Persian C96

alvin · 08-31-2013, 12:14 AM

Mauro and Vlim's research showed 1100 Persian C96s were made. 600 were delivered, and 500 left in Germany. About half and half. The guns delivered to Persia did not have stocks. The guns stayed were sold to German army during WWI, at least some of them have German army acceptance stamp.

This particular one is in NRA VG shape. No stock. No German army acceptance stamp either. In its history, there was a stock, the grip slot has some attaching scratches, and back of the lock frame has pressing sign left from stock's lid spring. The barrel blue condition and magazine well front heel wearing also indicate it had a holster in its history. There are a few possibilities, e.g. a stock could be assigned to it later, it might belong to those 500 not delivered, etc.

Anyway, no way to tell it has ever been in Persia. The lion waving a sword crest looks cool, so this is a well-known variation, although not many were made.

sheepherder · 08-31-2013, 09:00 AM

Very nice!!!

I 'assume' it is 7.63mm...I had thought to ask if it was 9mm Parabellum, or even 9mm x 25mm Mauser, but if so, would it have a Farsi '9' carved into the grips???

How hard would it be to find an export Mauser stock-holster???

alvin · 08-31-2013, 03:09 PM

I can find a period correct stock for it. It will be nice to have a stock, but stock in nice shape is expensive, and the number won't match anyway, so finding a stock is not my current priority. And..... who knows, if it was one of those 600 delivered to Persian, no stock is correct (although there was signs of an accompanying stock in its history, that could be a later add-on. Unfortunately, no way to tell without seeing it).

Visited Concord NH gun show today. Saw an ammo table had 6 boxes of 30 Luger ammo for sale, made by Remington, Winchester decades ago, still in original excellent shape. 50 round per box, wrapped in plastic wrapper. Asking $20 per box. The price was great! I thought I would buy all six boxes, but I only had $40 cash in pocket, so I went out and found an ATM fetched some cash and came back to the table. Only 20 minutes. Unfortunately, all six boxes disappeared. Sold to someone else.

Saw a copy of Vlim's book, "Parabellum is back", so I bought a copy.

sheepherder · 08-31-2013, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alvin

Visited Concord NH gun show today. Saw an ammo table had 6 boxes of 30 Luger ammo for sale, made by Remington, Winchester decades ago, still in original excellent shape. 50 round per box, wrapped in plastic wrapper. Asking $20 per box. The price was great! I thought I would buy all six boxes, but I only had $40 cash in pocket, so I went out and found an ATM fetched some cash and came back to the table. Only 20 minutes. Unfortunately, all six boxes disappeared. Sold to someone else.

"He who hesitates is lost"...You could have plunked down the $40 as a down payment and then gone for the ATM...

rhuff · 08-31-2013, 05:09 PM

I would have grabbed all 6 of those 30 Luger boxes if i had the chance. That is cheaper than current 30 luger ammo, and will function great.........maybe even better than the new stuff. I have some old Winchester-Western Super X 30 Luger ammo that I found some time ago. The owner just wanted to get rid of it at a VERY easonable price......A match made in Heaven!!!

Douglas Jr. · 08-31-2013, 08:03 PM

Alvin,

That's a very good Persian Contract C96. I stumbled on one refinished years ago for that was for sale for 500.00. I grabbed it as the refinishing was fairly good (all the small marks and crest nicely visible). I still own it, as I doubt I will see another down here in Brazil. Serial number is 154009 - the 10th gun of this contract.

Douglas

sheepherder · 08-31-2013, 08:58 PM

Ooh...I am SO envious...

alvin · 09-01-2013, 09:26 AM

Obviously, gun price is lower in Brazil. In yesterday's gun show, I saw a seller put a card besides his Luger, "If you want to ask 50% to 70% off, please give me time to raise the price in future"

Probably someone made super low offer to him in the past.

sheepherder · 09-01-2013, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alvin

...I saw a seller put a card besides his Luger, "If you want to ask 50% to 70% off, please give me time to raise the price in future"

Probably someone made super low offer to him in the past.

Or someone had watched one of the many 'pawn shop' TV shows on cable lately, and was 'playing the game'...

I can understand the sellers annoyance...When I sell something, the price I post is the selling price; I don't 'dicker'. If they won't meet my price, then that is OK with me.

Douglas Jr. · 09-04-2013, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alvin

Obviously, gun price is lower in Brazil. In yesterday's gun show, I saw a seller put a card besides his Luger, "If you want to ask 50% to 70% off, please give me time to raise the price in future"

Probably someone made super low offer to him in the past.

Oh, no intention to compare prices. Geography and, mostly, legal issues play a huge part on this subject. You may never find a Persian Broomhandle for 500.00 in USA but, on the other hand, I don't have any gun shows to go down here.

This is life...

Douglas.

pitsword · 09-04-2013, 07:32 PM

Very nice Douglas, a well done restoration. Thank you for sharing this and the postcard photo's. Best to you, Vince

ithacaartist · 09-05-2013, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhuff

I would have grabbed all 6 of those 30 Luger boxes if i had the chance. That is cheaper than current 30 luger ammo, and will function great.........maybe even better than the new stuff. I have some old Winchester-Western Super X 30 Luger ammo that I found some time ago. The owner just wanted to get rid of it at a VERY easonable price......A match made in Heaven!!!

