Many of these numbered parts are internal and require disassembly to see. So, what do you look for in a collectable grade example? Matching serial numbers is a must many of these will have partial serial numbers on many of the small parts as well as the grips. If the condition is poor, you are back to Paper weight/parts gun/ shooter. The less of the variation were made, the more valuable a good example will be. Among these are contract variations like the Red-9, Italian Navy and others. The Small ring hammers, Bolos and 1930 models are the most common. The first few are less common and are referred to as Conehammers, Largering hammers and slab or flat sides. There are some variations that are more often encountered. Many dealers cannot tell a refurbished from an original. Many on the market will fall into this category, regardless of how the dealer has priced them. As a Paper weight/parts gun/ shooter, the value will fall in the $500-1000 range. When I say no collector value, I mean that the value of these is not likely to increase with the passing of time and the owner is unlikely to even recover the original purchase price. These have no collector value except to those who collect limited additions. There are also companies that have engraved and gold-plated parts to create limited additions. Many refurbished examples may appear like new, but often parts that should be in the white or fire blued will mistakenly be blued during the refurbish process. Pitting, patina finishes and non-matching serial numbers are a dead giveaway for these. These warhorses will have zero collector value as collectors want examples that appear as close as possible to how they left the factory as can be found. Because of the allure the pistol has, many were refurbished and sold to firearm enthusiasts. Many that survived were stored, arsenal reworked and sold as surplus. That said, many were used, abused and scraped. They have been used in every major conflict, and many minor conflicts, since they were invented. Though the pistol was never adopted as the standard military sidearm of any country, they were exported all over the world and were a favorite of the Russians and Chinese. There were Spanish and Chinese copies, but those can be covered in another blog. So, what do you have?Ĭlose to, if not over, 1,000,000 C-96s were made by Mauser. Values of examples can range from $500 to tens of thousands of dollars. It is certain that examples that exist fall into one of three categories 1. The current market is very dynamic and I feel that it will continue to be a changing market in the future. This is a very complex question because this is a very complex topic.
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