Mauser C96

Mauser C96
A 7.63mm Mauser C96
Type	Semi-automatic pistol Machine pistol/submachine gun (M712 Schnellfeuer)
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	1896–1961
Used by	See Users
Wars	List of wars Mahdist War[1] Spanish–American War Philippine Revolution Second Boer War Philippine American War Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War[citation needed] Italo-Turkish War Xinhai Revolution Mexican Revolution Balkan Wars[2] World War I Jungle Movement of Gilan German Revolution Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War Finnish Civil War Russian Civil War Easter Rising[3] Polish-Soviet War Rif War Constitutionalist Revolution[4] 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[5] Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency Korean War Vietnam War Araguaia Guerrilla War Soviet-Afghan War[6]
Production history
Designer	Feederle brothers (Fidel, Friedrich, and Josef) Paul Mauser
Designed	1895
Manufacturer	Mauser (Germany) Taiyuan Arsenal, Taku Naval Arsenal[7] and Hanyang Arsenal (China) Beistegui Hermanos and Astra-Unceta y Cia SA (Spain)
Produced	1896–1937
No. built	1,100,000+
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Mass	1.13 kg (2 lb 8 oz)
Length	312 mm (12.3 in) (pre-Bolo) 271 mm (10.7 in) (post-Bolo)
Barrel length	140 mm (5.5 in) (pre-Bolo) 99 mm (3.9 in) (post-Bolo)
Cartridge	7.63×25mm Mauser 7.65×21 Parabellum 9×19mm Parabellum .45 ACP 9mm Mauser export 8.15mm Mauser [8] 8mm Gasser
Action	Short recoil
Rate of fire	120 rounds per minute (semi-automatic) 900-1000 rounds per minute (M712 Schnellfeuer)[9]
Muzzle velocity	425 m/s (1,394 ft/s) 7.63×25mm 350 m/s (1,148 ft/s) 9×19mm
Effective firing range	150–200 m (160–220 yd)[10]
Feed system	10-round internal magazine fed by stripper clip 6-round internal magazine[11] 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 1,000 m (1,100 yd), inverted V front sight

The Mauser C96 (Construktion 96)^[12] is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937.^[13] Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century.^[13][14]

The distinctive characteristics of the C96 are the integral box magazine in front of the trigger, the long barrel, the wooden shoulder stock, which gives it the stability of a short-barreled rifle and doubles as a 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" (Chinese: 盒子炮; pinyin: hézipào) because of its rectangular internal magazine and because it could be holstered in its wooden box-like detachable stock.^[15]

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.^[16]

Mauser manufactured approximately one million C96 pistols,^[17] while the number produced in Spain and China is large but unknown due to poor production records.^[13]