#mauser c96

I'm in love with this guy Jack! His favorite sidearm is a cool Mauser Pistol! I really think the people who developed this game have a great eye for guns!!

Helga’s sidearm of choice is the Mauser C96, also known as the Broomhandle/Broomhandle Mauser. It was developed in 1893-1895 and began manufacturing in 1896. However, it was only made available in American markets in 1901. This was made possible by a German-American firm in New York named Von Lengerke & Detmold, with the first ads for the pistol showing up in January 1902. Helga was still traveling internationally between 1889-1901, and only started her instruction in tactics and firearms training under Lyle Rourke upon her relocation to Fort Dix sometime between 1901 and 1903. We can assume that she either would’ve been able to purchase a model or else received one during this timeframe in the early 1900s. This is the period when she became a permanent business partner to Rourke & later found herself under the employ of Preston B. Whitmore in December 1911.

The Mauser C96 is a fitting selection for Helga due to its connection to her childhood upbringing in Germany between 1877-1892. The weapon showcases how her youth and her later years spent becoming a competent fighter fuse together to form a shared intrinsic part of her identity. There is also the cinematic tendency of giving villains German firearms, but from a purely character-driven perspective & given its period-appropriate nature, it solidly complements who Helga is.

I been into drawing guns these days.

Ads from September 1980 for The Essex Model Gun Company. I don't remember these being advertised but they are Cap Guns which you will likely still be able to remember the smell of if you ever fired one.