Notes: The Langenhan Automatic Pistol was built by a company that had never before designed any sort of automatic weapons – their stock in trade was single shot derringers and bolt-action sporting rifles. The Langenhan was never sold commercially, the entire production run of 50,000 pistols being taken into service by the German Army during World War 1 as emergency war issue, and later for issue to German police and special units. Production of the Langenhan pistol began in 1915, but stopped in the late 1920s.

The fact that Langnhan had never made any automatic weapons showed in the design; it is a pistol that can be dangerous to the firer. The breech block is held in place by a stirrup lock that also forms the rear sight, and is held in place by one screw. The fitting of this screw tended to be a bit loose, and the breechblock exploding out of the rear of the pistol and into the face of the shooter was not an uncommon failure. Wear just makes this problem worse.

Several versions of the Langenhan Automatic Pistol were built. The FL Selbstlader was chambered, as most of the Langenhan pistols, in .32 ACP, and it started the screwy and dangerous design described above. After 4000 FL pistols were made to the basic design, the right side of the frame was modified so that the ejection port (which was enlarged) was protected by a cut-away portion of the slide except during case ejection. The breechblock also ran straight along the rails of the slide instead of jumping up at each shot. (It was still held in by place by only one screw, and the screw got a bit looser with each shot. When it became undone, the entire slide, breechblock and yoke would then detach in one piece and be launched at the shooter.) The wooden grip plates were replaced by checkered hard rubber plates. The barrel length was 4.1 inches.

Other variants include the Model I, which was a compact version with a shortened grip and a barrel only 2.9 inches long. The Langenhan Model II, chambered for .25 ACP, was introduced after World War 1. It was a great deal safer than the earlier versions, with the yoke replaced by a cross-bolt passing through the slide and breechblock. "New production" Model IIs were assembled until 1936, but none had actually been manufactured since the late 1920s. The Model II used a 3.1-inch barrel. The Model III was essentially an smaller version of the Model II, with a 2.6-inch barrel and with a shorter butt and a much lighter weight.

Notes: Originally designed by Bergmann, the Einhand’s rights were sold to the Lignose company in 1917. A problem with the pistols of the period (a time before double-action automatic pistols) was that it was dangerous to carry an automatic pistol with a round in the chamber, but readying a pistol without a round in the chamber for action was a slow, two-handed action. Lignose used a modification of the trigger guard to lock and unlock the slide, allowing a round to be carried in the chamber safely, and the trigger finger to be moved back to the trigger quickly. The name Einhand (one-hand) suggests this method.

Notes: This is another World War 2-era German pistol with a history that long preceded the Second World War and kept going long after. Lugers can still be found in use today; most are not in service use, but are still regularly fired by weapons collectors or simply kept to admire. Many a World War 2 vet has a souvenir Luger in his closet or under his bed, and many of these still work. The Luger (actually Parabellum Pistol, System Borchardt-Luger) can be traced to the P-00 pistol adopted by the Swiss and firing the then-new 7.65mm Parabellum (.30 Luger) cartridge. It used an unusual toggle-lock firing system. The P-02 was the first to use the 9mm Parabellum cartridge (which was simply a necked-up 7.65mm), but few were produced. The P-04 also used the 9mm Parabellum cartridge, and was made for the German Navy. It used a long 6" barrel and less violent operation. The P-04/06, 04/08, and P-06 "neuer Art" completely discarded the toggle lock mechanism. The P-08 is undoubtedly the most famous of the Lugers, being one of Nazi Germany’s standard issue pistols, as well have having wide issue under the Kaiser. Over 2.6 million were built before production stopped in favor of the Walther P-38 in 1942; Mauser also started producing small amounts of new ones in 1970. It has a simplified safety mechanism. The "Artillery Model", is a P-08 with a 7.5" barrel, slots on the grip for a stock, and the ability to use a 32-round snail drum (the use of the drum is not recommended, since it produces a large amount of jams). The Artillery Model also has a graduated leaf sight.

Twilight 2000 Notes: It is astounding how many Lugers turned up in the hands of civilians on both sides of Europe, as well as Russia, the US, and Canada.

