Hi Henry, Thanks for posting that great picture of the Senorita. I understand it's still pretty violent south of the border! Regards, Norm

Alvin,

It took me two weeks to read this topic and check you new purchase.
Ok, it's not a Flatside, but it is a MINT C96. A very late number even for a 30's series.
I once had a set of grips for these latter Brooms and it looked exactly the same as yours.
Congratulations!

Douglas

How could I become a "dealer" of these guns... that's not my original intention..... but I do need $$ for the following one.

Not in hurry, Doug. I do get another flatside. Not in my hand yet. Probably need a few weeks. Will post pictures then.

Is this gun from a member here? Looks like the seller had many Lugers as well....

A commercial flatside made in 1901, in this unbelievable shape with excellent bore. No vL&D.

Hehe @ Pimpgewher :p Those Mausers are beautiful mate, I've always loved those, such an odd design yet so beautiful at the same time. Killer engineering. Those tooling/machining marks always look so pretty to me :D

The C96 variation that I still don't feel comfortable was cabine. Supposed being very rare, and commonly carrying five digit BB value, but there are many of them floating on the market..... say rarer than commonly seen small ring, but still numerically a lot, even my local shop has a cased one, reblued asking 2k. Just by this volume, it's reasonable to guess that most of them were fake.

Who made all those carbines?

Here is some good information on the abundance of carbines issue;

http://www.1896mauser.com/carbines.htm

Thanks alanint. So 16" barrel is a sign. The one that I met in the local store has 16" barrel 1930 style, most likely being a fake. The chamber length was much longer than pistol. Weird piece.

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They received my payment for the flatside. The darn thing was known more than 40 years ago. s/n 30154 on page 72 of System Mauser. Hopefully, the condition did not change much after near half a century. I almost missed this one in the initial scan because the list title did not contain the word "broomhandle".

I'm surprised to see Nemo's old site still around I wonder who is keeping it afloat? By the site information I saw last year the domain should have expired by now...

Hey Alvin perhaps should I post some photos of my meager C96 collection here...

Jerry

Yes. Please. Only a single request: 1024x768 size, and one gun per picture. I am interested in detail. Thanks!

Anything else? Sorry, I'm not a pro photog.....

Jerry

WRONG - The first Flatside started as a German Test Flatside (around serial #145 in January 1899) after the Milled Panel German Cavarly Test Large Ring Hammer.

Mauser 712 is right. German Test guns came a few months before Italian. Thanks for the correction.

#30154 arrived. Spent a little time checked inside and out. No surprise, looks good in general. Obviously, the dealer checked the numbers, because the grip panels were put on carelessly on the frame. It's hard to believe owner could do such a lousy job. Must be dealer..... Easily fixed.

For stupid reason, the camera is lost. ...... have to wait one to come.

"Jerry is Jerry, you know".

Celluar phone can do it. No pro is necessary in this context.

Internal numbers not visible outside: firing pin, bolt lock, magazine floor, disconnector, sear, and grip panels (full).

Externally visible numbers shown below:

Plus proof marks, muzzle, and slot..... that's all key points that I can think of on this thing. All look healthy.

Test fired 10 rounds PRVI from the flatside in range (!!) With all those numbered parts and considering what I paid for it, I ran big risk and could only do so much. With shoulder stock attached, five rounds at 50 yards, 5 rounds at 100 yards, and satified with typical Mauser performance, accurate and reliable. Thanks Lord, nothing was broken in the process.

Originally, I really should stop here. But visited a local gun store today, did not find any guns but saw a book on countertop. Seeing I was flipping pages of the book, the owner said "You could buy it for $3" and raised 3 fingers. "Three", he said.

So I paid $3. It's interesting to see the price of a few guns in 1980s.

Mauser 1910: $225 - $250
Mauser 1934: $250 - $275
Postwar Bolo: $750 - $800
Mauser WTP: $225 - $275
Mauser 1930: $750 - $800
Astra 900: $750 - $800
Interarms Parabellum: $750 - $800
Centennial Hi-Power: $650 - $700
H&K P7: $450 - $460

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[Edit] In preface, author had an interesting paragraph. Here is what he observed in 1985:

History shows that, when the supply of many coveted firearms such as Lugers, Mausers and others dried up nearly two decades back [so, sounds like dried up in 1960s], prices for them skyrocketed. As little as three years ago, a Bolo Mauser pistol in good condition sold for $500 or more, while mint examples commanded more than $1000. I know of one individual who foresaw the supply drying up with the ban on importation of foreign surplus and purchased a dozen Bolo Mausers as an investment [sounds like a very easy task at that time]. At the current going price, he has seen the value of his investment decreased by what he judges is more than $3000 [probably each piece dropped $250]. And with the growing number of importers -- not to mention the huge reservoir of surplus arms still to be released from foreign arsenals and warehouses -- price may well continue to drop for several years.