Please help me identify this broom handle

[Kyrie]

Originally Posted by bubbapug1

My god that is a lot of info. I wish the allies had not destroyed the factory records. I think this thread has doubled my understanding of red nines. And also doubled my confusion!!

As it turns out the Mauser factory records were not destroyed. It's a twisty tale but the Mauser factory records survived, albeit in a scattered form, and are slowly coming to light thanks to Jon Speed , et. al.

See:

"The Mauser Archive"
"Mauser: Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles"
"Mauser Pistolen: Development and Production, 1877-1946"
"Mauser Smallbores: Sporting,Target & Training Rifles"
"Paul Mauser His Life, Company, and Handgun Development 1838-1914" (Mauro Baudino)

Great stuff all!

And don't feel like the Lone Ranger in your confusion - it's a common enough state in C96 collectors.

Lugers are fairly easy in comparison to C96s. With Lugers it's chambered for either the 9 mm Parabellum or the 7.65 Parabellum.

C96 factory chamberings include:

7.63 Mauser
9 mm parabellum
9 mm Mauser
8.15 mm

Post factory conversions include:

7.65 Parabellum
9x23 Largo
9x21
.22 Long Rifle
Various wildcat cartridges.

Plus the damn things keep showing up in use wherever people are still warring against someone - including in Afghanistan today.