146-526: The Mauser C96 ( Construktion 96 ) is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century. The distinctive characteristics of the C96 are the integral box magazine in front of the trigger, the long barrel , the wooden shoulder stock , which gives it
292-730: A full-scale battle in which Beijing and its port city of Tianjin fell to invading Japanese forces (July–August 1937). , On 11 July, in accordance with the Goso conference, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff authorized the deployment of an infantry division from the Chōsen Army , two combined brigades from the Kwantung Army and an air regiment composed of 18 squadrons as reinforcements to Northern China. By 20 July, total Japanese military strength in
438-505: A "fully automatic" or machine pistol, which continues to fire as long as the trigger is held or until all rounds have been fired. The Mauser M712 Schnellfeuer (German for "rapid fire"), a modified Mauser C96 pistol, is a notable example of a true machine pistol. While both types of weapons operate on the same principles, fully automatic weapons must be built more ruggedly to accommodate the heat and stress caused by rapid firing, and it can be difficult (and illegal in most countries) to convert
584-428: A "semi-automatic pistol" or a "self-loading pistol" usually all imply a semi-automatic handgun that is fed by a removable magazine, which discharges one round for each trigger pull. Semi-automatic pistols use one firing chamber that remains fixed in a constant linear position relative to the gun barrel. In contrast, although double-action revolvers can also be fired semi-automatically, their rounds are not fired from
730-465: A Spanish-born gunsmith, to make modifications on their PASAMs in order to improve their handling. The first modification (PASAM MOD-1), of which 101 were modified, received a metal frame extension welded to the magazine housing. It was fitted with a metal forward grip well ahead of the gun under the muzzle. The original grip was left alone, making it compatible with the wooden holster/stock. The second modification (PASAM MOD-2), involving 89 pistols, featured
876-759: A brush handle, the Estonian War of Independence , the Spanish Civil War , the Chinese Civil War , and World War II . During the Warlord Era in China, European embargoes on exporting rifles to Chinese warlords meant that the C96 became a mainstay of the period's armies, and the basic form of the pistol was extensively copied. The C96 also became a staple of Bolshevik commissars from one side and various warlords and gang leaders from another in
1022-738: A campaign of sabotage and guerrilla warfare . In November 1939, Chinese nationalist forces launched a large scale winter offensive , and in August 1940, communist forces launched the Hundred Regiments Offensive in central China. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States. The US increased its aid to China under the Lend-Lease Act , becoming its main financial and military supporter. With Burma cut off,
1168-500: A cartridge in one continuous motion. Each pull of the trigger on a DAO semi-automatic pistol requires the same amount of pressure. The Kel-Tec P-11 is an example of a DAO action. DAO semi-automatic pistols are most generally recommended only in the smaller, self-defense, concealable pistols, rather than in target or hunting pistols. A notable exception is the Glock range of pistols, which optimize preset triggers (similar to DAO), but
1314-619: A collection of his royal awards and honours) and the Muslim year "1314" on the square left rear frame panel. Under the sultan's rule, there was great concern about potential military coups, and most weapons were locked away in armories, including many of the C96 pistols. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908-1909 , these pistols were issued to the army and police for service use. Some were used in combat in World War I, and after
1460-540: A communist victory and the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In China, the war is most commonly known as the "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ( simplified Chinese : 抗日战争 ; traditional Chinese : 抗日戰爭 ), and shortened to "Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ( Chinese : 抗日 ) or the "War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 抗戰 ). It
1606-719: A demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and Beijing-Tianjin region. Japan aimed to create another buffer zone between Manchukuo and the Chinese Nationalist government in Nanjing. Japan increasingly exploited China's internal conflicts to reduce the strength of its fractious opponents. Even years after the Northern Expedition, the political power of the Nationalist government was limited to just
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#17327939815451752-410: A detachable magazine version, to address the issues inherent to a gun with a 10-round magazine and a 900 rounds per minute rate of fire. Semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol , autopistol , or autoloading pistol ) is a handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridges in its chamber after every shot fired. Only one round of ammunition
1898-461: A locally-produced copy of the Thompson submachine gun , chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge, but was experiencing supply difficulties as his troops' sidearms were 7.63mm calibre C96 handguns. Yan's solution was to produce a .45 ACP caliber version of the C96, thus standardizing ammunition and making supply logistics easier. Designated Type 17 , production of the .45 caliber handgun began in 1928 at
2044-651: A machine pistol, in contrast, this can be accomplished by blowback , or, less commonly, by gas operation , harnessing gases produced when the gun is fired. The Desert Eagle is a rare example of a semi-automatic pistol that siphons off some of the gases instead of relying on short recoil operation. A revolver , which uses multiple chambers and a single barrel, and a derringer , which uses multiple chambers and multiple barrels, also fire one round per trigger pull, but achieve this in different ways and as such are not classified as being semi-automatic. A semi-automatic pistol will fire only one shot per trigger pull, in contrast to
2190-651: A military sidearm, the pistols saw service in various wars including the Easter Rising and Irish War of Independence , as well as World War I and the Irish Civil War , when the gun was nicknamed "Peter the Painter", after the contemporary Latvian anarchist of the same name (so nicknamed by the Metropolitan Police ) who was believed to use this gun, and because the pistol grip looked like
2336-473: A removable box magazine to provide ammunition, which is usually inserted into the grip. However, some pistols are based on receiver -style designs similar to existing semi-automatic rifles , and thus have the magazine inserted separately from the grip. The language surrounding "automatic", "semi-automatic", "self-loading", etc., often causes confusion due to differences in technical usage between different countries and differences in popular usage. For example,
2482-788: A result of Depression -era tariffs ), and a protective buffer state against the Soviet Union in Siberia . As a result, the Japanese Army was widely prevalent in Manchuria immediately following the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, where Japan gained significant territory in Manchuria. As a result of their strengthened position, by 1915 Japan had negotiated a significant amount of economic privilege in
2628-536: A result of its victory at the end of the war. Japan had also attempted to annex the Liaodong Peninsula following the war, though was forced to return it to China following an intervention by France , Germany , and Russia . The Qing dynasty was on the brink of collapse due to internal revolts and the imposition of the unequal treaties , while Japan had emerged as a great power through its modernization measures. In 1905, Japan successfully defeated
2774-506: A resurgence in popularity as a submachine gun calibre in the 1930s. 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,
2920-540: A screw-on wooden stock, the C-93 served well as a small pistol carbine . In 1896, Paul Mauser introduced the first model of his Mauser "Broomhandle" semi-automatic pistol, the C96 . This was the first mass-produced and commercially successful pistol to have a large-capacity, staggered-column magazine holding 10 or 20 rounds. Its original cartridge was called 7.63 mm Mauser , which was more powerful but otherwise identical to
3066-599: 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. Since the M1932 / M712 variant was full-auto, the semi-auto M1930 it was derived from was sometimes called the M711 by war surplus dealers and collectors. The Spanish gunmaking firms of Beistegui Hermanos and Astra began producing detachable magazine-fed, select-fire versions of
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#17327939815453212-630: A semi-automatic conversion of the detachable magazine Schnellfeuer that was made for the US surplus market. The versions imported from China were built on new semi-auto-only frames; the ATF treats them under the law as new guns and not under the curio and relic exemption. The Brazilian government bought five-hundred 7.63mm M1932 Schnellfeuer machine pistols for the Policia Militar do Distrito Federal (Portuguese: "Federal District Military Police") during
3358-461: A semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic mode of fire. A selective-fire action pistol, though, can be converted back and forth by means of a switch, and often includes a burst mode , typically for a three-round burst with each trigger pull. Selective-fire weapons are generally used by specialized law enforcement and security personnel such as SWAT teams, hostage rescue teams, anti-terrorist units, or government bodyguards for heads of state. In
3504-474: A similar frame extension, but the forward grip had wooden panels and was of a different shape. The pistol grip frame used thicker rectangular wooden grips and had a 1.5-foot (460 mm) "t-bar" metal shoulder stock welded to it. A metal frame attached to the receiver supported a rectangular wooden foregrip, taking pressure off the barrel. In both models the barrel was left free to enable its short recoil during firing. (Two hundred and ninety five PASAMs were left in
3650-412: A single chamber, but rather are fired from each of the chambers that are rotated into linear alignment with the barrel's position in turn just prior for each shot fired. Typically, the first round is manually loaded into the chamber by pulling back and releasing the slide mechanism. After the trigger is pulled and the round is fired, the recoil operation of the handgun automatically extracts and ejects
3796-492: A slot cut in the grip frame. 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,
3942-779: A term used mainly in foreign and Chinese narratives. The origins of the Second Sino-Japanese War can be traced back to the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, in which China, then under the rule of the Qing dynasty, was defeated by Japan and forced to cede Taiwan and recognize the full and complete independence of Korea in the Treaty of Shimonoseki . Japan also annexed the Senkaku Islands , which Japan claims were uninhabited, in early 1895 as
4088-648: A testing zone for advanced biplane and new-generation monoplane combat-aircraft designs. The introduction of the advanced A5M "Claude" fighters into the Shanghai-Nanjing theater of operations, beginning on 18 September 1937, helped the Japanese achieve a certain level of air superiority . However the few experienced Chinese veteran pilots, as well as several Chinese-American volunteer fighter pilots, including Maj. Art Chin , Maj. John Wong Pan-yang , and Capt. Chan Kee-Wong, even in their older and slower biplanes, proved more than able to hold their own against
4234-661: A very heavy slide and stiff spring, making them bulky, heavy, and difficult to operate. A somewhat commercially successful blowback pistol design in the more powerful calibers was produced; the Spanish Astra 400 in 9 mm Largo and the similar Astra 600 in 9 mm Parabellum. U.S. manufacturer Hi-Point also produces a line of blowback-operated pistols in several calibers, including 9 mm and .45 ACP. Virtually all other service-caliber pistols are locked-breech designs After Hiram Maxim introduced his recoil-powered machine gun in 1883, several gunsmiths set out to apply
4380-511: A year of its introduction in 1896, the C96 had been sold to governments and commercially to civilians and individual military officers. The Mauser C96 pistol was extremely popular with British officers at the time, and many purchased it privately. Mauser supplied the C96 to Westley Richards in the UK for resale. By the onset of World War I, the C96's popularity with the British military had waned. As
4526-520: Is a period of "total" war. This view of a fourteen-year war has political significance because it provides more recognition for the role of northeast China in the War of Resistance. On the night of 7 July 1937, Chinese and Japanese troops exchanged fire in the vicinity of the Marco Polo (or Lugou) Bridge , a crucial access-route to Beijing. What began as confused, sporadic skirmishing soon escalated into
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4672-417: Is an example of this style of action. A common mode of carry for DA semi-automatic pistols is with the magazine full, a round chambered, and the gun holstered and uncocked with the external safety unengaged or off. The Taurus PT145 is an example of a DA/SA weapon, as it has no decocker and thus has its striker primed from the moment of chambering and only enters double-action mode if a round fails to fire upon
4818-407: Is condition 1, popularly known as cocked and locked. Condition 1 (a term popularized by Jeff Cooper ) refers to having the magazine full, a round chambered, the hammer fully cocked, and the thumb safety engaged or on, at least for right-handed users. For many single-action, semi-automatic pistols, this procedure works well only for right-handed users, as the thumb safety is located on the left side of
4964-524: Is extracted and ejected as the slide/bolt moves rearwards under recoil , the hammer /striker is cocked by the slide/bolt movement, and a new round from the magazine is pushed into the chamber when the slide/bolt returns forward under spring tension. This sets up the following shot, which is fired as soon as the trigger is pulled again. Most pistols use a short recoil operation to perform this, but some pistols use simple blowback or gas operation mechanisms. Most types of semi-automatic pistols rely on
5110-415: Is fired each time the trigger is pulled, as the pistol's fire control group disconnects the trigger mechanism from the firing pin /striker until the trigger has been released and reset. A semi-automatic pistol recycles part of the energy released by the propellant combustion to move its bolt , which is usually housed inside the slide . After a round of ammunition is fired, the spent cartridge casing
5256-843: Is known in China as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression ( simplified Chinese : 抗日战争 ; traditional Chinese : 抗日戰爭 ). On 18 September 1931, the Japanese staged the Mukden incident , a false flag event fabricated to justify their invasion of Manchuria and establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo . This is sometimes marked as the beginning of the war. From 1931 to 1937, China and Japan engaged in skirmishes, including in Shanghai and in Northern China. Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces, respectively led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong , had fought each other in
5402-621: Is most commonly used because of its perceived objectivity. When the invasion of China proper began in earnest in July 1937 near Beijing , the government of Japan used "The North China Incident" (Japanese: 北支事變/華北事變 , romanized: Hokushi Jihen/Kahoku Jihen ), and with the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai the following month, it was changed to "The China Incident" (Japanese: 支那事變 , romanized: Shina Jihen ). The word "incident" (Japanese: 事變 , romanized: jihen )
5548-483: The 7.65 mm Borchardt cartridge, had been designed in 1893 and made its public debut in 1894. Borchardt based the principle of the C-93's mechanism in large part upon Maxim's toggle-lock. The C-93 featured a locking mechanism modeled after the human knee, which is called Kniegelenk in German (knee joint). The C-93 proved mechanically reliable but was too large and bulky to receive widespread acceptance. Equipped with
5694-602: The 7.65 mm Borchardt . The Mauser was one of the first self-loading pistols used extensively in battle, notably the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. These pistols were made in 7.63 mm Mauser , or 9×25mm Mauser, along with some models eventually being made in 9 mm Parabellum and a small number in .45 ACP for China. 1898 saw the Schwarzlose Model 1898 , a semi-automatic pistol invented by Prussian firearm designer Andreas Wilhelm Schwarzlose . It
5840-657: The Central Plains War broke out across China, involving regional commanders who had fought in alliance with the Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition, and the Nanjing government under Chiang. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) previously fought openly against the Nanjing government after the Shanghai massacre of 1927 , and they continued to expand during this protracted civil war. The Kuomintang government in Nanjing decided to focus their efforts on suppressing
5986-600: The Chinese Civil War since 1927. In late 1933, Chiang Kai-shek encircled the Chinese Communists in an attempt to finally destroy them, forcing the Communists into the Long March , resulting in the Communists losing around 90% of their men. As a Japanese invasion became imminent, Chiang still refused to form a united front before he was placed under house arrest by his subordinates who forced him to form
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6132-630: The Gendarmerie Nationale . The pistol has black ebonite grips rather than wooden ones. The German government purchased 7,800 commercial M1930 pistols in 1940 for use by the Luftwaffe . They have Wehrmacht proof marks and the Mauser serial numbers come from the early- to mid-1930s. The weapon had ceased production in 1937 but the order was filled from remaining stocks. According to Kersten, Moll and Schmid, these were likely purchased by
6278-818: The German Empire 's sphere of influence in Shandong province, leading to nationwide anti-Japanese protests and mass demonstrations in China. The country remained fragmented under the Beiyang Government and was unable to resist foreign incursions. For the purpose of unifying China and defeating the regional warlords, the Kuomintang (KMT) in Guangzhou launched the Northern Expedition from 1926 to 1928 with limited assistance from
6424-516: 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 132-millimetre (5.2 in) barrel, but later models had the traditional 140-millimetre (5.5 in) barrel. It was made from 1930 until 1937. Joseph Nickl designed
6570-855: The Mukden incident in September 1931. Japanese soldiers set off a bomb on the Southern Manchurian Railroad in order to provoke an opportunity to act in "self defense" and invade outright. Japan charged that its rights in Manchuria, which had been established as a result of its victory in 1905 at the end of the Russo-Japanese War , had been systematically violated and there were "more than 120 cases of infringement of rights and interests, interference with business, boycott of Japanese goods, unreasonable taxation, detention of individuals, confiscation of properties, eviction, demand for cessation of business, assault and battery, and
6716-578: The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s . In addition, due to China's fractured political status, Japan often claimed that China was no longer a recognizable political entity on which war could be declared. In Japanese propaganda , the invasion of China became a crusade (Japanese: 聖戦 , romanized: seisen ), the first step of the "eight corners of the world under one roof" slogan (Japanese: 八紘一宇 , romanized: Hakkō ichiu ). In 1940, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe launched
6862-736: The Russian Civil War , known simply as "the Mauser". Communist revolutionaries Yakov Yurovsky and Peter Ermakov used Mausers to execute the Russian imperial family in July 1918. Winston Churchill was fond of the Mauser C96 and used one at the 1898 Battle of Omdurman and during the Second Boer War ; Lawrence of Arabia carried a Mauser C96 for a period, during his time in the Middle East. Indian revolutionary Ram Prasad Bismil and his partymen used these Mauser pistols in
7008-531: The Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War , gaining Tailen and southern Sakhalin and establishing a protectorate over Korea. In 1911, factions of the Qing Army uprose against the government, staging a revolution that swept across China's southern provinces. The Qing responded by appointing Yuan Shikai , commander of the loyalist Beiyang Army , as temporary prime minister in order to subdue
7154-647: The Second United Front in late 1936 in order to resist the Japanese invasion together. The full-scale war began on 7 July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge incident near Beijing , which prompted a full-scale Japanese invasion of the rest of China. The Japanese captured the capital of Nanjing in 1937 and perpetrated the Nanjing Massacre . After failing to stop the Japanese capture of Wuhan in 1938, then China's de facto capital at
7300-668: The Shanghai French Concession , areas which were outside of China's control due to the treaty port system. Japan moved into these areas after its 1941 declaration of war against the United States and the United Kingdom. Building on the hard-won victory in Shanghai, the IJA advanced on and captured the KMT capital city of Nanjing (December 1937) and Northern Shanxi (September – November 1937). Upon
7446-435: The Soviet Union . The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) formed by the Kuomintang swept through southern and central China until it was checked in Shandong, where confrontations with the Japanese garrison escalated into armed conflict. The conflicts were collectively known as the Jinan incident of 1928, during which time the Japanese military killed several Chinese officials and fired artillery shells into Jinan. According to
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#17327939815457592-556: The Taisei Yokusankai . When both sides formally declared war in December 1941, the name was replaced by " Greater East Asia War " (Japanese: 大東亞戰爭 , romanized: Daitōa Sensō ). Although the Japanese government still uses the term "China Incident" in formal documents, the word Shina is considered derogatory by China and therefore the media in Japan often paraphrase with other expressions like "The Japan–China Incident" (Japanese: 日華事變/日支事變 , romanized: Nikka Jiken/Nisshi Jiken ), which were used by media as early as
7738-452: The Taiyuan Arsenal and ended in 1931. They are inscribed (in Chinese) "Type 17" on the left-hand side of the gun, and "Republic Year Eighteen, Made in Shansi" on the right-hand side. They were issued (along with Thompson SMGs) to railway guards in the province as a defense against bandits and other warlords. Besides being chambered for a larger cartridge, the Shanxi .45 pistols use a noticeably larger frame than their 7.63mm counterparts, with
7884-516: The United States Army Air Forces airlifted material over the Himalayas . In 1944, Japan launched Operation Ichi-Go , the invasion of Henan and Changsha . In 1945, the Chinese Expeditionary Force resumed its advance in Burma and completed the Ledo Road linking India to China. China launched large counteroffensives in South China and repulsed a failed Japanese invasion of West Hunan and recaptured Japanese occupied regions of Guangxi . Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945, following
8030-442: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , Soviet declaration of war and subsequent invasions of Manchukuo and Korea . The war resulted in the deaths of around 20 million people, mostly Chinese civilians. China was recognized as one of the Big Four Allies , regained all territories lost, and became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . The Chinese Civil War resumed in 1946, ending with
8176-420: The 10-round magazine extending below the trigger guard and a 140 mm (5.5 in) barrel. It was loaded using two five-round stripper clips rather than the single 10-round stripper clips of the standard 7.63mm Mauser. Because of the overall increase in size, Type 17 pistols share no interchangeable parts with any other C96 variant. Most of the Shanxi .45 pistols were melted down after the communist victory in
8322-430: The 18 September 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria marks the start of the War of Resistance. Although not the conventional Western view, British historian Rana Mitter describes this Chinese trend of historical analysis as "perfectly reasonable". In 2017, the Chinese government officially announced that it would adopt this view. Under this interpretation, the 1931–1937 period is viewed as the "partial" war, while 1937–1945
8468-425: The 1920s and also appropriated them from defeated enemies. The distinctive pistol became associated with the Bolsheviks and was thus nicknamed the "Bolo". The "Bolo" model was also popular elsewhere, as the shorter barrel and smaller overall size made the gun easier to conceal. There was also a transitional version in 1930 that used the "Bolo" frame but with a longer 132-millimetre (5.2 in) barrel. Also known as
8614-417: The 1921 and 1927 Imperial Eastern Region Conferences reconfirmed Japan's commitment to be the dominant power in the Northeast. The 1929 Red Army victory shook that policy to the core and reopened the Manchurian problem. By 1930, the Kwantung Army realized they faced a Red Army that was only growing stronger. The time to act was drawing near and Japanese plans to conquer the Northeast were accelerated. In 1930,
8760-401: The 1930s. The name "Second Sino-Japanese War" is not commonly used in Japan as the China it fought a war against in 1894 to 1895 was led by the Qing dynasty , and thus is called the Qing-Japanese War (Japanese: 日清戦争 , romanized: Nisshin–Sensō ), rather than the First Sino-Japanese War . Another term for the second war between Japan and China is the "Japanese invasion of China",
8906-454: The 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria . According to historian Rana Mitter , historians in China are unhappy with the blanket revision, and (despite sustained tensions) the Republic of China did not consider itself to be in an ongoing war with Japan over these six years. It is also referred to as part of the "Global Anti-Fascist War". In Japan, nowadays, the name "Japan–China War" ( Japanese : 日中戦争 , romanized : Nitchū Sensō )
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#17327939815459052-399: The 1937 " Sword March ", which—with slightly reworked lyrics—became the National Revolutionary Army's standard marching cadence and popularized the racial epithet guizi to describe the Japanese invaders. The Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) in Tokyo, content with the gains acquired in northern China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, initially showed reluctance to escalate
9198-475: The 20th century has been for semi-automatic pistols to replace revolvers for military use, although the transition has been slower in police and civilian use. As of 2011 , revolvers are mainly used in jurisdictions that permit their use for civilian self-defense, hunting, plinking , and target practice. Semi-automatic pistols are by far the most popular for concealed carry by civilians, primary handguns for police and military use, backup guns for police use, and where
9344-422: The Beijing-Tianjin area exceeded 180,000 personnel. The Japanese gave Sung and his troops "free passage" before moving in to pacify resistance in areas surrounding Beijing (then Beiping) and Tianjin. After 24 days of combat, the Chinese 29th Army was forced to withdraw. The Japanese captured Beijing and the Taku Forts at Tianjin on 29 and 30 July respectively, thus concluding the Beijing-Tianjin campaign. However,
9490-525: The Belgian firm of Fabrique Nationale (FN) and later by Colt in the U.S. Browning's first successful design was the Browning M1900 . Like Georg Luger 's work conducted around the same time in Germany, it was designed alongside a in 7.65 mm cartridge, but the 7.65 mm Browning (aka .32 Auto) differs substantially from Luger's 7.65 mm Parabellum . Browning went on to design .25, .38, .380, and .45 ACP cartridges for his semi-automatic pistol designs. Browning must be given credit for developing
9636-454: The C-96 as the vehicle for an upgrade to the 9×25mm Mauser Export cartridge to match the ballistics of the .357 Magnum . Lastly, there was a Chinese-manufactured model chambered for .45 ACP . Despite the pistol's worldwide popularity and fame, China was the only nation to use the C96 as the primary service pistol of its military and police. Mauser's first military contract was with the Ottoman government in 1897. They ordered 1,000 pistols for
9782-466: The C96 in 1927 and 1928 respectively, intended for export to the Far East. Mauser began production of the Schnellfeuer (rapid fire), their own select-fire, detachable magazine version of the M30 designed by Karl Westinger. Production started in 1932 and ended in 1936, which has led to its unofficial designation of "M1932" by collectors. An extremely successful design, around 98,000 guns were made overall and they had their own series of serial numbers. It
9928-409: The C96 were used extensively by the Chinese in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, as well as by the Spanish during the Spanish Civil War and the Germans in World War II. Besides the standard 7.63×25mm chambering, C96 pistols were also commonly chambered for 9×19mm Parabellum , with a small number also being produced in 9mm Mauser Export . In 1940, Mauser officials proposed using
