Black Powder is dirty, dirty stuff- so dirty in fact that practical self-loading weapons simply weren’t viable, as powder fouling would quickly render them inoperative. But with the advent of clean-burning smokeless powders not only were semi-autos viable, but they also allowed the production of small-bore high-velocity bullets. This turned out to be precisely what was needed to allow an explosion of creativity in the field of handguns, and within a very few years semi-automatic pistols were being sold commercially.

The Mauser C96 was not the first of these, but it was the first to achieve widespread acceptance and commercial success, with over a million of them produced by Mauser, and millions of ‘knock-offs’ being created in Spain, China and other places.

The C96 was introduced to the market in 1896, and it was a whole new ballgame. Chambered in the powerful 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge, it’s fixed box magazine held 10 rounds. The .30 caliber cartridge launched an 86gr. copper-jacketed round-nose bullet at 1450fps., producing a respectable 402 ft./lbs. of energy at the muzzle.

Endless variants and knock-offs of this gun were made over the next 4 decades; a ‘compact’ version with a shorter barrel and a six-shot magazine, guns with fixed or removable ten or twenty-round magazines, even a full-auto version. Guns were often equipped with a wooden stock/holster combination that led to the Chinese nicknaming the gun ‘the box cannon.’ In the west it was known almost universally as the ‘Broomhandle,’ owing to the shape of its grip.

The gun was extensively exported to China as it circumvented restrictions on arms sales to that nation, and soon indigenous copies were being made in calibers ranging from .32 ACP to .45 ACP- the famous ‘Shanzu’ .45s. Mauser itself made the gun in 7.63 Mauser, 9mm Parabellum and even some in 9x25mm, which in it’s original loading spat a 128gr. bullet at 1340fps. for a muzzle energy of 510ft./lbs. of energy, making it one of the most powerful commercially available handgun cartridge until the introduction of the .357 Magnum.

There were military contracts for these guns, but Germany only used them as a ‘second-standard’ and special use weapons. They saw fighting in the Boer War, WW1, the Spanish Revolution and WW2 as well as many smaller, regional conflicts. By the mid 20th Century the Broomhandle Mauser was an iconic firearm, world-wide.

It’s not my intent to list a complete history of this gun and it’s variants; that’s the subject for a book. A book like this one, in fact-https://www.amazon.com/Mauser-Self-Loading-Pistol-Jack-Dunlap/dp/0875051081/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3PNJHMBL4XB7P&keywords=mauser+broomhandle&qid=1551635163&s=books&sprefix=Muaser%2Caps%2C200&sr=1-4-catcorr

No, this blog is because after wanting one of these guns for my entire adult life I have finally gotten one! Less than 24 hours after resolving to moderate my firearms purchases this year I encountered this gun at- where else? Pinto’s, and at a ridiculously low price; a previous owner had the gun nickel-plated, thus ‘ruining’ it for collectors. Well, their loss is my gain!

The gun is a ‘pre-war’ commercial production New Safety model made in 1915-1916. Yes, I know that is actually during WW1, but because series production began prior to the war these guns are still classified as ‘pre-war.’ The gun is overall in very good condition, and it was provided with two stripper clips for loading the ten round magazine. These only hold eight rounds, because these are not Mauser clips; I think they are actually for a Steyr. They work well enough for the moment, but I will be seeking the proper clips.

First thing to understand is that by modern standards this is a fairly terrible gun. It’s quite large for it’s barrel-length, cartridge and capacity, it’s a bit awkward, the high bore-line exaggerates muzzle-flip and the lack of a removable magazine is a serious deficit. Yeah, I don’t care. This represents the very first time someone got it right, so it’s unreasonable to expect them to have gotten it perfect.

The grip is actually more comfortable than it looks, and the thumb safety is easy to access and operate. The gun points well, and has decent sights. Highly optimistic sights, mind you; they are calibrated out to 1000 meters. I imagine that, using them, an unusually proficient shooter might manage to hit a decent-sized house at that range, especially if using the stock/holster.

