the mouser c96 it was an innovative and iconic pistol that found itself in almost every war
in the first half of the 20th century not to mention in galaxies far far away
with its iconic look from the box magazine in front of the trigger
and long barrel this is one of the easiest firearms to spot on film you that good
perhaps you want something to trade after all the Mauser c96 has shown up in well over 100 movies
and countless video games and tv shows this was a firearm that was sold in its numerous variants
and knockoffs in every corner of the globe it has made its way into a number of foreign films
particularly dominating the kung fu movie genre
hi the Mauser c96 was reliable accurate and an all-around impressive firearm
when it was first manufactured by mauser starting in 1896. interestingly it was so revolutionary
that military interest was slim with armies doubtful of automatic pistols preferring their
reliable revolvers this would quickly change however with the commercial success of the c96
how about you get some new sites for this huh
personal semi-automatic firearms in any form were still very much a foreign concept before
the 20th century you can see sherlock holmes examining what is supposed to be a prototype
in game of shadows ironically this is an m712 which wouldn't be available until 1932.
despite the lack of initial military interest, the c-96 would become an incredible commercial success
and over 1.1 million would be produced up until 1937
with countless more unlicensed being manufactured in places like Spain and china
the c-96 was a good firearm most originals held an impressive 10 rounds fired an excellent
cartridge the 763 by 25 Mauser which was the highest velocity commercially available round
until the development of the 357 magnum cartridge of 1934. the pistol had an effective firing range
of up to 150 meters though the sites were ambitiously adjustable to a thousand meters
due to its commercial and gradual military success the c96 was used in countless colonial wars
and civil wars in nations like china Ireland and Russia
it's featured in dozens of old Russian revolution films for a recommended Irish war film watch Liam
Neeson and Michael collins where the c96 is used during the Easter uprising of 1916.
in china the c96 was particularly popular during the warlord era of the 1910s and 20s
due to several embargoes placed on exporting rifles to various Chinese warlords
as such the c96 became more of a primary weapon for Chinese soldiers of the time
the c96 remains extremely iconic in Chinese cinema today
here's an interesting flash paper replica of a c96 used to safely fire next to Jackie chan's head
will you aim that somewhere else despite its german association the c96 was also highly
popular pre-world war one with British officers most notably Winston Churchill used a c96
as a cavalry officer you can see him sheave his sword in policy 96 and young Winston from 1972.
Churchill historically spoke highly of the c96 which was a particular good use to him as he
had a chronic shoulder injury which prevented him from comfortably swinging his cavalry sword
Churchill used his privately purchased c96 at the battle of Omdurman and during the second Boer war
here's to um
to not battering it up another famous officer who used the c96 was Thomas Edward Lawrence
though he primarily used a British revolver as shown in the film
the first major military contract for the c96 would be with the Turkish army in 1897
and it would be adopted by the Italian navy Persians Austrians and eventually
the german army in 1916 which is why it so frequently pops up in world war one cinema
the words time for the right hand
by world war one the german army favored the luger however due to slow production ordered
150 000 c96s to help further equip the army the german army also chambered the c96 in the luger
standard nine millimeter parabellum this is where the famous red nine variant got its name
german unit armorers branded a large nine into the grip which was painted red to prevent accidentally
loading the wrong ammunition hang on a second what's going on here many of these red nines were
actually converted back to 763 mauser after world war one due to versailles treaty limits placed on
german firearms this included restrictions on barrel length so c96s sold in germany
also had their barrels cut down to 3.9 inches this version is known as the m1920 rework
stop it hess his plans for germany are in motion what if this boy tells our secrets to berlin
one of the more interesting variants of the c96 to spawn from world war one
would be the trench carbine fitted with a 40 round magazine
but it was introduced at a time when the c96 was largely overshadowed by the luger
so its effectiveness was not fully tested oh mercy thank you you know if we could go back in time
there's a few things we'd change god damn it but overall we're pretty happy as the c96 was one of
the first commercially successful semi-automatic pistols it had an incredible number of variants
it was highly liked as a carbine having an interesting stock that doubled as a holster
even during world war ii the c96 would continue to serve german and partisan forces Germany was the
last nation to officially order c96s for Mauser the Luftwaffe purchased 7 800 in 1940. secondly
all 74 of us officers and men all of german nationality will take part in this operation
after world war ii the c96 would only see limited use in conflicts however it become an icon in
science fiction with its unique look lending itself to imaginary designs the most notable
of course being han solo's dl44 blaster which was a real c96 incorporating an m3 grease guns muzzle
parts from a fire extinguisher and a rifle scope the c96 further shows up in buck rogers and even
the newer orville series where it's sporting three barrels what step into the vehicle okay from an
ergonomic standpoint it's understandable how this pistol fell out of favor compared to say a 1911
or a luger this was a heavy pistol its handle was shaped like a broom handle hence the broom
handle nickname but despite it being largely outdated this was an effective pistol and at
its introduction it was really a groundbreaking design we could go off the rails you know go on
all right i'm johnny thanks for watching this brief on what is one of the most
famous and iconic movie pistols around i could have listed dozen more movies so feel
free to add more in the comments section below and we'll see in the next video