Mauser C96 Conehammer

About the Mauser C96 Conehammer

The Mauser C96 'Conehammer' is the earliest production form of the iconic broomhandle pistol, made from 1896 to roughly 1899. It is identified by its distinctive cone-shaped (truncated-cone) hammer, milled flat-side frame panels, long extractor and early-pattern safety. Chambered in the bottlenecked 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge and fed from a fixed ten-round internal magazine loaded via stripper clip, it pairs with a wooden combination holster-stock that doubles as a detachable shoulder stock. These first-pattern pistols predate the later large-ring and small-ring hammer styles that defined mass production.

Designed largely by the three Feederle brothers in Mauser's experimental workshop and championed by Paul Mauser, the broomhandle's cone-hammer first pattern became an early adopter favorite of officers and adventurers, including a young Winston Churchill who carried a C96 at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.

Mauser C96 Conehammer specifications

Cone Hammer examples represent the first Mauser broomhandles and are among the most collectible C96 variants. Early Turkish-contract cone-hammer guns carry tangent sights graduated 1-10 (100-1000 metres) and a holeless short-travel safety where the down position is safe.