POTD: The Birth of the Bolo – The Mauser C96 Bolo
Sam.S 01.26.23
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a really neat situation of necessity. This is a Mauser C96 Bolo pistol. The C96 Bolo really came to predominance after World War One when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. To simplify, the treaty decided certain criteria for German arms manufacturers as far as their continued production of small arms. Most notably the barrels of handguns needed to be shorter than 4 inches and the cartridges had to be smaller than 9mm. Luckily for Mauser and their C96, it was not hard to continue to produce the C96 in its 30 Mauser cartridge with a 3.9-inch barrel. “Pre-war” BOLO pistols did exist since barrel lengths could often be adjusted according to batch orders. It is widely accepted that the “Bolo” term is derived from its popularity with the Russian Bolsheviks.
“This is an excellent example of a post-World War I standard commercial C96 Mauser pistol, as manufactured circa 1920-1921, with the smaller bolo frame with small grips and small ring hammer, and shorter barrel with the banded front that has the fixed front sight blade with the adjustable rear sight graduated from 50-500 meters. The top of the chamber area is marked “WAFFENFABRIK/MAUSER/OBERNDORF A/N” with the serial number on the left of the chamber area. The two-line markings “WAFFENFABRIK MAUSER/OBERNDORF A. NECKAR” are on the right of the frame, with “Germany” export marking on the left. All matching full and partial visible serial numbers including the frame, lock mechanism frame, bolt, hammer, bolt stop, underside of the floorplate and grips. “crown/crown/U” proofs on the chamber and bolt, and the rear of the hammer has the correct “NS” markings. Serrated walnut grips, with a lanyard loop and ring on the butt.”
Lot 1374: Post-Wwi Mauser C96 Bolo Commercial Broomhandle Pistol – Excellent Post-World War I Mauser C96 Bolo Commercial Broomhandle Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/1374/postwwi-mauser-c96-bolo-commercial-broomhandle-pistol.
