Tag Archives: mauser pistol

Seidel’s Bond gun

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I have always had a thing for early 20th-century European semi-autos. A weakness if you will–or character flaw, as some would contend. One of the well-liked of these, in Europe, that never caught on over on this side of the pond, is Alex Seidel’s Hahn Selbstspanner modell C (“self-cocking hammer” i.e. double-action, model C) or simply, the HSc.

This thing:

A young man at the time (Seidel was born in 1909), his HSa, HSb, and HSV all tanked but by 1940 the HSc was put into regular production by Mauser to replace the company’s outdated M1914/34 pocket pistol and compete for sales against Walther’s then new and popular PP/PPK series.

HSC broomhandle C96 P-38 Mauser

Mauser’s pistol line from 1896 to 1986, in chronological order: the C96 Broomhandle in 7.63x25mm, the “byf” code P-38, and the HSc

In all, something like 300K HScs were produced through the early 1980s (and the Italians kept making them until the late 1990s) making it a definite commercial success.

In the twilight of the HSc’s production, Virginia-based Interarms imported some of the final batches to the country.

Remember these ads?

So it was a treat when I found one in the warehouse (check out the article on that here) recently.

As for Seidel himself, he later became involved with HK in that company’s early days and helped invent the claw-type scope mount used on the G3/33/53 and MP5. He also was one of the main characters at play in the design of the VP70, the world’s first polymer pistol.

Look familiar to the HSc? Keep in mind that Seidel was in his 60s when the VP70 was put into production. Also, note the rear stock– a feature similar to the Mauser C96. Some habits die hard

Take a peak at the M1906-08 Mauser self-loading pistol

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M1906-08 Mauser self-loading pistol 2 M1906-08 Mauser self-loading pistol

Chambered in 9x21mm, Mauser made less than 100 of these rather interesting guns (with the highest serialed at #77). This example is serial no. 51. These guns used a 20 round double stack detachable mag rather similar to their legacy C96 Broomhandles but operated through the use of a flat-locked action. Example has a 4-inch half round-half octagonal  barrel and used a mix of rust and fire-bluing in its beautiful old-world finish. This particular specimen was in the Visser collection and then in the collection of Dr. Geoffrey Sturgess before being sold again at auction in 2014 with a value of $40-$50K via Julia Auction House

It appeared a century later in the game Iron Grip : Warlord

Mauser’s last pistol: The sophisticated yet simple HSc

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You may know Mauser’s excellent and enduring bolt-action rifles (or at least their properties which have been copied worldwide since the 1880s), but their pistols are less known. Further, their elegant “Hahn Selbstspanner Pistole,” or HSc, is a working piece of art.

Why was it made?

In the mid-1930s Mauser, long the go-to rifle maker in the world, didn’t have much to offer in the handgun category. Sure, at the turn of the Century their Broomhandle C96 and Luger P08 guns were seen as innovative and their M1910/14/34 pocket pistols were nice, but all of the above were increasingly dated and surpassed by more modern guns such as competitor Walther’s excellent PP/PPK line as well as their looming MP/AP pistol which became the vaunted P-38 (although Mauser ironically made some 323,000 P-38s under contract in WWII).

Facing block obsolescence, especially in the realm of sidearms for issue to police and military officers, Mauser hitched its handgun hopes to the new HSc.

hsc via imgur

Read more in my column at Firearms Talk

The “other” Mauser handguns: the Model 1910 and 1914 pocket pistols

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The Mauser brothers and their company, the famous Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken A.G. (DWM) concern, was perhaps the world’s premier bolt-action rifle makers for decades and armed the military of their own country and dozens of others with their rifles. They also made millions of pistols, the best know of these being the Luger series and the C96 “Broomhandle” Mauser. Then there was the much smaller and often forgotten “other” pistols.

Why were they made?

DWM had come out strong in the full-sized military pistol market by 1908, with their 7.63x25mm, 7.62x21mm (.30 caliber Luger) and 9mm C96 and P08 offerings. These guns were even sold with extended magazines, extra length barrels, and buttstocks, which in effect could turn them into carbines for cavalry and artillery use. However, they were lacking a smaller pocket and vest style gun that could be carried by gentlemen who desired such additional protection of their person and by staff officers who likely only needed a pistol as a badge of honor– not for a firefight.

That’s where the Mauser M1910/14/34 pistols came in.

1914 mauser poster

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk