1915 Marine C-96 Broomhandle and 1916 Gewehr 98

[luftwaffenkopf]

http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/h...t=8bce8e53.pbw

[Douglas Jr.]

Hi,

Your C96 is called "Wartime Commercial": in fact one of the first that falls into this cathegory, as most of the authors claim that its serial number range starts at a. 280.000. Its most significant details is the adoption of a new safety sistem, hence the "NS" letters ("neue Sicherung") in the hammer

This C96 has the Prussian military acceptance proof stamped on the right side of the receiver, as happened with about 50% of the WWI-era production. However according to the pictures posted there is no evidence that this C96 was issued to the Kaiserliche Marine. In this case it shold be stamped with a "Crowned/M", just as the Navy Lugers. The wood stock is missing part of the attachment device.

Anyway, it is a nice Mauser C96 and a true WWI veteran.

Greetings,

Douglas.

[luftwaffenkopf]

Hi,

Your C96 is called "Wartime Commercial": in fact one of the first that falls into this cathegory, as most of the authors claim that its serial number range starts at a. 280.000. Its most significant details is the adoption of a new safety sistem, hence the "NS" letters ("neue Sicherung") in the hammer

This C96 has the Prussian military acceptance proof stamped on the right side of the receiver, as happened with about 50% of the WWI-era production. However according to the pictures posted there is no evidence that this C96 was issued to the Kaiserliche Marine. In this case it shold be stamped with a "Crowned/M", just as the Navy Lugers. The wood stock is missing part of the attachment device.

Anyway, it is a nice Mauser C96 and a true WWI veteran.

Greetings,

Douglas.

thanks for the info. the reason i said it's a Marine/Navy mauser is because of the proof mark 'M/6-pointed star' which is stamped on this gun under the base of the barrel, as mentioned here:

http://www.g6csy.net/c96/database.html

i believe this is a pre-war time commercial but most likely was used in WWI. war time commercials came in with a 290090 serial number according to the link above...

[Douglas Jr.]

i believe this is a pre-war time commercial but most likely was used in WWI. war time commercials came in with a 290090 serial number according to the link above...

If you look at the year "1915" at the same link you'll see that the NS mark started at 280.000. It is this mark that defines what is called "Wartime Commercial".

Thanks for that addition about the "six point star". I'll check this info further and see what I can found.


Greetings,

Douglas

[GWA]

The six pointed star has nothing to do with the navy.

[Douglas Jr.]

The six pointed star has nothing to do with the navy.

Exactly what I'd found. In fact there is no evidece of such relation between the "six pointed star/M" with the use by the Kaiserliche Marine. The only mark recognized as proof of Imperial Navy's property/adoption is the "crown/N".

Greetings,

Douglas

[luftwaffenkopf]

i'm only going off of that link i posted where under the 1915 picture is says this:

"A 'Navy C96 Broomhandle Mauser'.
It has the 'M/6-pointed star' proof mark as described on page 123 of the Bedford & Dunlap book 5,
and as shown here."

i don't have the Bedford & Dunlap book. can someone who has confirm what it says in that book on page 123?

thank you for your efforts.

[GWA]

From Bedford & Dunlap "The Mauser Self Loading Pistol";

"...until about 1922 very few new arms were produced; however large quantities of existing arms were overhauled, and in some cases modified, and new proof marks added. These marks are to be found in many forms. From the Mauser Werke comes the possibility that the six-pointed star surmounted by the letter "M" is such a weapon, probably issued to some small sea-going unit. This marking will usually appear in the serial range 400-500 thousand."

The last sentence quoted above completely nullifies the whole idea of the star being a rework stamp of some kind. If such a marking did indeed occur within a specific serial number range then it has to have been applied at the time of manufacture.

I don't fault the authors for bad information at all. Their book was written in 1969 and they were putting forth information and ideas based on what was known or thought by them at the time. With the benefit of almost forty more years of weapons surfacing, collector base widening and later publications as well as the internet different conclusions can be drawn.

My own experiance with the star is that it appears on most military accepted 7.63's and 9mm's of the wartime production that I have seen. I presently have a 7.63 that is Weimar property stamped "1920" that went into service in Hanover after the war and a Red Nine that is "EWB" marked that saw service in Bavaria in the period 1918-1922. Neither pistol was issued to a Weimar naval outfit and both fall outside of the above quoted serial number range.

[Steiner44]

Hello guys,

I saw a lot of nice pictures of the C96 and Gew98.
But on the Gew 98 reciever is number (1039)
I have a same Gew 98 with such a same number on the same place (614)
but what is is for a number ...?

greets Steiner..

here some pictures of my Gew 98

[luftwaffenkopf]

it's part of the serial number. it's quite rare to see all numbers match on these old guns since many were field-repaired with available parts from other guns, etc. i think it adds to the gun's character although may be looked down upon by collectors. to each his own. that's what makes this hobby great