Hi All,

I have a 1896 "broomhandle" Mauser pistole (sn 204xx) that was my grandfathers. I dated the pistol to 1899. It is in excellent condition ( 95% ) and have been told by people it is the nicest one they have seen. However, the slot in the grip that was made to attach the wooden shoulder stock was braized shut. My guess is it was done to protect the owner against the gun-laws at the time.

Hi All,

I have a 1896 "broomhandle" Mauser pistole (sn 204xx) that was my grandfathers. I dated the pistol to 1899. It is in excellent condition ( 95% except for the handle ) and have been told by people it is the nicest one they have seen. However, the slot in the grip that was made to attach the wooden shoulder stock was braized shut. My guess is it was done to protect the owner against the gun-laws at the time.

oops! did not mean to hit the send Button!

Most of the ugliness is hidden by the grips.

My question is, what should I do? I have talked to a gunsmith and he said that it would be difficult to clean it out due to the hack-job that was done by the welding and grinding of it and a replacement idea is a better one. He suggested buying another frame and cutting the slotted piece out of that frame and rewelding it into my pistol. Any constructive ideas or comments are welcome. Thanks, Rick

Hmmm.... can't imagine that you are going to gain anything, value-wise, when this is all said and done.

Hmmm.... can't imagine that you are going to gain anything, value-wise, when this is all said and done.

I guess my main goal is to bring it back to 100% functionality. As it is now the attachment of the wooden shoulder stock is impossible. If it is done well, I do have a lot of confidence in my gunsmith, the only blemish would be the 2 welds holding the new piece on. I am figuring that this would be less of an evil than the braized up slot.
I cant imagine ever selling the piece so it is largely for my own piece of mind. I am just looking for a sanity check. :)

Rick

I have seen slots recut for stock attachments that looked pretty good. Are you sure it is not a time issue? If it has to be recut with hand tools, it will be expensive. The grip frames can be cut of and hew ones welded on, as he suggested. Depends on how much originality you want from your family heirloom. If it were me, I would recut the slot on an heirloom, and weld a new grip frame on a shooter.

After thinking about it over Thanksgiving I will try to mill out the slot and save what is there. I am in no hurry to do this. If it does not look good after this then I can always weld a new grip piece on. There is a few upcoming gunshows in my area, I'll take it along and ask around. Thanks

Rick


I have seen slots recut for stock attachments that looked pretty good. Are you sure it is not a time issue? If it has to be recut with hand tools, it will be expensive. The grip frames can be cut of and hew ones welded on, as he suggested. Depends on how much originality you want from your family heirloom. If it were me, I would recut the slot on an heirloom, and weld a new grip frame on a shooter.

After thinking about it over Thanksgiving I will try to mill out the slot and save what is there. I am in no hurry to do this. If it does not look good after this then I can always weld a new grip piece on. There is a few upcoming gunshows in my area, I'll take it along and ask around. Thanks

Rick
You might want to reconsider messing with it. It is, after all, your grandfather's gun. It is the way it was when he owned it. I have left heirlooms alone, the way the owner originally used them, even if this meant that the thing is not "right." This modification is part of what makes it your grandfather's gun, especially if it was he who made the modification.

Of course, that is your preference. Bear in mind that it will still not be original after you make your modification to it.

Also, check you local and state laws and see if it is OK to have the stock slot in there.

Hi All,

I have a 1896 "broomhandle" Mauser pistole (sn 204xx) that was my grandfathers. I dated the pistol to 1899. It is in excellent condition ( 95% ) and have been told by people it is the nicest one they have seen. However, the slot in the grip that was made to attach the wooden shoulder stock was braized shut. My guess is it was done to protect the owner against the gun-laws at the time.

Please be careful of your heirloom Broomhandle! Much better to do nothing than to make things worse. I shuddered to read your 'gunsmith's recommendation to cut off and reweld the frame!!!!!
What you can do depends a lot on how thoroughly the slot was welded up to begin with. I've seen at least one that was restored to original contour with a bit of careful grinding with a Dremel-tpe tool and cutoff wheel, which loosened the weld enough to allow it to be driven off in a couple of pieces with a soft drift. Some of those welds were that carelessly done. On the other hand, if the frame is seriously verschmiert, it would be better to leave it alone entirely, as a reminder of the dumb laws of yesteryear. (Maybe just keep a Band-Aid on the place to let people know it's a 'booboo'.) In any case, I'd cut off a finger before I'd take a torch to the frame again!
PS: It isn't as if the shoulder stock would add that much to the usefulness of this piece. I've shot them with and without, and could live a very long lifetime before I'd go out of my way to avail myself of the the butt stock holster again...shot better without it, in my experience.