To load the weapon you pull the bolt to the rear, and it will lock open on the empty magazine. You insert a clip loaded with up to ten rounds into the guides at the rear of the magazine, then using your thumb you push down on the cartridges so that they are forced into the magazine. When all the rounds are in the magazine you pull the clip out and the bolt will close and chamber a round. With this gun the process irs rendered a little fussy from having the wrong clips, but it works. Apply the safety by pushing it upward and you are ready to go.

The safety deserves some mention here; originally the safety on these guns was on in the down position, but they reversed this relatively quickly. The New Safety on this gun may be applied with the hammer down or in the cocked position, allowing the gun to be carried ‘cocked-and-locked. According to sources this safety requires the hammer to be pulled back beyond the cocked position to apply it, which is fussy and kind of stupid, as it means you need to use both hands to apply the safety. Contrary to this mine can be applied with the hammer in the cocked position, making it much easier to use. It does cam the hammer back slightly. I’m researching this now. There is no doubt that this is a proper ‘New safety’ gun; it is marked as such, has the correct hammer and it’s production-date is right. The way mine operates could be a result of wear or deliberate modification. I’ll look at this when I remove the fire-control group.

So how does it shoot? Very well indeed.

As usual, the gun is more accurate than I am. The sights aren’t actually terrible, but being covered in nickel makes them a bit hard for me to resolve. I’ll be painting the rear sight black, and probably red for the front sight. That, and more importantly more practice, ought to improve my results.

I have to say that the gun has lived up to my expectations, and I am delighted to finally own one!

Michael Tinker Pearce, 4 March 2019

It all started in about 1845, when a French guy named Flobert (flow-bare) crimped a musket-cap onto a .22 caliber lead ball. The detonation of the priming compound was sufficient to drive the ball fast enough to be useful for target shooting and pest control. This was among the first self-contained metallic cartridges, and it had the advantage of making ammunition that was consistent, reasonably weatherproof and, importantly, the expanding cartridge completely sealed the breech on firing, preventing combustion gasses bleeding from the gun, which reduced the velocity of the shot, was unpleasant and potentially dangerous.

These were quite popular in Parlor Guns, guns designed for indoor shooting, often in a dedicated indoor range or even simply the parlor or drawing rooms of the houses of the well-to-do. In 1888 the 6mm Flobert (also known as a BB Cap) was fitted with a 20gr. conical bullet, producing the .22 CB Cap. Both cartridges are now known in Europe as 6mm Flobert, and the term is used interchangeably for both ball and bulleted ammunition.

Next to come along was the .22 Rimfire, introduced by Smith and Wesson in 1857 for use in their new revolvers. These used a longer case that could accommodate a 29gr. bullet and four grains of FFFg black powder. This represented a dramatic increase in power over the 6mm Flobert. While the older cartridge could be placed in the category of a dangerous toy, the .22 Rimfire, while anemic by modern standards, could genuinely be lethal at close range.

.22 Rimfire rapidly gained in popularity, not just for handguns but also for rifles used for target shooting and small game. It was often felt that a more powerful cartridge would be useful for hunting, and in 1871 the .22 Long was introduced. This used a longer case with the same 29gr. bullet over 5gr. of black powder. In 1880 the .22 Extra Long was produced, which used a still longer cartridge and a .40gr. bullet, and a number of manufacturers offered rifles in this caliber. It remained in use until the early 20th C., but production had largely ceased after World War 1. Rifles chambered for this cartridge remained useful, as they would still chamber and fire .22 Long Rifle.

This brings us to what became, and remains, the most popular rimfire cartridge in the world. In 1887 J.Stevens Arms and Tool Company hit the ‘sweet spot’ when they introduced the .22 Long Rifle. It combines the case of the .22 Long with the 40gr.bullet of the .22 Extra Long. It was able to equal the performance of the .22 EL by use of a finer grade of black powder (FFFFg rather than FFFG) and it quickly became the standard. At this point people were referring to the original .22 Rimfire as .22 Short, which name it retains until this day.

