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  #121  
Old 07-09-2016, 09:37 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
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Photos. As I stated the grips are aftermarket. I'm not a wealthy man so I buy what I can afford. This one set me back about $800.00. It isn't pretty , but the pistol is in good mechanical condition. I took it apart last night (wow the engineering that went into this pistol is incredible) and everything is solid. The safety works like it's supposed to. The magazine spring is a little worn out and I'm going to replace the recoil spring and main spring as well, but I believe there will be no trouble firing it. The serial number is 55XXXX putting it in the late 1920's or early 30's at the end of the Bolo manufacturing life. I've have wanted a Mauser Broomhandle ,especially the Bolo variant, since I was literally in sixth grade (1979). IT alongside the Webley Mk VI and the S&W Model 27 with the 3.5" barrel are my Grail Guns. I now have the Webley and the Mauser.





Last edited by Jcordell; 10-05-2018 at 07:56 PM.
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  #122  
Old 07-10-2016, 02:23 AM
Mandolin Mandolin is offline
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I love the blindly optimistic gun makers who gave a handgun 800-meter sights and rifles 2,000 meter sights.
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  #123  
Old 07-10-2016, 02:57 AM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandolin View Post
I love the blindly optimistic gun makers who gave a handgun 800-meter sights and rifles 2,000 meter sights.
That's great isn't it. You can find the same type of sights on Browning Hi-Powers and the artillery Luger with the 8" barrel.
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  #124  
Old 07-10-2016, 06:19 PM
StanTheMan StanTheMan is offline
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That is a beautiful find, J to the C! May not look tip-top but in a way I think that adds to the charm in this case, if that makes any sense. And besides, the mechanicals are good which is what I would consider more the important thing.

I too get a kick out of those sights, my old man had a war-built Spanish Mauser that had the sights for 1600 meters.. a bit optimistic indeed but still neat, I agree.
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  #125  
Old 07-10-2016, 08:57 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StanTheMan View Post
That is a beautiful find, J to the C! May not look tip-top but in a way I think that adds to the charm in this case, if that makes any sense. And besides, the mechanicals are good which is what I would consider more the important thing.

I too get a kick out of those sights, my old man had a war-built Spanish Mauser that had the sights for 1600 meters.. a bit optimistic indeed but still neat, I agree.
I call it a nice antique patina. That just sounds high end. I have a Stoegers catalog (now known as "The Shooter's Bible") from 1930 in which the Broomhandle is priced at $100.00. Adjusted for inflation that's a little over $1,400 in todays money.

The Broomhandle was always a high-end pistol. As I said when I took it apart I understand why it was so pricey. It's actually incredible that Mauser made the pistol for fifty years. Over a million made is the estimate.
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  #126  
Old 07-10-2016, 10:33 PM
Mandolin Mandolin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jcordell View Post
That's great isn't it. You can find the same type of sights on Browning Hi-Powers and the artillery Luger with the 8" barrel.
You should find a range where you can shoot long distances and try shooting 800 yard targets.

It'll be hilarious.
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  #127  
Old 07-17-2016, 05:42 PM
Nyles Nyles is offline
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Awesome Bolo! I actually like the grips, they look period at least! I'd love to get a Bolo but they're just under the barrel length limit up here. I replaced the recoil spring on my C96 with one from Wolff. I'd recommend it.
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  #128  
Old 07-17-2016, 10:28 PM
Jcordell Jcordell is offline
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Originally Posted by Nyles View Post
Awesome Bolo! I actually like the grips, they look period at least! I'd love to get a Bolo but they're just under the barrel length limit up here. I replaced the recoil spring on my C96 with one from Wolff. I'd recommend it.
Wish I knew where it had been . The only proof marks on it are from the Mauser factory. There are no Chinese markings either. There is no pitting so it's been in a dry climate and taken care of. Under the barrel is the stamp from Century Arms, the caliber and Spain. So I am assuming that the Bolo was imported by Century Arms from Spain. A friend of mine who has been in the gun retail business since the early seventies speculated that it was a private purchase in the 1920's and somehow worked it's way to Spain. I ,of course, immediately had images of an American volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fighting for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. The Bolo carried along his side. It could work. The U.S. doesn't have a proof house. So a Bolo with no proofs....could be.

Anyway it's one of my grail guns. Since I was just ten years old and watched an old Michael York movie called "Zeppelin" (1971) in which the Germans attempt to steal the Magna Carta during WWI. Several of the Germans in the raiding party carry Broomhandles. It was love at first sight for me. It's only taken me thirty-eight years to finally get one, but it's in my safe now. The fact that it is a Bolo is gravy for me. For some reason the Bolo has always appealed to me the most.

I've got some 30 Mauser on order from Midway. It's Prvi Partizan which I have found to be good quality ammo. I won't be firing Tokorav ammo in it. In a month or two I'll be ordering springs from Wolff.

Last edited by Jcordell; 07-17-2016 at 10:31 PM.
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  #129  
Old 08-26-2016, 03:47 PM
Nyles Nyles is offline
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Well, August 2016 has been my best collecting months in years!



I picked up two pretty great rifles, neither of which were cheap (especially after sinking several thousand dollars into the back yard) but both were too good to pass up.

The top one is a Finnish Mosin-Nagant M/39, made by VKT in 1942. This came out of a recent import into Canada, which was actually the pick of the litter from the initial US import in the late 80s, which the owner sat on waiting for the prices to rise. And rise they have! It's hard to believe that I paid almost twice what I did for my last (post-WW2) M/39, but this was still lower than what they'd been selling for between collectors recently and came with the original sling and arsenal hang tag. Beautiful condition with all original WW2 parts and finish (most of these have postwar replacement stocks), this a prime example of the best of the Mosin-Nagants and a real WW2 vet.

The bottom one is even more special, a very nice Hungarian Mannlicher 43M in 8mm Mauser. I've been looking for a WW2 Hungarian Mannlicher for about 14 years, and only ever seen one "in the flesh" behind glass in a museum in the States. So when came up for auction I was pretty much prepared to bid my credit card limit! I ended up doing pretty well at $625, and its much nicer than I'd feared based on the low-res auction house pictures.

The 43M is actually the last in the series of rifles that started with the 35M, which was quite similar but was in 8 x 56mm and used a Mannlicher-style magazine. Hungary was a German ally and built for them the G98/40 (to supplement Kar 98K production), which was basically the 35M in 8mm Mauser with a Mauser style magazine and German style sling and bayonet fittings. After that production run was finished the Hungarians decided it made more sense to share ammunition with their allies and came out with the 43M, which was basically a G98/40 with Hungarian style sling and bayonet fittings. Given that Mannlicher didn't actually design the "Mannlicher" turnbolt (interesting story but its really a modified Gew 88 action) and it has a Mauser magazine, calling it a Mannlicher seems kind of questionable, but its the common term! Mine was built in mid-late 1944 based on the serial number, shortly before or even during the Soviet invasion. There are reports of these going straight from the factory to the front lines during the siege of Budapest.

Best part of both these guns, when I mentioned them to my girlfriend her immediate response was "Cool, you should buy that!", even after we spent all that money on the house. Best. Girlfriend. Ever.

Last edited by Nyles; 08-26-2016 at 03:54 PM.
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  #130  
Old 08-31-2016, 07:53 PM
StanTheMan StanTheMan is offline
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^ I agree, hang onto her, man! Nice scores, BTW.
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