Mauser 1896 pistol

[RCS]

Bought this from a veteran many years ago, so long ago that you could still buy Remington green & white box 30 cal Mauser ammo. Enjoyed reloading this cartridge but always with mild loads as everything is matching including the stock. The stock has an old battlefield repair. My old friend Harold Murtz from The Gun Digest had a Spanish Astra 900 broomhandle in mint condition and we
use to shoot together. Also have a friend in Calif who has the Chinese 45 acp broomhandle which he fired with WCC 42 ammo just to test. I have also fired the bolo Mausers and the WW1 9mm.

My pistol is pre WW1 and I believe manufactured around 1912 or 1913

[RDS]

Great pistol. Always wanted one. Only screw in the whole pistol is the grip screw. Thanks for sharing.

[Tom in N.J.]

Nice set-up!.. I had one of Bob Ruben's imports, re bored to 9 mm... Interesting guns!..

[RCS]

When the Czech Vz 52 pistols became available during the 90's a lot of "hot" loads were used as this was a very strong pistol and only chambered for the 7,62x25mm Soviet cartridge while the "official name for the Mauser 1896 cartridge was 7,63x25mm not that it matters as both cases have about the dimensions, the Mauser was not designed to use the Soviet 7,62mm cartridge and use of this cartridge could damage your Mauser pistol.

Sometime during the last ten or fifteen years the 22 Reed Express was developed by necking down the 7,62x25mm cartridge to use a .224 dia bullet with special drop-in barrels for the Czech Vz 52 pistol. Some of cartridges had the 224 dia 30 gr bullet @ 2513 fps from a five inch barrel and a 224 dia 50 gr bullet @ 2080 fps. Reed did plan on making barrels for the Model 1911A1 and M9 too

[m14brian]

Very cool! Don't see those often, thanks for sharing.
m14brian

[RCS]

Another pistol converted to use the Soviet 7,62x25mm was the Chinese conversion of our Colt Model 1911A1, these were around at gun shows, very crude looking but functional.

[RDS]

I got a chance to handle a Colt 1911A1 converted to 7.62X25mm. As you stated very crude workmanship. Breach face modified and crude replacement barrel. But I can not remember how it was modified to handle the bigger magazine. Was the frame modified and if so how?

[RCS]

The 1911 frame was worked over and modified for the new magazine

There were just a few known, but some M1 carbines were also modified to use the 7,62x25mm too. Not certain if it was done by the Chinese

[MRusan]

Have a post war Bolo that I REALLY love. Barrel is a little eroded due to early corrosive ammo, but it still shoots great. Looks great too!
It's like a safe opening and closing every time you fire it.
Probably my favourite gun of all time.

MRusan

[RDS]

MRusan
What ammo do you shoot in your Bolo?

[RCS]

Soviet 7,63mm or other "hot" cartridges will cause a bulge at the rear of the upper after extended use, best to standard 7,63 Mauser or reloads.

Also rare to find in nice condition are the Spanish broomhandles, the Astra 900 and the Royal. I use to shoot a really nice Astra 900 that an old friend had in his collection. A nice Royal is very difficult to find and most went to China. The Spanish broomhandles were the first to have selective fire which was later brought out in Mauser production models. Also of some collectors interest is the broomhandles made in China both in 7,63mm and 45 ACP

[RDS]

Robert
Thank You for your reply. I have a commercial Mauser C96 made in 1914 in 96% or better condition. I have a box of Fiocchi 7.63 Mauser and am tempted to shoot it. Just wondering if Fiocchi ammo is loaded hot.

[RCS]

I had a lot of original Remington 30 Mauser but shot it all up, good for reloads, Also had Midway 7,63mm brass which I reloaded too. Some used 223 brass to form their 7,63mm brass but you have to be really careful about the extractor groove and might need to be re-cut. Finding another extractor is a project. Someone must know if Fiocchi is safe, try gunboards.com

[RDS]

Thank you Robert. Should I replace the recoil spring before firing. The original seems ok and the pistol appears to have been shot very little.

[RCS]

I never replaced my recoil spring as the pistol was in excellent condition and never fired anything above the normal factory loading. It is the pistols that came back from China that really require a complete rebuild. Interesting is that some Astra 900 broomhandles can use the Mauser bolt. Never seen a nice condition Royal broomhandle but I am sure they are around. When I was around 21 yrs old I bought a M96 in 9mm from WW1, a mis-match that I had to rebuild again and again as parts were around, always had some problem