The mechanism allowed for single-hand cocking, primarily intended for cavalry, by way of a hammer safety - a lever designed to block the hammer from the striker to produce a "safe" still-loaded position. In 1902, Mauser reworked the C96 design with a new patented safety mechanism. The Italian Navy purchased 5,000 units from Mauser in 1899. In the end, the pistol found a few notable homes overseas - primarily with Italy (Navy), Russia (Army) and Turkey (Army). Despite its appearance on the military and general markets, the C96 failed to net the required sales of note - particularly those of the Imperial German Army who had gravitated towards large scale use of the 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridge instead. Additional changes were made to further strengthen the action. In 1897, Mauser engineers reworked the internals of their new pistol, adding an extra locking lug to the bolt. With the cartridge design secured, production of C96 pistols ramped up, introducing subtle variants in design that went on to include the original 10-shot version, a 6-shot version and a novel yet interesting 20-shot model of which was later dropped from further consideration. This produced a cartridge of extremely high velocity and therefore increased penetration values and acceptable engagement ranges when compared to contemporaries of its time. The Mauser cartridge was more or less based on the same Borchardt design though with an increased propellant charge and a more secure casing design to hold the bullet in place. Firing of the original Borchardt cartridge through the new Mauser design found the action too violent, unseating 7.65mm cartridges whilst they still resided in the magazine while bullets were known to come off of their casings altogether. By the end of the year, the design was further finalized around a slightly revised proprietary 7mm cartridge - the 7.63x25mm Mauser. The pistol, therefore, garnered the official designation of "C96" to coincide with the initial year of production.Įarly manufacture proved slow, limited to just over 100 examples over a nine-month span.
#SPANISH MAUSER PROOF MARKS SERIAL#
The weapon underwent testing into 1896 to which serial production was then made official. The initial model was designed to chamber the 7.65mm Borchardt cartridge firing through a semi-automatic internal action and fed from a 10-round internal magazine. The design was then patented under the Mauserwerke brand label the following year.
#SPANISH MAUSER PROOF MARKS SERIES#
The Mauserwerke C96 series semi-automatic pistol was the collective product design of three brothers whose last name was known as Federle while under the employ of Mauser during 1894. Several of her marks have since become sought-after collector's items. The C96 and all her variants enjoyed a long, healthy production life and an even longer service life while her success drove several foreign sources to copy the design outright. C96 pistols proved exceedingly popular over time, pressed in numbers required of two World Wars and many lesser conflicts, becoming the sidearm of guerilla fighters, frontline military personnel and casual civilian shooters. The C96 shape was classic with its front-loading magazine, thin barrel assembly and "broomhandle" pistol grip. One of the most recognizable early-form semi-automatic pistols became the Mauser C96 series.
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