The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - The best way to clean up the place is with a broomhandle

Winchester_73 · February 16, 2013, 08:02 PM

In January I caught wind of this iconic semi auto pistol and later in Jan I bought it. Its a broomhandle aka Mauser C96, and this one is a "red 9" referring to the cal being 9mm luger. The background I read in one of my books about the red 9 was that in WWI Imperial Germany had a shortage of lugers. Also, there was the thought that the facilities at Mauser were under utilized. To supplement the lugers, Mauser was commissioned to make their famous broomhandle in 9mm luger.

The seller thought it was a 9mm commercial, despite also being a red 9 which didn't make any sense. I assumed that he missed the Imperial army acceptance on the right side of the chamber, which he must have. When he told me the SN was 38XXX, it matched the red 9 SN range of 1 to approx 150XXX. The gun is all matching on the outside, and the previous owner, who I've known through a friend for years, took the gun apart for me and it matched internally as well. The grips also match. Overall, a nice example.

Here is the Imperial Army acceptance

and the coolest thing about a broomhandle? It can become an EVIL assault carbine!

February 16, 2013, 08:02 PM	#1
Winchester_73 Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2008 Location: Pittsburgh PA Posts: 2,863	The best way to clean up the place is with a broomhandle In January I caught wind of this iconic semi auto pistol and later in Jan I bought it. Its a broomhandle aka Mauser C96, and this one is a "red 9" referring to the cal being 9mm luger. The background I read in one of my books about the red 9 was that in WWI Imperial Germany had a shortage of lugers. Also, there was the thought that the facilities at Mauser were under utilized. To supplement the lugers, Mauser was commissioned to make their famous broomhandle in 9mm luger. The seller thought it was a 9mm commercial, despite also being a red 9 which didn't make any sense. I assumed that he missed the Imperial army acceptance on the right side of the chamber, which he must have. When he told me the SN was 38XXX, it matched the red 9 SN range of 1 to approx 150XXX. The gun is all matching on the outside, and the previous owner, who I've known through a friend for years, took the gun apart for me and it matched internally as well. The grips also match. Overall, a nice example. Here is the Imperial Army acceptance and the coolest thing about a broomhandle? It can become an EVIL assault carbine! __________________ Winchester 73, the TFL user that won the west Last edited by Winchester_73; February 16, 2013 at 08:43 PM.