German
Guns
The
Mauser 1896
"BROOM
HANDLE" Chinese Variations
Thanks to Kyrie Ellis / Moderator - Cruffler_Forum on Yahoo Groups for his contribution for the chinese pages ...
Hanyang C96 "Broomhandle" - Shansei C96 "Broomhandle
The Mauser C96 - in and from China
The history of the Mauser C96 pistol in China is a rich one, and reflects the hopes, desires, and attempts of the European powers (great and small) and the Imperial Japanese Empire to influence and control events in turn of the century China.
By the year 1900 Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia had all been major players in attempting to gain economic penetration, territorial concessions, and some degree of political control of various parts of China for many, many years. These European powers and Japan had divided China amongst themselves into spheres of influence, and continued to force concessions via intimidation where possible, and force where necessary. China, for its part, remained a closed country (save for some parts of China essentially expropriated by these powers) and wished little or no contact with the rest of the world.
Matters came to a head in the year 1900, with the Boxer Rebellion in China. By this time Tsu Hsi, empress dowager of the Ch'ing Dynasty, had become increasingly desperate as foreign occupation of Chinese territory threatened to rip her throne out from under her by converting their spheres of influence into actual foreign controlled territories. The wholesale conversion of Chinese to Christianity threatened the very fabric of Chinese society, and fostered tension, violence and near civil war between traditional Chinese and the Chinese Christian converts. The result was the Boxer Rebellion.
Beginning initially as a popular movement against the "foreign devils" the "Fists of Righteous Harmony" (called by Europeans the "Boxers") were quickly and covertly supported by Tsu His as they rampaged through China killing foreigners, destroying Christian missions, and slaughtering Chinese Christians in a effort to eject all foreigners from Chinese soil. Eventually the legations of the foreign powers in Peking (now called Beijing) were brought under siege by the Boxers, and the foreign powers intervened, sending expeditionary forces to relieve their missions (and not incidentally to wring further concessions from Tsu His).
As a result of these events the Chinese were placed under an arms embargo that prohibited the sale or delivery of military weapons to China. All sales of "sporting firearms" were to be shipped through Japan, with the Japanese controlling this trade. Handguns were not embargoed. The Mauser C96 which, with its holster/stock attached, became a small carbine was a very popular item with the Chinese. The overthrow of the Manchu dynasty in 1911/1912 turned China into a fractured country where local warlords jockeyed for position and vied for control of neighboring areas - and increased the demand for arms.
Troubled times are fate's gift to arms merchants, and Mauser rushed to fill orders for C96's (and weapons of all kinds). It is said that the majority of C96's produced ended up in China, and this may well be true. Certainly by 1910 the 7.63 Mauser cartridge was the defacto standard pistol cartridge in China.
No one knows just when the first copy of the Mauser C96 was produced in China. But by 1923 the Hanyang Munitions Works, in Hupeh province was producing a very well made copy of the C96. Other facilities, including the Chong Jing Arms Reparations Works, the Shansi Arsenal, and the Taku Naval Dockyard began producing very well made C96's, including copies of the selective fire Model 1932. The influence of the United States (who supplied large quantities of Thompson sub-machineguns) was felt and reflected in the production of the Shansei .45 C96.
While these facilities (and possibly others) produced well made C96's, Chinese village industry produced some unknown (and probably very large) number of poorly made and dangerous to fire C96's and pistols resembling C96's from whatever materials came to hand.
By the late 1920 and early 1930 Spanish arms producers attempted to enter into and take advantage of the China trade in C96. C96 copies made by Beistegui Hermanos (the Royal, or MM31, and the Super Royal or MM34) and Unceta Y Compania (Astra Model 900's and variants) were produced in Spain and sold in China.
C96's continued in use in China, and the Peoples' Republic of China (PRC), well into the last half twentieth century. With the passage of the 1986 gun control act in the US (which once more permitted importation of surplus pistols) the Antique Arms Arsenal Of Rutherfordton, North Carolina, entered into an agreement with Chinese representatives to import into the United States C96's from the PRC. And thus began the flood of C96's from the PRC. The Chinese central government recalled all available C96's from outlying provinces, and they came thence to the United States by the tens of thousands. Condition of these pistols varied from essentially new, to well used, to pistols assembled from parts, to pure junk. Many rare pistols were found, and some Chinese produced C96 copies were also found in shipments to the US.
The last Mauser pistols to be imported were Model 712 machine pistols. Given the US laws on machineguns, what was actually imported were all the parts from the Model 712's except the frames. Federal Ordnance (and later its successor, Briklee Trading Company) made up new, semi-automatic only, frames and assembled these parts kits into what they marketed as "Model 714" pistols. FedOrd also produced copies of the Mauser C96 carbine, and many varieties of rare and "never were" C96 variations. FedOrd (or Briklee - it's unclear) also imported a small number of Shansei .45 C96's. These were offered at priced between $1500 and $3000, and had not all been sold when Briklee failed and went out of business, these were later offered for sale by IAR and CDNN Investments.
Among the C96's imported form the PRC was a small number of recreation Mauser C96 carbines made up from C96 pistols by the Chinese in the PRC. These were imported by Navy Arms, and will be found so marked. Other C96's, made more or less entirely in the PRC (though often containing original Mauser parts) have also been offered for sale. These pistols are usually offered under the model names Box Cannon, Model TU-711, and Model 1943 (or Model 1942). Quality of these pistols varies considerably, and they should be approached with some caution if a shooter is desired.