If only I can find a cheap one here in California...

Wonderful pistol-made like a Rubic's Cube designed by a mad machinist-only screw is the one in the grips. And not nearly as clumsy to shoot as it appears.

I've got a frame and trigger group, now all I have to do is find the rest of the parts, heh.

A friend of mine had his 9mm one de-activated after the pistol ban. He's never got over it.

What ticks me off is that it illegal to use it as it was meant to be used in the US, that is the pistol was supposed to be attached to its holster/stock when ever possible. In a way it was one of the first PIDWs. With the stock on you had a short barreled carbine. It was supposedly pretty accurate in that configuration.

Bought one back in 1970 wish i still had it,you should have seen the muzzle flash and breech flame when fired in half light,it was the fastest pistol round until the .357 and the action came to pieces like a jig saw puzzle,friend had one in 9mm export
very rare but i liked mine in 7.63 still got a few cases and stipper clips for it in my bits and pieces box.

Toad, actually the C96 is the ONLY pistol that is "allowed" a shoulder stock in the U.S., provided that the stock and the retention groove in the grip are of "original manufacture" -- i.e. you can't retrofit a shoulder stock onto your Bolo.

Way back when oi were a lad I had a toy one of these and always promised myself that one day I'd have a real one. Fat chance in this country now - thanks a bloody lot...
Still a thing of great beauty - next time I venture across the pond I'll have to buy one of you fellers a beer in exchange for a fondle (of the C96...)

Thanks Mr. FM.. A man of your word, you are indeed. One of my all-time favorite pistols (though the list iteslf is rather long).

When I was but a poor & starving college student, a local gunsmith had take two C96 pistols that had been totally shot to bits, and rebuilt them. One was with the full length barrel in 7.63, and the other was a 9 mm "Red 9" Bolo. They were completly rebuilt with new springs, etc, reblued to a beautiful luster, and boxed in a mahogany presentation type case with red velvet. He said he did it mostly as a hobby, and that he knew the original collector value was all but gone, but my, were they beautiful. He was selling them as a single unit for $700. Might as well have been $100,000 for me back then, living on Ramen and food service coffee, and no amount of pleading with the strapped parents was anay avail. I still regret not selling a kidney to own those beauties..

..Or to sum up, as another distinguished Englishman said:

"...an elegant weapon, from a more civilized age."

Hmmm,.. well, the model 712 select fire, could truly be considered a PDW.

As an old school archaeologist, I've always found the C96 to be a pistol that would particularly match my hat.

@ajdshootist

Are you sure about the 7.63mm being the fastest untill the .357? Wasn't the 7.63mm TT faster?

KIM:

I really, really, wish you hadn't told about the holster/stock being legal on the C96. Now I'll have to staple some fingers together to keep from torturing myself by searching through Collector's and Gun Broker"s, and gently weeping over my bank statement.

toad:

It does have to be an original C96 holster/stock (not aftermarket or modern reproduction), and the stock mounting points on the C96 also have to be original, on the gun since the day it was manufactured. Anything else requires registering the gun with BATF as a short-barrelled rifle, and paying the transfer tax. I think it's still possible to do that (pay the tax, register the gun, and then (and only then) have the gun and stock fitted so they can be joined together.

Mr. FM,

If you're ever in my part of the planet, and want to shoot a C96, as well as other old self-loaders (Savage, Webley ... that should ring a bell) give me a shout. Contact KdT for contact info.

Best,

Bob K