Editing Mauser C96 (section)

{{Short description|German semi-automatic pistol series}}
{{Redirect|Broomhandle Mauser|the book by Jonathan Ferguson|The 'Broomhandle' Mauser{{!}}''The 'Broomhandle' Mauser''}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Mauser C96
| image              = Mauser C96 7,63 (6971794467).jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = A [[7.63×25mm Mauser|7.63mm]] Mauser C96
| origin             = [[Germany]] ([[German Empire]])
| type               = * [[Semi-automatic pistol]]
* [[Machine pistol]]/[[submachine gun]] (M712 Schnellfeuer)
| is_ranged          = yes
| service            = 1896–1961
| used_by            = See ''[[#Users|Users]]''
| wars               = {{collapsible list|title=List of wars|[[Mahdist War]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ferguson |first=Johnathan |title=The 'Broomhandle' Mauser |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2017}}  p. 28.</ref>|[[Spanish–American War]]|[[Philippine Revolution]]|[[Second Boer War]]|[[Philippine American War]]|[[Boxer Rebellion]]|[[Russo-Japanese War]]{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}|[[Italo-Turkish War]]|[[Xinhai Revolution]]|[[Mexican Revolution]]|[[Balkan Wars]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/842879929 |title=Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912-13 : the priming charge for the Great War. |date=2012 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-299-58155-5 |oclc=842879929}}</ref>|[[World War I]]|[[Jungle Movement of Gilan]]|[[German Revolution]]|[[Irish War of Independence]]|[[Irish Civil War]]|[[Finnish Civil War]]|[[Russian Civil War]]|[[Easter Rising]]<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Tales of the Gun: Automatic Pistols |medium=Television Documentary |publisher=The History Channel |year=1998}}</ref>|[[Polish-Soviet War]]|[[Rif War]]|[[Constitutionalist Revolution]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Douglas de Souza Aguiar Junior|url=https://armasonline.org/armas-on-line/o-museu-da-pm-de-sao-paulo/|title=O Museu de Polícia Militar de São Paulo|website=Armas On-Line|date=25 June 2017|language=pt-BR}}</ref>|[[Chaco War]]|[[Spanish Civil War]]|[[Second Sino-Japanese War]]|[[World War II]]|[[Indonesian National Revolution]]|[[Chinese Civil War]]|[[First Indochina War]]|[[1948 Palestine War]]|[[Malayan Emergency]]<ref name=malay>{{cite web|url=http://17thdivision.tripod.com/thepeacethatwasnt/id7.html|title=Weapons of the Malay CTs 1948–1960|website=17thdivision.tripod.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005050346/http://17thdivision.tripod.com/thepeacethatwasnt/id7.html|archive-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref>|[[Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency]]|[[1958 Lebanon crisis]]|[[Korean War]]|[[Vietnam War]]|[[Lebanese Civil War]]|[[Araguaia Guerrilla War]]|[[Soviet-Afghan War]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/a-look-back-at-the-mauser-c96/|title=A Look Back At The Mauser C96}}</ref>}}
| designer           = * [[Feederle brothers]] (Fidel, Friedrich, and Josef)
* [[Paul Mauser]]
| design_date        = 1895
| manufacturer       = * [[Mauser]] (Germany)
* [[Taiyuan Arsenal]], Taku Naval Arsenal<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2013/3/21/chinese-broomhandles/ |title = Chinese Broomhandles}}</ref> and [[Hanyang Arsenal]] (China)
* [[Beistegui Hermanos]] and [[Astra-Unceta y Cia SA]] (Spain)
| production_date    = 1896–1937
| number             = 1,100,000+
| variants           = See ''[[#Major variants|Major variants]]''
| weight             = {{convert|1.13|kg|lboz|abbr=on}}
| length             = {{plainlist|
* {{convert|312|mm|in|abbr=on}} (pre-Bolo)
* {{convert|271|mm|in|abbr=on}} (post-Bolo)}}
| part_length        = {{plainlist|
* {{convert|140|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} (pre-Bolo)
* {{convert|99|mm|in|abbr=on}} (post-Bolo)}}
| cartridge          = {{plainlist|
* [[7.63×25mm Mauser]]
* [[7.65×21 Parabellum]] 
* [[9×19mm Parabellum]]
* [[.45 ACP]] 
* [[9×25mm Mauser|9mm Mauser export]] 
* 8.15mm Mauser <ref>{{cite book |last=Belford |first=James |title=The Mauser Self Loading Pistol |publisher=Borden Publishing Company |year=1969}}</ref>
* [[8mm Gasser]]}}
| action             = [[Recoil operated#Short recoil operation|Short recoil]]
| rate               = 120 rounds per minute (semi-automatic) <br> 900-1000 rounds per minute (M712 Schnellfeuer)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/mauser-schnellfeuer-or-model-712-machine-pistol/|title=Mauser "Schnellfeuer", or Model 712 Machine Pistol|date=19 May 2016}}</ref>
| velocity           = * {{convert|425|m/s|ft/s|0|abbr=on}} 7.63×25mm
* {{convert|350|m/s|ft/s|0|abbr=on}}<br>9×19mm
| range              = {{convert|150–200|m|yd|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/germany-semi-automatic-pistols/mauser-c-96-eng/ |title=Mauser C-96 |website=Modern Firearms.net|date=22 October 2010 }}</ref>
| feed               = * 10-round internal [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]] fed by [[stripper clip]]
* 6-round internal magazine<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historypistols.ru/blog/pistolety-pod-unitarnyj-patron-avtomaticheskie/istoriya-poyavleniya-pistoleta-mauzer-k-96-mauser-c96/|title=История появления пистолета Маузер К-96 (Mauser C96)}}</ref>
* 10- or 20-round detachable box magazine (M712 Schnellfeuer and detachable magazine variants)
* 20- or 40-round magazine (prototype M1917 trench carbine)
| sights             = V-notch rear tangent sight adjustable up to {{convert|1000|m|yd|abbr=on}}, inverted V front sight
}}
The '''Mauser C96''' (''Construktion 96'')<ref>{{cite book |last=Skennerton |first=Ian |title=Mauser Model 1896 Pistol |year=2005 |publisher=Arms & Militaria Press |location=Labrador, Australia |isbn=0-949749-77-X |page=5}}</ref> is a [[semi-automatic pistol]] that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer [[Mauser]] from 1896 to 1937.<ref name="wilsonr">{{cite journal |last=Wilson |first=R.|title=Mauser C96 Broomhandle |journal=Australian & New Zealand Handgun |date=January 2009}}</ref> Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century.<ref name="wilsonr" /><ref name="1896mauser.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.1896mauser.com/spanish.htm |title=Spanish Guns |website=1896mauser.com |access-date=28 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209012559/http://www.1896mauser.com/spanish.htm |archive-date=9 February 2009  }}</ref>

