Mauser 96 pistol

C96 MAUSER.

Introduced in 1896 and chambered in 30 Mauser which is similar to 7.62x25 Tokarev cartridge but lower in pressure. Mauser produced some one million of the C96 pistols from 1896 to 1937, but untold numbers (possibly in the millions), were produced in China and Spain. The only screw in the firearm is the one that holds the grip panels on. It has an internal magazine that uses a stripper clip to feed. There is also an optional butt stock that can be attached to the grip and it’s not just any butt stock, you can store your pistol inside the butt stock. How convenient!

One of the most famous early users of Mauser C96 was Winston Churchill, who used privately purchased C96 pistol in Sudanese campaign and Boor War. while he served as an officer in India and later in Africa. Churchill had injured his shoulder while disembarking from a boat in India and it never properly healed. As he was a cavalry officer and found it difficult to use his saber in combat, he purchased a C96 pistol, which he carried in place of the standard issue Webley service revolver.

Churchill had suggested that the weapon saved his life when he took part in what has been described as the last classic charge of the British cavalry during the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan in 1898. Churchill was actually there in an unofficial capacity as a war correspondent, yet managed to find himself in the thick of the action during the battle—which was a completely one-sided affair.

Late in the day some 400 cavalrymen including Lt. Churchill charged and engaged more than 2,500 Dervishes and in his subsequent accounts Churchill claims to have shot three enemy warriors at extremely close range. It has been debated whether his standard issue Webley revolver would have had the same effect at stopping the charging warriors but in Churchill’s mind the C96 made the difference.

It has obviously appeared in many historical films but it was also used by Han Solo in the star Wars movies.

Later changes were made such as being chambered in 9mm, modified to take a detachable magazine and came in a fully automatic version.