I've read caveats about Remington ammo in Lugers, that it does not function dependably. If the warnings were specifically about only the 9 mm format, that is good because I have a few boxes of vintage Remington--also found for very good price--in .30 Luger that I basically bought for the brass. If it is OK to shoot reliably, I'll give it a go and have more brass to reload.

alvin · 09-05-2013, 09:35 AM

After a week, I am still kicking myself for not asking the seller reserving the ammo for me. Dealers do not ship ammo here, so only way to find old ammo is via local gun show. I saw the ammo at entrance, but I did not rush out to find ATM. Wasted 40 minutes searching better deal. No other tables had this type of ammo..... coming back, ammo was still there.... then went to ATM, another 15 minutes. Coming back, gone..... Should have paid $40 to reserve it.... what's in my mind at that moment was purely stupid -- if I could not find an ATM nearby, I would not have $1 to pay highway toll station on the way home.

rhuff · 09-05-2013, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ithacaartist

I've read caveats about Remington ammo in Lugers, that it does not function dependably. If the warnings were specifically about only the 9 mm format, that is good because I have a few boxes of vintage Remington--also found for very good price--in .30 Luger that I basically bought for the brass. If it is OK to shoot reliably, I'll give it a go and have more brass to reload.

David,

All of the problems that I know about(read or tried myself) shooting Remington ammo in Lugers was for the 9mm stuff. I know of no problems with Remington 30 Luger ammo. Give it a go, and be sure to let us know. Occasionally this ammo pops up and it would be great to have some knowledge concerning it's function and reliability.

08-31-2013, 12:14 AM	#1
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	Persian C96 Mauro and Vlim's research showed 1100 Persian C96s were made. 600 were delivered, and 500 left in Germany. About half and half. The guns delivered to Persia did not have stocks. The guns stayed were sold to German army during WWI, at least some of them have German army acceptance stamp. This particular one is in NRA VG shape. No stock. No German army acceptance stamp either. In its history, there was a stock, the grip slot has some attaching scratches, and back of the lock frame has pressing sign left from stock's lid spring. The barrel blue condition and magazine well front heel wearing also indicate it had a holster in its history. There are a few possibilities, e.g. a stock could be assigned to it later, it might belong to those 500 not delivered, etc. Anyway, no way to tell it has ever been in Persia. The lion waving a sword crest looks cool, so this is a well-known variation, although not many were made. Attached Thumbnails

08-31-2013, 09:00 AM	#2
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,195 Thanks: 1,411 Thanked 4,462 Times in 2,336 Posts	Very nice!!! I 'assume' it is 7.63mm...I had thought to ask if it was 9mm Parabellum, or even 9mm x 25mm Mauser, but if so, would it have a Farsi '9' carved into the grips??? How hard would it be to find an export Mauser stock-holster??? __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...

08-31-2013, 08:03 PM	#6
Douglas Jr. User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: South America Posts: 948 Thanks: 598 Thanked 584 Times in 254 Posts	Alvin, That's a very good Persian Contract C96. I stumbled on one refinished years ago for that was for sale for 500.00. I grabbed it as the refinishing was fairly good (all the small marks and crest nicely visible). I still own it, as I doubt I will see another down here in Brazil. Serial number is 154009 - the 10th gun of this contract. Douglas Attached Thumbnails

08-31-2013, 08:58 PM	#7
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,195 Thanks: 1,411 Thanked 4,462 Times in 2,336 Posts	Ooh...I am SO envious... __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...

08-31-2013, 03:09 PM	#3
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	I can find a period correct stock for it. It will be nice to have a stock, but stock in nice shape is expensive, and the number won't match anyway, so finding a stock is not my current priority. And..... who knows, if it was one of those 600 delivered to Persian, no stock is correct (although there was signs of an accompanying stock in its history, that could be a later add-on. Unfortunately, no way to tell without seeing it). Visited Concord NH gun show today. Saw an ammo table had 6 boxes of 30 Luger ammo for sale, made by Remington, Winchester decades ago, still in original excellent shape. 50 round per box, wrapped in plastic wrapper. Asking $20 per box. The price was great! I thought I would buy all six boxes, but I only had $40 cash in pocket, so I went out and found an ATM fetched some cash and came back to the table. Only 20 minutes. Unfortunately, all six boxes disappeared. Sold to someone else. Saw a copy of Vlim's book, "Parabellum is back", so I bought a copy.

08-31-2013, 05:09 PM	#5
rhuff Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Az. Posts: 2,305 Thanks: 2,735 Thanked 991 Times in 727 Posts	I would have grabbed all 6 of those 30 Luger boxes if i had the chance. That is cheaper than current 30 luger ammo, and will function great.........maybe even better than the new stuff. I have some old Winchester-Western Super X 30 Luger ammo that I found some time ago. The owner just wanted to get rid of it at a VERY easonable price......A match made in Heaven!!!

09-01-2013, 09:26 AM	#8
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	Obviously, gun price is lower in Brazil. In yesterday's gun show, I saw a seller put a card besides his Luger, "If you want to ask 50% to 70% off, please give me time to raise the price in future" Probably someone made super low offer to him in the past.

09-04-2013, 07:32 PM	#11
pitsword User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Southern Maine Posts: 459 Thanks: 3,964 Thanked 103 Times in 83 Posts	Very nice Douglas, a well done restoration. Thank you for sharing this and the postcard photo's. Best to you, Vince

09-05-2013, 09:35 AM	#13
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	After a week, I am still kicking myself for not asking the seller reserving the ammo for me. Dealers do not ship ammo here, so only way to find old ammo is via local gun show. I saw the ammo at entrance, but I did not rush out to find ATM. Wasted 40 minutes searching better deal. No other tables had this type of ammo..... coming back, ammo was still there.... then went to ATM, another 15 minutes. Coming back, gone..... Should have paid $40 to reserve it.... what's in my mind at that moment was purely stupid -- if I could not find an ATM nearby, I would not have $1 to pay highway toll station on the way home.