The conversion to smokeless powder at the end of the 19th century helped spur the development of semi-automatic sporting firearms, as the cleaner burning propellant wouldn’t foul the works and render the weapon inoperative. At the beginning of the 20th century Winchester and Remington both introduced similar- but not interchangeable- .22 Auto cartridges for use in their new semi-auto rifles. While all previous .22 rimfires had used a heel-base bullet (where the bullet is the same diameter as the outside of the casing and a reduced ‘heel’ section is secured in the case) these cartridges used a conventional inside-lubed bullet that fit inside the casing.

As it turned out it was easier to convert .22LR to smokeless powder then it was to convince the public to invest in an entirely new cartridge that duplicated its performance, and the .22 Auto cartridges died out- though Aguila and perhaps others occasionally still produce runs of it.

While the auto cartridges died on the vine, the idea of an inside-seated .22 rimfire lived on. Winchester had already introduced a round of this type in 1890- the Winchester Rimfire. This used a significantly longer case than previous .22s and was substantially more powerful. Remington introduced their own version of this, the .22 Remington Special. The two cartridges are fully interchangeable. The .22 WRF is still produced by CCI and occasionally Winchester does a run of it as well.

Typically these are loaded with a 45gr. bullet, and as it offers significantly higher velocity than the .22LR these bullets are jacketed to prevent excessive leading.

This cartridge led directly to the last major player in our story, when in 1959 it was stretched still further into the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire. These also use jacketed bullets, and with muzzle velocities that can exceed 2000 fps from a rifle they are necessary! This is an excellent hunting round for small game. though sometimes it is excessively destructive. It is increasingly finding use in the self-defense role as well, though when fired from a pistol many find the muzzle blast excessive.

The .22 WRF can be chambered and fired in firearms made for .22 Magnum, in much the same way that a .357 magnum will chamber and fire .38 Special rounds. They are sometimes favored for hunting because of their lower muzzle blast and reduced destructive power.

Today .22 rim fire cartridges are as popular as ever, and nearly every .22 rimfire cartridge ever in widespread use is still in at least limited production. 6mm Flobert- loaded with ball or a conical bullet- is widely used in Europe for target shooting and pest control and is readily available even in the US- though surprisingly expensive. .22 CB caps are still produced by a number of companies in the US, though these are typically a .22 Short with no powder charge rather than a true CB Cap. These are popular because of their soft muzzle blast and low penetration for indoor shooting and urban pest control. They are also favored by collectors of antiques that want to fire their ancient guns, but don’t want to risk using modern .22 Short ammunition in them. .22 magnum remains popular and widely produced as well, though it is now often comparable in price to center-fire pistol ammunition.

.22 Long-rifle, however, remains the undisputed king. A bewildering variety of loads are available- subsonic rounds for suppressed firearms, high-velocity rounds for hunting and self defense, shot cartridges, hyper-accurate Match ammo… the list goes on and on. I dare say that I think there will be .22 LR for as long as there are firearms; it’s too useful for too many things, too adaptable and too inexpensive to make it worth the effort to replace it.

Recently I have been trying out .22 Colibri, made by Aguila. This is essentially a 6mm Flobert in a .22 LR case. With a muzzle velocity of around 350fps. and a 20gr. conical bullet these are excellent for indoor shooting. And quiet? The sound of the bullet hitting the board behind the target is louder than the muzzle blast! This makes them great for test-firing guns that I am working on in my shop, or even just a little recreational short-range plinking. Be warned, though- from a pistol these will not imbed their bullet in a normal board; it will bounce unpredictably and might pose a vision hazard. A layer of foam over your back-stop handles this problem nicely.

.22 Colibri is recommended for revolvers and single-shot pistols only, by the way; the bullets can actually become stuck in longer rifle barrels. For rifles it is better to used .22 Super Colibri- the same cartridge, but with an advertised muzzle velocity of 500 fps.

