So has anyone ever shot a broomhandle? They’re certainly distinctive, but they don’t look like much in the way of ergonomics or shootability.
InLucemEdita
Thanks for that. The one my grandfather owned was somewhat shorter than the J. Stevens model. I only saw this a few times when I was around 10 years old. IIRC, the barrel on my grandfather’s was maybe 8 inches and easy to handle for a 10 year old. It had a bead front sight like many shotguns. Also, the barrel was heavier, thicker-walled, than is usual on shotguns. Single action of course.
It was a fascinating little weapon and I wish I had it now.
Regards
Testy
Tripler
Why pre WW-II? Unless you’re looking for the antique value of it. My father bought one in the '60s (cop) which IIRC was recently manufactured and it was as nice as you could ask for. No stampings, all walnut and blued steel, and amazingly fun to shoot. It was like having a (very loud) magic wand.
AFAIk, he never used it with lethal intent but did shoot-up a frame house where an armed and pissed-off guy was hiding. Him and a state trooper emptied a half-dozen magazines along the top of the walls. (They didn’t want to kill the guy, just get him to throw out the shotgun and give up) Inside the house it looked like WW-III.
My own dream gun is a Gatling. I was in Dixie Gun Works around 1992 and they had a pair of them. Beautiful weapons. They were blued steel and cartridge brass with walnut stands. One was in 30-06 and the other was 45-70. Alas, one was $13K and the other was $15K so I had to pass them by. 
Regards
Testy
InLucemEdita
Speaking of short shotguns, there was a guy in Kentucky in the '60s that ran around with a very short double 20 gauge with rabbit-ear hammers that he wore in a holster. He was more than just a bit of an outlaw but lived in a school bus out in the woods so nobody really cared.
Regards
Testy
Those were the top to on my ‘want list’, only in opposite order. I just couldn’t pass up the Webley though, since it’s in outstanding condition.
I’ve been checking some prices, and they’re all over the place depending on age, condition, collectibility, etc. I saw a refinished C96 with a stock sell for under $700, but most seem to be closer to two kilobucks. $1,800 range. Lugers seem to be selling for more than the Broomhandles, and their conditions seem to be better. For shooters, Numrich has new 4" P.08 barrels for about a hundred bucks.
A couple of other notes: The P-38s in the link are post-war P-1s. Their frames are alloy instead of steel. And the 'magically transported back to the ‘30s’ scenario would tend to exclude the P-38, as actual production didn’t begin until 1940. (It was designed in 1938, prototypes were made in 1939.) I didn’t think of that in the OP. Finally, PPKs are now available in the U.S. again. They were banned under the 1968 Gun Control Act because they were too small (or something). The PPK slide and barrel were put on the PP frame. The new CGA68-legal pistol was called the PPK/S. New ones are being made by S&W in the U.S. so they get around the import restrictions.
So add the Walther PP to the list.
With all the demand for shootable brooms and lugars why doesn’t someone buy the rights to them and start cranking them out like Kahr did with Auto-Ordnance and the tommy gun?
Historical is nice, but if I could get my hands on a brand new shooter for say between $600 and $900 I’d snap up both of them.
There are some Chinese copies in .45 ACP made in the '30s. $1,095 here.
I found this (cached) site that has this to say about ‘Hand Ejector’ vs. ‘M&P’ vs. ‘Model 10’:
So my Model 10 is a ‘hand ejector’ but not a ‘Hand Ejector’. The linked page also says it is a ‘K-frame’. On the frame under the cylinder ‘crane’ is 10-5. This indicates it’s a Model 10, but what does the five mean?
S/N is D512xxx, BTW. I’ve been told that means it was manufactured in 1973.
There’s a couple of vintage handguns I’d love to have, but the top of the list is a “Red 9” Mauser C96.
I’d also like a Beaumont-Adams cap & ball revolver, a Tokarev TT-33, and a Smith & Wesson No. 3 Russian pistol.
Like Cluricaun, I’ve often wondered why someone isn’t making modern reproductions of guns like the Mauser C96, Webley Mk VI (or Mk IV), and the Beaumont-Adams revolver- There’s a lot of interest in them, and I think most people (myself included) would like a shootable example of an historic design than doesn’t cost $2,000; or, more practically, is in a calibre you can actually get ammunition for from your local sporting goods store or gun shop.
And if we’re talking “Magically transported back to the '30s”, the calibre you want would depend which part of the world you were in. Anywhere in the British Empire, and your safest bet would be .455 Webley, .38/200, or 7.63 Mauser. Europe would be 9mm Parabellum, 7.63 Mauser, or .32 ACP, and the US would be .45 ACP, .45 Long Colt, or .38 Special.
I have heard that in rural Afghanistan, local village gunsmiths actually make replicas of 1890’s vintage British guns (Webly revolvers, Martini rifles) by hand, out of soft cast iron. They are pretty good copies-except that they can be dangerous to fire, as the home-smelted iron is not as strong as modern steels. Anyone ever seen one of these Afghan copies? Are they pretty good?
Red 9 w/detatchable magazine
Red 9 w/stock (needs work)
As a matter of fact, my father owns an Afghani copy of the S&W model 10. My Grandfather brought if home from WWII. Nobody could ever figure out exactly what it was since the person who made it was most likely illiterate. They copied the markings in terms of number of letters, but the letters themselves are mostly gibberish from no known alphabet. He’s even had it checked out by linguistic departments at universities. ETA - we figured it out after someone pointed out the thing about the action below and that it most likely came from Afghanistan-
It’s a dead nuts copy though besides the writing and the fact that the action turns in the opposite direction that it should, meaning it has a Colt action on a Smith looking gun. It’s been fired, but not often. A gunsmith gave the ok, but the thing is chambered in .38 (not .38 special) so it’s kind of a misfit and it’s more interesting to look at than to shoot.
I don’t recommend running down the Peshawar way to fulfill your exotic gun desires.
From Wiki
(The article cautions that the .38 S&W/.38-200 should not be confused with the .38 Special.)
Wikipedia has an article on Khyber Pass Copy firearms which sums it up pretty well.
Full disclosure: The article was written by myself, but the information in it is correct to the best of my knowledge.
Johnny L.A., the linked Wiki article is another one I was heavily involved in. It’s true that .38 S&W and .38/200 are basically identical, but they do shoot to different Points of Impact; enough so that they made two different front sight blades for use with the Enfield and Webley .38 revolvers, depending which ammunition was being used.
I don’t think GunBroker.com will let people from overseas bid on the guns, either. There’s no way I’d be able to import a Schnellfeur C96 into Australia- the magazine limit is 10 rounds, and that’s without getting into the arguable classification as a “Machine Pistol”, which are, of course, strictly Verboten here.
My dream right now, though my wife says it’s dumb, is to start at a Nagant 91/30, and work my way up to the AK-47 in Russian/Soviet long arms. One of each please.
So far, I’ve got a nice M44. 
S&W has introduced a Classic line. The link is their Model 1917, which is available in .45 ACP. Personally, I’d rather have an old one. Cheaper, and more caliber choices.
As for why new copies of those classic pieces aren’t cranked out, there are a couple reasons. First, the designs like the Luger and the C96 require a pretty significant amount of hand fitting if they are to function with any kind of reliability at all. They aren’t like some our modern firearms (e.g. Keltec) where you can reach into the boxes o’ parts and assemble a working gun from randomly selected parts. They also had some damned intricately machined parts. The abortive stainless Luger tried to get around this by using investment casting with mixed results. I believe it was less the casting than it was the lack of hand fitting that made them balky. Today, with modern CNC machining, the parts could probably be produced economically, but I don’t know if it’s possible to get around the fitting issue. Those old guns saw *a lot * of individual attention from skilled workers before they left the factory.
Secondly, even though we want them, the demand isn’t there on a big scale. Maybe if they opened up CAS to allow Luger, C96, and Borchardt replicas…
You can fire .32 S&W Long and .32 H&R Magnum out of the Nagant M1895, but you don’t get the “Gas Seal” effect. The double-action trigger pull on them can be nightmarishly heavy, too, so most people generally shoot them in single action mode. They’re fun little guns, though, and it’s also possible to get an aftermarket cylinder to convert them to the more readily available .32 ACP cartridge as well.
I saw a lot of antique (or copies thereof) rifles when I was out at Bagram (a scant few dozen klicks from the Khyber Pass). A Lieutenant that was with me bought eight of them for $450 from a local vendor, as wedding gifts for his groomsmen for his upcoming nuptuals. It was all perfectly legal too–the rules stipulate so long as it’s an “antique” and is stamped 1899 (IIRC), you sign an affidavit, and can mail them home. They were actually some beautiful pieces too–the inlaid wood was done in pearl-esque stuff, but very nicely done.
This Lieutenant however, had the idea in his head that they’d all go plinkin’ with 'em when they got back home. He’s the kind of guy I’d love to push in front of an oncoming bus, but methinks he’ll ‘self-eliminate’ in a Darwinian fashion with his cohorts.
But, they’re readily available. If you want, next time I’m over there I’ll let you know.
Tripler
I’m serious when I say this: of all the places I’d want to be deployed to, Bagram is one of 'em. Just beautiful in the winter and spring.
It’s a baby compared to these examples, but I’ve got a S&W “.44 Magnum” - not a Model 29, but the model that preceded the M29. It’s about 50 years old at this point.