'Red 9' grip showing embossed number 9The clumsy and expensive C96 (Construktion 96), Mauser’s first automatic pistol, was a surprise commercial success. In its favour were an effective new 7.63mm cartridge, ten-round magazine, impressive range and accuracy, and distinctive wooden holster-cum-shoulder stock (earning it the nickname, ‘Broomhandle’). Winston Churchill carried one in the Sudan in 1898, and by 1937 thirty variants had been made.

This is the M1916 Prussian 'Red 9' model, which fired the powerful 9mm Parabellum round, as used by the standard Luger P08. 150,000 were commissioned for the German Army during the First World War when supplies of Lugers were running low. A large number ‘9’ was burned into the grip and painted red to remind shooters not to load it with 7.63mm ammunition by mistake.