We haven’t even delved into emerging rimfires like the .17 HMR, 4mm Flobert or larger calibers like the 9mm Flobert shotgun rounds, not to mention obsolete large-bore rimfires. Honestly this is the subject for a book rather than a blog post, but I’ve done my best; forgive me if I have missed a few.

One thing is abundantly clear- .22 rimfire is here to stay, and no matter what your need- within the limits of sanity- there is a cartridge tailor-made to fill it.

Michael Tinker Pearce, 24 Feb. 2019

Over the holidays I picked up an 1858 Remington reproduction that came in a case with a powder flask, nipple wrench, some percussion caps etc. I converted the gun to fire .450 Adams cartridges and gave the percussion accessories to a friend, and I was left with this nice wooden box. It occurred to me to convert the case to fit the gun in it’s new, cartridge firing form.

I rummaged around and came up with a couple yards of cotton velveteen, and there’s always plenty of 1/4″ Poplar scrap in the shop leftover from my ‘day job,’ so I stripped the case and relined it with the velveteen, made new dividers out of Poplar with the fabric contact-cemented to them. I found a random chunk of wood and bored it to hold cartridges, added some cleaning accessories and patches. With just an evening’s work I had the case refitted, and liked the results.

It occurred to me that this was actually a pretty practical thing; I’ve got pistols stacked all over the inside of the safe in various gun rugs, holsters etc. Cases like this are stackable, protect the gun and are just a classier way to store a gun.

I got on Amazon and ordered some hinges and latches, then hit the local Goodwill looking for more boxes. I walked out with case #2 for the princely sum of $3.99. The box was square and a little deeper, and after much deliberation I decided it would house The Outlaw, and 1960 Army with a Kirst gated conversion in .45 Schofield and the .45 derringer that was my first scratch-built gun. It’s actually chambered for .45 ACP, but these days I shoot .450 Adams through it; much easier on both the gun and my hand!

I was kind of on a roll now, and the next weekend found me back at Goodwill again, once again leaving with a nice wooden box for under $4.

This one I set up for a gun I call ‘Southern Comfort,’ a brass-frame Navy revolver, modified with a mish-mash of features from Confederate Colt knock-offs, a custom grip-frame, Curly Maple grips, a snub barrel and a Long-Cylinder conversion to .38 S&W (with a barrel-liner for the smaller-diameter cartridge.) This time the finish on the box wasn’t as good, so I stripped, sanded and refinished the box. I happened to have an Ideal Reloading Tool for .38 S&W so I made space for that, a punch and de-priming block and a custom brass powder-dipper that holds exactly enough Unique for my favorite .38 S&W load. I also included a block for fifteen rounds of ammunition and some custom accessories.

As you can see I’m on a roll, so after I finished the rolling-block carbine project I was casting about for another project and got to eyeing my pile of scrap Poplar again. It occurred to me there was no reason I couldn’t make my own boxes, fairly small ones at least. Over the course of a couple evenings I put together a 10″ x 5-1/2″ box, stained it with Fiebing’s brown leather dye and fitted it up to hold ‘The Cherub,’ an 1949 Pocket reproduction that I converted to .22 the other year. I partitioned the box, made a Maple cartridge block to hold thirty rounds of .22 and made a cleaning rod, screw-driver and ejector-rod for the little gun.

This gun got it’s name from Linda- when I first showed it to her I told her it was styled after a type of gun known as an ‘Avenging Angel.’ She snorted and said, “It looks more like an Irritable Cherub.” I’ve called it ‘The Cherub’ ever since.

I guess I have a new hobby. Because I totally needed a new hobby. Well, what the hell, right? It’s relatively inexpensive, kind of classy, protects the guns, and the boxes are certainly neater to store than rugs and holsters. It also uses up all those little scraps of antler that have been cluttering up my bench for the last 2-3 years. Sounds like a win-win to me!

Michael Tinker Pearce, 10 Feb. 2019