The distinctive characteristics of the C96 are the integral [[Magazine (firearms)#Function and types|box magazine]] in front of the trigger, the long [[Gun barrel|barrel]], the wooden [[Stock (firearms)|shoulder stock]], which gives it the stability of a short-barreled rifle and doubles as a [[Handgun holster|holster]] or carrying case, and a grip shaped like the handle of a broom. The grip earned the gun the nickname "'''broomhandle'''" in the English-speaking world, and in China the C96 was nicknamed the "'''box cannon'''" ({{lang-zh|c=盒子炮|p=hézipào}}) because of its rectangular internal magazine and because it could be holstered in its wooden box-like detachable stock.<ref name="Wilson 2009, p.100">Wilson (2009), p. 100.</ref>

With its long barrel and high-velocity cartridge, the Mauser C96 had superior range and better penetration than most other pistols of its era; the [[7.63×25mm Mauser]] cartridge was the highest-velocity commercially manufactured pistol cartridge until the advent of the [[.357 Magnum]] cartridge in 1935.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Bishop |editor-first=Chris |title=Guns in Combat |year=1998 |publisher=Grange Books |location=Kent, UK |isbn=1-84013-083-0 |page=93}}</ref>

Mauser manufactured approximately one million C96 pistols,<ref name="skennerton8">Skennerton (2005), p. 8.</ref> while the number produced in Spain and China is large but unknown due to poor production records.<ref name="wilsonr" />