction of being a young Winston Churchill’s favorite pistol: the one he carried and used at the Battle of Omdurman.
- There are many variants of the Mauser C96 but one of the most unusual is the early model that features a fixed twenty-round magazine, of which only about ninety were made.
- One of these rather rare Mauser C96 is coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction on February 21, 2025. You can find the sale page if you click here.
There are many variants of the Mauser C96 “Broomhandle” pistol: this being without doubt because it was such a good design that it became very popular, and it remains so to the present day despite the fact that there are many other pistol designs that have emerged since the “Broomhandle” made its debut back in 1896.
For collectors and enthusiasts the early days of a firearm’s design and development can produce some fascinating variations as the manufacturer tries out variants of their original concept to find what will prove to be most preferred by customers: and the development of the Mauser C96 indeed produced some fascinating pistols.
As originally conceived the C96 (the “C” standing for Construktion) was made with a ten-round fixed magazine located in front of the trigger-guard, this magazine was top loaded via stripper clip.
The action was a short recoil type in which on firing the barrel and breech-block would travel rearwards under recoil until the gas pressure in the barrel dropped, then the breech-block was unlocked as the barrel reached its stop and thus the breech-block continued its rearward journey ejecting the fired cartridge case before reaching battery, and then moving forward under spring pressure, stripping a fresh cartridge from the magazine, chambering it, and locking in place ready for the next shot.
The early versions of the C96 featured a flat sided cone hammer, long extractor on the top of the breech-block, a safety lever that is moved downwards to engage, a one lug firing pin, and a tangent rear sight graded from 1-10, meaning from 100-1000 meters.
The original chambering was for the 7.63x25mm Mauser pistol cartridge which sent an 86gn (5.6 gram) bullet downrange at 1,450fps (441 m/sec) for a muzzle energy of 402 ft/lb (545 Joules).
The barrel length of the early model C96 was 5.5 inches (140mm).
Although the first model was created with a ten-round fixed box magazine which was part of the frame forging there were other versions tried. One that I have not encountered before was the twenty-round fixed magazine that was also made as a part of the frame forging.
Very few of these seem to have been made: approximately ninety were manufactured and were believed to have been intended for the South and/or Central American market.
A twenty-round magazine located ahead of the trigger-guard would tend to affect the balance of the pistol, and as it emptied it could be expected to subtly alter the feel of the pistol: but that being said having twenty rounds available would be a rather useful asset, especially if dealing with multiple adversaries.
Another advantage would be that the pistol’s magazine could be topped up after ten-rounds were fired by use of a ten-round stripper clip – thus keeping the pistol’s fire capacity at a healthy level.
There were many variations on the design of the Mauser C96, and they were chambered in quite a variety of cartridges. These pistols featured in many of the major historic events of the twentieth century and they were made in many parts of the world, sometimes legally, sometimes without license.
The early C96 with the forged in frame twenty-round magazine is one of the more unusual variants, and one is coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction on February 21, 2025.
You can find the sale page for this pistol if you click here.
Rock Island Auction describe the condition of this pistol as follows:-
“Rating Definition:
Very fine as professionally refinished, with nearly all of the finish and some minor pitting visible on the hammer. Replacement grips are also very fine with only a couple of minor handling marks. Mechanically excellent.”
This twenty-round version of the C96 is very unusual – it is the first time I’ve come across one. There were twenty-round models made with a twenty-round detachable box magazine, but I’ve never before seen this twenty-round model with integral fixed magazine.
So if you are a Mauser C96 collector or enthusiast this item might be of interest.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Rock Island Auction
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
