Broomhandle Party

Last month a friend stopped by that has quite a bit of interest in 20th century European history. Naturally he was interested in my latest acquisition, a Mauser C96 Broomhandle.



Last Sunday he showed up with his collection of Broomhandles. He has three fully functional examples, and parts for several more.


The longer barreled versions were made previous to W.W.I. The Versailles Treaty of June 28, 1919 required that the barrel length be shortened.


The most interesting was the parts for the full auto version. All he has at this point is the hammer mechanism and the receiver. As you can see there is some difference. The full auto is the bottom piece. The receiver is just a few millimeters wider.

Of course he had a replica stock attachment similar to the set up that Winston Churchill used.


The gun stowes away in the stock for easy transport.


Next time we get together we plan to fire these bad boys.

Carnival of Cordite #52