mauser c96

Mauser 712 Schnellfeuer

Mauser "C96" Red Nine

Red nine Mauser: 1916: Although almost a 20 year old design, the Mauser Model 1896 was still a highly regarded pistol at the start of World War 1.

In 1916 the German government placed an order for 150,000 special M96 pistols, designated the Model 1916.

These were essentially identical to the commercial C96 models, except that they were chambered for P08 9 mm Luger cartridges, rather than the usual bottleneck 7.63 mm Mauser cartridge.

To address the danger that the Mauser pistols on the front might be loaded with the wrong ammunition, the 9 mm Mauser pistols with a Red Nine engraved into the handle.

The Red Nine Mausers were numbered in their own sequence of serial numbers and about 136,000 Red Nines were issued by the end of the war.

Roger Papke