In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Options
Broomhandle .45 ACP
rhmc24
Member Posts: 1,984 ✭✭✭✭✭
I see Mauser broomhandle pistols in .45 ACP caliber offered for sale now and then. I think the .45s are Chinese made. Question are they a quality pistol. I once had a .30 cal broomhandle that was excellent but it was German made. During the war I went to VN several times but was never able to get one of the .45s but still think I would like to have one. Any info appreciated. Thanks, Robert
Comments
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff
I ordered one of these for a customer last year, and he was tickeled pink when he got it. He paid the extra $100 for a special pick, and what he got was absolutely new, unfired, beautiful, and high quality manufacture. As I recall, it was packed in wax. About two months ago he was visiting and the subject came up (he collects broomhandles, and usually has a new acquisiton to show to me), and he just about knocked my socks off when he expressed the opinion that the Chinese .45 broomhandle was "new manufacture". His reasoning was that it is in "just too good shape" and he pointed out some minor differences between his specimen and a couple of photos in a collector book. I promised I'd look into it to satisfy the curiosity he had generated, and a few days later I got around to phoning IAR. The gent I spoke with (can't recall the name, but we've talked before and he's a major mover there) said that the pistols are not "first issue" but are established as being over 50 years old as they are C&R eligible (and they've been selling them for several years--which makes them older yet!) and that they were probably made in the 1930s. That is old enough for me, and my friend agrees. At least they're not being currently manufacured for export! If I hadn't just sworn off broomhandles last year and gotten rid of several (keeping only one so I can say, "That's a broomhandle") I would definately buy one of these. They will increase in value, and are very awesome to hold and look at. I'd like to address one other part of your question--like I already stated, these are high quality manufacure. Personally, I remember when I was a kid after W.W.II that our Country was flooded with cheap goods from Japan. They made everything from toys to tools to optics, and it was all junk. Very low quality, junkie, junk. It took them years to start making good products (Sony, Toyota, etc.). There was a period thereafter that "Made in Taiwan" was bad news, and for awhile "Made in South Korea" wasn't a recommendation either. All this being said, I've been pretty impressed by Chinese-made products. Not always up to American quality (in and of itself not always a recommendation--Lorcin, Jennings, Davis...) but usually a solid, steel, dependable product perhaps finished to a lesser degree. I know that there have been exceptions--I've heard that some of the '97 Win. copies aren't too good; but the MAC 90s, Tokarevs, Brolin shotguns, etc. are good value.
I hate subsidizing Commies.....but it's hard to find products in stores that aren't "Made in China". One this is certain, speaking as a gunsmith, these folks have always displayed a talent for machining, from the M-88 Hanyang rifle to the current stuff.
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff
33171 Camino Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
www.iar-arms.com
949-443-3642
Dealers Only
$895.00 (List $1,499)
Select Conditon add $100
(All this means is that you'll have to order through a dealer and pay his handling fee. A mere one day's lunch money for Capt.Kirk!)
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff