There were many variants of the C96 besides the standard commercial model; the most common are detailed below.
M1896 Kavallerie Karabiner One of the experimental ideas was the creation of a pistol-carbine for use by light cavalry. They had "slab-sided" receivers, standard 10-round magazines, permanently affixed wooden stocks and forends, and lengthened (early production) or (late production) barrels. They were dropped from production after 1899 due to poor sales and little military interest. There was limited sporting interest in the carbine version and, due to small production numbers, it is a highly prized collectable priced at about twice the value of the pistol version. Recently, importers like Navy Arms imported replica Mauser carbines with 16-inch or longer barrels for sale in the US.
M1896 compact Mauser A version of the Mauser pistol with a full-sized grip, six-shot internal magazine, and a barrel. Production was phased out by 1899.
M1896 officer's model This is the unofficial term for a variant compact Mauser with a curved wooden or hard-rubber grip, like that of the
Reichsrevolver. The name comes from the US Army designation of the Mauser pistol sent to participate in their self-loading pistol trials.
M1898 pistol carbine This was the first model to come cut for a combination wooden stock-holster. The stock doubles as a case or holster and attaches to a slot cut in the grip frame.
M1912 Mauser Export model This model was the first to chamber the 9×25mm Mauser Export cartridge. It was designed to appeal to the arms markets in South America and China. Mauser C96 pistols in this caliber usually have an indentation milled into the upper surface of the magazine's follower to facilitate feeding of the straight-cased 9×25mm cartridge cases. The rifling in the barrel has a unique 13:8 twist. In addition, the flat surfaces extending around the chamber are longer, to accommodate the higher pressures of the 9×25mm cartridge. Examples of Mauser C96s in this caliber are rare, but are still occasionally found on the private collector's market. The 9×25mm Mauser Export calibre receded from the market as the armaments industry reoriented itself towards military manufacture during World War I, but the round enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as a submachine gun calibre in the 1930s.
M1917 Mauser trench carbine This model features an extended stock and barrel similar to the M1896
Kavallerie Karabiner. It also possesses a 40-round magazine and is chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum. The M1917 Mauser trench carbine was introduced during World War I and was intended to be a cheaper replacement for the expensive
Lange Pistole 08 in close-quarters combat. However, the Imperial German Army did not believe it was a cost-effective substitute, and the project was shortly abandoned with only a few ever made.
M1920 Mauser rework The
Treaty of Versailles (signed in 1919) imposed a number of restrictions on pistol barrel lengths and calibres on German arms manufacturers. Pistols for German government issue or domestic market sales could not have a barrel longer than 4 inches and could not be chambered for 9 mm cartridges. The
Weimar Republic banned the private ownership of military-issue or military-style weapons in an attempt to recover valuable arms from returning soldiers. The confiscated weapons were then used to arm government forces, leaving them with a hodge-podge of military and civilian arms. To meet the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, a major reworking project was begun that set about converting these weapons. To be compliant, pre-war C.96 models belonging to the Weimar government had to have their barrels cut down to . This meant that their tangent sights had to be replaced with fixed sights. They also had to be converted to the standard 7.63×25mm Mauser round, though a few hybrid Mausers were made with salvaged Navy Luger barrels that were chambered for
7.65mm Parabellum. Compliant confiscated government-issue guns were marked
M1920. This practice was continued on German service pistols even after the ban was ignored and the conversions had stopped.
M1921 "Bolo" Mauser Mauser began manufacturing a compliant version of the C96 for commercial sale from 1920 to 1921. It featured smaller grips, a shorter barrel, The distinctive pistol became associated with the Bolsheviks and was thus nicknamed the "Bolo". There was also a transitional version in 1930 that used the "Bolo" frame but with a longer barrel.
M1930 Mauser Also known as the
M30 by collectors, it was a simplification and improvement of the M1921 Mauser. It simplified production by removing several fine-machining details and reverted to the "pre-war" large grip and long barrel. The early model M30s had a barrel, but later models had the traditional barrel. It was made from 1930 until 1937. Joseph Nickl designed a selective-fire conversion in 1930. It tended to "cook off" (fire by spontaneous ignition of the propellant when overheated) when fired in long bursts. 4,000 of this model were made between 1930 and 1931. Small numbers of M1932s were supplied to the German Wehrmacht during World War II, who designated it the M712. or "semi-automatic / automatic Mauser pistol") used the M1932 as its base but made a few alterations. The controls were the same as the standard model, except the markings were in Portuguese. The selector switch (found on the left side, above the trigger guard) was marked
N for
normal ("average", or semi-automatic) and
R for
rápido ("rapid", or fully automatic). The safety control lever (found to the left of the hammer) was marked
S for
seguro ("safe") and
F for
fogo ("fire'). although they can also take the extended 20- and 40-round magazines. ==Notable copies==