Broomhandle Mauser

[SA John]

My neighbor down here in Florida showed me a .30 cal Broomhandle Mauser today that he bought at auction. I've never handled or shot one before. Neither has he. Does anyone have any experience with these things? Are they reliable in terms of feeding and all-around function? One thing is for sure: the machine work on this gun is as good as I've ever seen on any man-made piece of machinary. Not a single swirl or rotation mark inside or out. Every surfaced I can see is flat, blued and without blemish. Wonder how much it would cost to make one today using 1900 machine techniques? My friend wouldn't tell me what it cost, his wife was around and I think he might have been a little embarrased.

John

 

[JuergenG]

Congrats to your neighbor !
Have him to thoroughly clean the barrel and check the recoil spring's function:
Pull back the charging handle, push the follower down with one hand and let the bolt slide forward slowly. The action must lock on it's own, not requiring to be pushed until it locks.
In case it doesn't lock this way, he will likely have to replace the recoil spring.
Newly manufactured springs are available, i.e. from http://www.e-gunparts.com/
direct link to the part: http://www.e-gunparts.com/product.asp?chrProductSKU=780&MC=

Here's an exploded view; the recoil spring is numbered "10"
http://www.cds-ehrenreich.de/ersatzt/images/large/c96.jpg

 

[EddieCoyle]

I have one in 9mm. By today's standards, it's not reliable. It's pretty good with hot enough ammo, miserable with the weak UMC stuff.

Does your friend have the wooden stock/holster? If so, make sure he shoots it with his thumb along side the stock rather than over the top of it (like you'd normally hold a rifle). Otherwise, that giant hammer will come back and smack his thumb.

One other thing: If you friend decides to detail strip it, he must make sure that part #27 in Juergen's drawing is oriented properly. If it is put in backwards (which is easy to do), the gun will go back together and lock up, with no easy way to unlock it again.