Mauser "Broomhandle" C96

The C96 Mauser Pistol, known as the 'Broomhandle', seems strangely out of place in a section about 'Guns of the Old West', but it does make an appearance as a curiosity in several spaghetti westerns.

Although more readily associated with WWI, the Mauser C96 was patented in 1895, with full-scale production starting in 1897. It is not unfeasible therefore for Silenzio to be carrying one in 1898, in the film 'The Great Silence'.

The C96 had a 10-round magazine that was loaded with stripper clips, and was the first pistol to feature a reliable autoloading mechanism. The pistol came with a wooden holster which could be fitted to the handle of the gun, transforming it into a shoulder-fired carbine.

Clint Eastwood can be seen using a Mauser C96 in the John Sturges directed western 'Joe Kidd'.