Impulsive Buying :cool:
 

The seller had a few Broomhandles for sale, including one Conehammer, and two Large Rings. I believe those guns were from the same owner because those "rigs" had one attribute in common -- he/she liked to mix old and new stuffs together.

Through comparison, I locked on this one. Although finally paid $250 more than I had planned, when it arrived, that turned out to be a minor issue. It did looks great :)

Two side stories after it arrived.

The previous owner was a "grease fan", applied lots of toothpaste-like white color gun grease inside, that took me half an hour to clean up :)

I thought I checked everything and put it aside. But I felt there was something I ignored.... what? I could not remember.... During dinner, suddenly I remembered the part that I ignored: Was the magazine follower on this one numbered? It's supposed to be numbered.... The more I tried to remember previous inspection detail, the more I could not remember anything, the more I could not just sit there eating. Rushing back, checked it again... it's correctly numbered. Thanks the Lord! What a relief.

nice one, congrats

Very nice...Mostly...Sad about the front sight... :(

Agree. I heard it's called "Lyman bead front sight". God knows. Looks like it's a popular modification in America while this type of pistols were in their tool's stage. I've met quiet a few vL&D with this modification. Due to this, this gun is NRA VG to fine, not NRA excellent.

Marble's is still in business (as is Lyman). Marbles popularizd the brass bead front sight - several 22 rifles I owned had them. Come to think of it, I still have my first single-shot .22 w/Marbles front sight around here somewhere... :p

http://www.marblearms.com/history.html

Thor could probably restore that front sight for you. ;)

Edit - Here's my 1950's vintage JC Higgins [Sears] .22 single shot Marbles front sight...Actually pretty well made...The leaf rear may be a Marbles as well, but it's pretty crude...(designwise)...

Thor's skill is outstanding. But I will leave this gun alone.

This is not a military C96. As a commercial C96, Lyman sight does reflect this gun's history, nothing is really wrong with that. It's installed professionally, and actually, that's one reason I acquired this one. Otherwise, I would not need another vL&D (I had another one, serial is only 200 away, with original sights). And, it does improve aiming due to the front sight's golden color.

Also, the lanyard ring is missing on this gun. I will leave that alone as well, although finding a lanyard ring is a simple task. God knows why so many otherwise excellent vL&Ds do not have lanyard rings..... they might not have rings when they were sold initially, if I put a ring on it,,,,, no, no. I will leave it as is.

Previous owner added a German military like stock harness to it. That's totally wrong. I will undo that.

Ugh...Well, I already pulled these old pics up to illustrate one way you could 'restore' the Mauser front sight...This is my faux arty barrel, but I do my Mausers the same way, just different shape...

http://forum.lugerforum.com/attachme...8&d=1235156391

http://forum.lugerforum.com/attachme...7&d=1235248499

Is it??? My two Mausers have key rings instead of real lanyard rings...perhaps you could share where original or repro lanyard rings could be purchased??? :p

Buy one of those guns that I sell, you'll have the lanyard ring :) If I wanted to keep those rings for my "keepers missing the rings", that's so simple, but what's the purpose....

http://www.gunsamerica.com/907714494...l_1930_Rig.htm

http://www.gunsamerica.com/926305074...ser_Pistol.htm

http://www.gunsamerica.com/973119309...ROOMHANDLE.htm

http://www.gunsamerica.com/992928067...HING_STOCK.htm

http://www.gunsamerica.com//95397066..._Excellent.htm

There were bunch of others, but I did not always keep the links...

Original Mauser's front sight is not dovetail installed. It's an integral part of the barrel. I had a Bolo coming from South Africa having reworked front sight. The way that one implemented was uneasy for me (at least, not matching my taste). Without TIG welding, it's impossible to restore it. TIG on an otherwise fine gun?? no, no. That Bolo with matching stock was sold to a member in Jan's forum two years ago. If I had restored it, the story would be different.

Which is why I said "could restore the front sight"...You could also electron-beam weld an original front sight on (like AutoMag did on their ribs)...There are many ways to do it... ;)

If I were a collector, I would surely consider one or more of your handguns (except the Bolos, which are of no interest whatsoever to me)...They are quite nice, but prohibitively priced for my purposes... :D

Postie, did you sell your products? You buy some raw materials, and work on them, just keep them yourself?

Alvin,

Congratulations for your new addition to the collection. I really like the retailer marking and the overall bluing - beautiful!
You gave me reason for a loud laugh when reading about your doubts during dinner.
It is sooooo collector-like!!!

Douglas

Beautiful specimen, I once had a chance in 2002 to buy a Broomhandle for $500. I had just bought my first Luger and have regretted not somehow getting both.

First time I saw this type of gun in the U.S. was 1996. Really surprised me. It's a relatively scarce gun in America. Nowadays, internet virtual gun shows always have a few C96 on display, but back then, it seldom show up in local gun stores.

It's in a shooting range. They had a converted semi-auto Schnellfeuer for sale, asking $695. Quite amount of $$. The owner boasted it "You know what.... for this 20-round magazine, it worth that money" (10-round legal constraints on newly made pistol magazines). I asked the owner to take it out so I could hold it in hand to take a close look, "Whoa! now I remembered, here it is, you know what's this stamp says? marking in Chinese 'Germany Made' on magazine well". Pretty, pretty, but how come this bolt could not return to battery even if I pushed down the magazine follower?? "You broke it? let me check", the owner took the gun back, "Oh, here, it's hold by the hammer".

Impressive gun, but I did not have budget for it. It stayed there for more than a year, later, I noticed it disappeared from the counter.

Alvin and Rich, you two are the best. I am still working on my 30-30 guage, semi auto, lever action, pump gun design. I'll bet you two could do it in a couple of days.:D:D