Mauser C96 useable with Lightning Draw?

[oabee]

I'm looking through my old Companies considering upgrades from the new stuff in HVF. I'm wondering if the Mauser C96, which is otherwise treated as a carbine, is considered a one-handed weapon and thus useable with Lightning Draw. Annie Diamond and Beaumont Judd would really like to know.

Mike O

[Craig]

I'm looking through my old Companies considering upgrades from the new stuff in HVF. I'm wondering if the Mauser C96, which is otherwise treated as a carbine, is considered a one-handed weapon and thus useable with Lightning Draw. Annie Diamond and Beaumont Judd would really like to know.

Mike, I'll discuss that with my armourer Charles and get back to you.

[The_Beast]

Don't think you could draw and cock one handed. Suppose you could carry it cocked. Suppose you could roll for accidental discharge. 

Sorry if my understanding of 'lightening draw' is cocked. 

Doug

[Michi]

Han Solo can.

[The_Beast]

Han Solo can.

You... are an evil man. And, what's more, you like it. 

Doug

[Craig]

Ah but Han So was shooting at men who threw themselves into his shots in the misguided belief that their papier mache armour would protect them.

[oabee]

Well, ahem, back on subject, I submit the following bits to suggest one-handed operation of the now infamous Mauser C96:

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows


Anzacs

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Joe Kidd


Assault on Precinct 13


Laurence of Arabia


The Mummy Returns


The Red Detachment of Women


and the aforementioned Han Solo (DL-44 Blaster was indeed a modified Mauser C96)

At least Hollywood seems to think it can be easily fired one handed....

By the way, excellent web site on firearms on the big screen: http://www.imfdb.org

[Smith]

I'd say that being able to use it one-handed is a fair bit different from being able to quick-draw it.

[Thorwin]

I think the carbine version is the one with attached shoulder stock, useable only with two hands.
I you use is at as a pistol you can Lightning Draw, but it counts as a normal pistol.

[The_Beast]

I think the carbine version is the one with attached shoulder stock, useable only with two hands.
I you use is at as a pistol you can Lightning Draw, but it counts as a normal pistol.

Pretty sure that image is the one that uses the wooden holster as stock. Can be shot freehand even with it attached. Heck to quick draw from, though.

I thought cocking the dingus required a second hand pulling up in the middle of the top of the piece. (Sorry, terminology failing.)

Anyone know if you can use the charging handle to load a round, but have the hammer 'down', to be pulled back later? Isn't that the essence of quickdraw?

Throw in several models over the years, and picture is muddier still.

Doug

[Craig]

I think the carbine version is the one with attached shoulder stock, useable only with two hands.
I you use is at as a pistol you can Lightning Draw, but it counts as a normal pistol.

This is why we made it a carbine

[oabee]

I confess that my conception of the Lightning Draw talent has nothing to do with slappin' leather, as we Yankees say, but rather a combatant's ability to move and react quickly and decisively: what we old D&D geeks called "Dexterity." The photos posted above surprised me in that the Mauser was actually smaller than I had assumed it to be. When wielded one-handed, it is about the same size as the iconic Colt Single-Action revolver. The cavalry version used by Custer's men at Little Big Horn was only 3 ounces lighter, while a quarter-inch longer, than the Mauser. This is just me, but I see no reason to exclude the Mauser from Lightning Draw. If that means it can only be used at a 12-inch range for that purpose, so be it.

I further confess that I was drawn to the weapon early on in my Company creating by an author, writing on the subject "Creating Your Own Company in IHMN," whom stated "I love the iconic C96 Mauser Machine Pistol," partly because "it was the first real automatic pistol." Unfamiliar as I was with the history of small arms, I assumed that the Mauser was awarded Carbine status because of its superior rate-of-fire over other pistols ("automatic pistol"), rather than the fact that a stock could be attached, which I believed would do nothing to increase rate-of-fire and muzzle velocity and do little in increasing accuracy, which would primarily, I believed, be a function of barrel length. I now find, at least according to one expert, that with its "long barrel" and "high-velocity cartridge...[the Mauser C96] had superior range and better penetration than most other pistols." "Superior range and better penetration"  alone should award it Carbine status, and both factors are independent of whether or not a stock is attached. By the way, I have also seen photos of it being fired one-handed with the stock attached!

Well, didn't mean to go on at such length: pardon my meanderings. But I do really love this game's philosophy of gaming and gamesmanship, not to mention the rich history and narratives woven through it. I also greatly appreciate my fellow IHMN enthusiasts, gentlemen--and ladies--all.

So, Craig, can we use it or not? Either way, I'll still be out there slappin' leather, with a smile (or maybe a sneer) on my lips.

Mike O

[Bullshott]

My solution to make it playable and avoid disagreement with opponents:

Decide in advance of the game whether you want to use the Mauser as a pistol or a carbine in the game and pay the appropriate points for the gun. If you have Lightning Draw you can use that skill (treating the Mauser as any other pistol). If you choose to use the gun as a pistol you cannot use it as a carbine in the game and vice versa.

Simples!

[Craig]

My solution to make it playable and avoid disagreement with opponents:

Decide in advance of the game whether you want to use the Mauser as a pistol or a carbine in the game and pay the appropriate points for the gun. If you have Lightning Draw you can use that skill (treating the Mauser as any other pistol). If you choose to use the gun as a pistol you cannot use it as a carbine in the game and vice versa.

Simples!

I believe that General Sir Bullingon-Shott has it right. I am happy to endorse this solution (until Charles tells me why not in great detail ).

[Michi]

I believe that General Sir Bullingon-Shott has it right. I am happy to endorse this solution (until Charles tells me why not in great detail ).

That I would call a gentlemen agreement!