Broomhandle gunsmith for a Shansi pistol
 

Hi all,

This comes as an oddball request but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a gunsmith for an oddball project. I acquired a .45 ACP 'Shanxi' Broomhandle 'kit' but it seems to require more fitting/gunsmithing than I am capable of doing and I don't know if the locals can do it (they seem to work more on ARs and Glocks and the like).

The man who sold me the kit gave me his gunsmith's name but the chap is in Vermont and I can't seem to get past voicemail on his phone.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Michael

(I posted this in Other Guns by mistake. Would it be possible for that duplicate to be removed? My apologies!)

My one and only recommendation for all things broom is the Broomcloset in FL. Tried them? Also, there is a C-96 user group on Yahoo, so you might wish to float it there.
Actually, now that I think about it, our LugerDoc, Tom Heller, has worked on one for me. You may wish to contact him too.
Good luck.
dju

Hi David, I tried and the Broom Closet suggested, to me, to just sell it for parts (not sure who would want them). I'll bounce LugerDoc an e-mail and see what he thinks!

Michael

The guy in Vermont could be Paladinpainter here on the forum. I know that he has worked on several of these guns, so you could try and send him a PM.

Michael

If at least we lived in the same continent I would address you to the gunsmith where I usually go as he's quite good.

Anyway you're absolutely right, also here "modern gunsmiths" can hardly work on a GLOCK now, and by no means I would trust them enough to let them touch a valuable gun.

Sergio

Sorry, life has been busy and I wasn't able to post. I eventually got in touch with him (he keeps busy) and he has the pistol in hand. We spoke yesterday and he said most of it was just fitting issues (which I didn't have the right tools for anyway or the know-how) and he did say one part was worn and needed to be replaced (fortunately, I had an armoury part he could use).

He thought, as of yesterday, he would be able to get it reassembled with no problems and on its way back. I'll have to call and ask but I hate to pester him! Hopefully, I can get some photos when it returns. I wonder if it is Paladinpainter. Huh. I never thought of the connection but this chap is really nice and helpful and knows his guns. I'm just a 'nervous nellie' about this as I'd to think I messed up such a beautiful piece!

I told him I wished we had more Broomhandle people on this coast!

Michael

We need pictures!!! :D

Here's one I nabbed a few months back when I won the auction. This is the 'kit' itself. Nice fellow who has another one of these kits on Gunbroker and a fully assembled one, too. It's interesting that the grip screw's head on this one is on the left.



I'll have to wait until it returns this week for me to get photos of the internals.

Michael

I've been watching these kits also. They look interesting, but involve close work to get it together. With an uncertain additional cost and need for extra parts. This then becomes a toss up between such a kit and a finished one. I've seen finished guns for $600-700+ depending on MANY factors. Good luck on yours, and I'll continue looking.

I've not seen any .45 ACP Broomhandles below $1500 so I jumped on this one and it's not so bad. I think I'm only about $2000 total (about as much as a decent Webley Mk I (N).) I think the need for this is just for the 'wow' factor in my collection.

I'd love to find one for the $600-700 you mention though!

Michael

The deals are out there, especially from people that want to SELL their guns and not just OFFER them at top dollar. The big thing is to watch for the Chinese copies sold as German, since they liked to duplicate the Mauser name. I passed on an all matching German 7.63 Mauser caliber in good shape but no finish left, for $700 at the SAR show in Arizona two years ago, and have seen others. The Chinese ones are cheaper and come down to $600 or less, depending on shape. I always wonder about the steel used in Chinese copies and they are old pistols. But if you carefully choose your loads, I don't think there would be a problem.

Ah, the 7.63 Mauser Broomhandles I can find at those prices (I've already got 4 for $800 or less) but the elusive .45 ACP one was what I wanted to round out what I have.

Back a few months ago, one seller from AL sold a kit (i.e. complete set of parts) on gunbroker.com above $1800. At the same time, another guy on gunbroker sold a similar set for $600.. The price varies in such a big range because parts does not have reference book value. In theory, parts should be cheaper than complete gun, but some sellers could successfully sell complete guns at price much much higher than book value. So, parts could go higher too.

It's not easy to wait a $600 kit nowadays, that seller who sold it $600 only has one kit. So, he could not suppress the price down by listing more. The AL seller who sold $1800 has many kits in his collection, he bought many kits years ago, that's his investment. "Broomman", or "Broomieman"... or "Broomguy?" I cannot exactly remember his screen name. He has many parts for sell. You find his items on gunbroker.com frequently.

Found:

http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx...ellers=1136154

He got some wild stuffs. Even imported a few Schnellfeuers cut in half.

Alvin, the chap from AL is indeed the fellow I purchased the kit from and I do vaguely recall seeing that $600 one but I don't remember it being a complete kit (hence the price). Perhaps I should have looked more closely if it was complete!

I have done the finish work on ONE of these big brooms.http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/ShanseiA2R.jpg