Notes: The C/96, better known as the Broomhandle due to the shape of the pistol grip, was invented sometime around 1894 by three brothers who worked for Peter Mauser. The prototype was chambered for the elderly 7.65mm Borchardt cartridge, but Mauser quickly invented a new cartridge for the weapon called the 7.63mm Mauser (which later evolved into the 7.62mm Tokarev). The C/96 didn’t interest the German military, but was bought in large numbers by the Italian Navy and the armies of Turkey, Russia, and Persia.

There were a large number of variants: the "C/96 mit Sicherung C/02" was designed for horsemen and used a hammer safety; the "C/96 mit kurzer Auszieher" uses a shorter extractor and a smaller hammer that doesn’t obscure the rear sight; the "C/96 mit Sicherung neuer Art C/12" is an improved C/02; the "C/16" is a version of the C/96 in 9mm Parabellum that sold over 150,000 copies; the "Bolo" was made for the Russian military after World War I, and differs in barrel length; the "Model 1930 with Universal Safety" was a stronger version of the C/02 made for Norway and China (and was the version being built when production of the C/96 series ended in 1937); and the M712 (M32) was a magazine-fed selective fire machine pistol that is dealt with below. All versions of the C/96 are slotted on the lower pistol grip for a shoulder stock; the stock is made of wood and doubles as a holster. (This idea was later copied in the Russian Stechkin machine pistol.)

Perhaps the most unusual variant was designed for China, with production beginning as the Shansei Arsenal in 1929. (It is therefore most commonly known as the "Shansei Mauser" or Shansei Model.") Some 8000 were built, chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. Naturally, the Shansei Mauser is a rather huge pistol compared to the standard c/96; however, the great weight does lend itself well to the increased recoil of the .45 ACP round. This version uses a 5.5-inch barrel, but is otherwise identical to a standard c/96 other than the changes necessary for the .45 ACP round. Astra of Spain also made a copy of this version in the early 1930s, but in relatively small numbers; however, Astra versions are superior in quality to Shansei versions. In addition, in recent years, it is suspected that the Shansei Mauser is again being manufactured; I say "suspected" because though the Chinese say these are unfired examples pulled from storage, they appear to have several new parts as well as types of steel not available in the late 1920s and 1930s (though it is carefully given an aged appearance). The Chinese will not confirm that they are making Shansei Mausers again, however.

Notes: The HSc (Hammerless, Self-loading, Model C) was introduced in 1940, intended for the civilian market. Of course, the Nazis decided to put it and as many weapons as possible into production, and the HSc ended up being issued in large numbers to German aircrews and (to a lesser extent) senior officers of the German Navy. It is a double-action pistol of a design years ahead of its time. The hammer is almost entirely concealed within the slide, and the surface is very smooth, making it an excellent concealed weapon. The HSc remained in production until the mid-1970s; the design was then licensed to an Italian company, who did nothing with it.

Notes: The history of this pistol is confusing; it is a Mauser design, but appears to be made partially by Mauser and partially by SiGArms in Switzerland, and it is sold only in the US. It appears to be the design of a US armorer, and is often called "the American Mauser." It is easy to use and maintain, and presents a small, lightweight package. It is also very safe for its operators, using the half-cocked principle with a manual safety catch to ensure that it will not fire when dropped or bumped. The M2 is ergonomically designed and easy to hold.

Twilight 2000 Notes: Due to the ease of maintenance and resistance to dirt, the M2 was quickly acquired by civilian and paramilitary groups in the US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and some examples made it to France, Luxembourg, and Italy.

Merc 2000 Notes: As Notes, but this weapon was quite popular with the Mob in the US.

Notes: After being absent from the pistol market for several years, Mauser produced the M-80 and 90 series in the early 1990s. They were not original designs, however; they were basically Hungarian FEG pistols made with very high standards. The M-80SA is a basic pistol design; the M-90DA is a double-action version of that weapon; and the M-90 Compact DA is, as the name suggests, a smaller version of the M-90DA.

Notes: These two pistols are virtually identical; the difference is that the M-1934 used a plain steel spring catch to retain the barrel locking pin and used a more rounded wood or plastic butt. The M-1914 is a larger caliber version of a previous Mauser design, the M-1910. At the start of World War 2, the entire stock of M-1914 and M-1934s were taken into German military service, and the M-1934 remained in production until the end of the war. Though they are regarded by some as ugly, they are otherwise unremarkable weapons.