Sergio, that one looks a lot like mine. Rust blued finish in fairly decent condition, deep pitting under the grip panels, and a nice, frosty bore. The internal parts are well finished. In tiny print, its stamped: "N. A. Co., Ridgewood NJ" (2 lines) on the front grip strap and "Cal. 45 ACP" on the rear grip strap. Probably a 'Navy Arms Special', if all the production went into service and none were stored in an armory, as you say Alvin. The poor condition of the regular C96s I've seen that are reportedly from China, certainly supports your thinking.
Of the 11 Shanxi I've seen, all had serial numbers under 2000. That always struck me as odd.
I've seen an article that asserts there is a difference in the Chinese stampings. I'll see if I can find it.
See ya,
John
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