Chinese Warlord Pistols: The Huge Shanxi .45 ACP Broomhandle
Forgotten Weapons
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The best known and most highly valued of the Warlord Era Chinese pistols is undoubtedly the .45 ACP copy of the C96 Mauser. These were made at the Taiyuan Arsenal in Shanxi Province between 1928 and 1931, with more than 8,000 made in total. They were the product of a proper Western-style production line, and Taiyuan Arsenal actually made standard C96 copies in 7.63mm Mauser before scaling up to the .45 ACP version. This change was made because the Arsenal was also making Thompson submachine guns, and it made sense to have caliber compatibility with their C96-style pistols. The result was a truly massive hand cannon, holding 10 rounds of ammunition in its fixed magazine, and fitted with an equally large combination shoulder stock and holster.
In the 1980s, a run of copies of these pistols were made in China and imported into the United States under the guise of being refinished originals. In actuality, they are poorly made imitations - the original Shanxi .45 Broomhandles are quite high quality pistols.
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