10074-490: The Chinese Civil War, largely due to their odd caliber for Chinese communist standards, but a few examples were exported overseas for sale on the commercial market. Approximately 8,500 Shanxi .45 caliber broomhandle pistols are believed to have been produced by the Taiyuan Arsenal, but there is some debate as to how many of the Shanxi .45 calibre broomhandle pistols currently on the commercial market were actually produced for Yan's troops, and how many are more recent productions for
10220-400: The Chinese Communists through the Encirclement Campaigns , following the policy of "first internal pacification, then external resistance" (Chinese: 攘外必先安內 ). The internecine warfare in China provided excellent opportunities for Japan, which saw Manchuria as a limitless supply of raw materials, a market for its manufactured goods (now excluded from the markets of many Western countries as
10366-469: The Chinese to deploy troops in their own city. In Manchukuo there was an ongoing campaign to pacify the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies that arose from widespread outrage over the policy of non-resistance to Japan. On 15 April 1932, the Chinese Soviet Republic led by the Communists declared war on Japan. In 1933, the Japanese attacked the Great Wall region. The Tanggu Truce established in its aftermath, gave Japan control of Rehe Province , as well as
10512-601: The FN Browning Hi-Power , announced in 1922, during the last years of his life, working on this design until his death in 1926. This was a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol capable of holding 13 rounds in the magazine (plus one chambered). The next notable design was the 7.65 mm Luger by Georg Luger , which although successful in its function, nonetheless failed to have adequate stopping power and failed to win widespread acceptance. In 1902, Luger's subsequent and similar P08 in 9 mm Parabellum overcame
10658-555: 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. 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
10804-605: The Japanese Army had been given orders not to advance further than the Yongding River. In a sudden volte-face , the Konoe government's foreign minister opened negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek's government in Nanjing and stated: "Japan wants Chinese cooperation, not Chinese land." Nevertheless, negotiations failed to move further. The Ōyama Incident on 9 August escalated the skirmishes and battles into full scale warfare. The 29th Army's resistance (and poor equipment) inspired
10950-520: The Japanese intercepted most of the attack with A2N and A4N fighters from the aircraft carriers Hosho and Ryujo , shooting down several of the Chinese planes while losing a single A4N in the dogfight with Lt. Huang Xinrui in his P-26/281; the Japanese Army reinforcements succeeded in landing in northern Shanghai. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) ultimately committed over 300,000 troops, along with numerous naval vessels and aircraft, to capture
11096-630: The Japanese strongholds in Shanghai, leading to bitter street fighting. In an attack on the Japanese cruiser Izumo , Kuomintang planes accidentally bombed the Shanghai International Settlement , which led to more than 3,000 civilian deaths. In the three days from 14 August through 16, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sent many sorties of the then-advanced long-ranged G3M medium-heavy land-based bombers and assorted carrier-based aircraft with
11242-644: The Japanese-backed East Hebei Autonomous Council and the Hebei–Chahar Political Council were established. There in the empty space of Chahar the Mongol military government was formed on 12 May 1936. Japan provided all the necessary military and economic aid. Afterwards Chinese volunteer forces continued to resist Japanese aggression in Manchuria, and Chahar and Suiyuan . Some Chinese historians believe
11388-645: The League of Nations. No country took action against Japan beyond tepid censure. From 1931 until summer 1937, the Nationalist Army under Chiang Kai-shek did little to oppose Japanese encroachment into China. Incessant fighting followed the Mukden Incident. In 1932, Chinese and Japanese troops fought the January 28 Incident battle. This resulted in the demilitarization of Shanghai , which forbade
11534-418: The Mauser C96 had superior range and better penetration than most other pistols of its era; the 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridge was the highest-velocity commercially manufactured pistol cartridge until the advent of the .357 Magnum cartridge in 1935. Mauser manufactured approximately one million C96 pistols, while the number produced in Spain and China is large but unknown due to poor production records. Within
11680-472: The US collectors' market. Produced by Beistegui Hermanos in Eibar , Spain, this was the first pseudo-Mauser on the market, a relatively crude semi-auto appearing in 1926 and full-auto variants appearing in 1927. Mechanically, it was laid out approximately like the Mauser original, but without the removable lock frame. Internal parts (trigger, hammer, safety lever, etc.) pivoted on pins and screws extending through
11826-444: The United States, selective-fire weapons are not legally available to civilians unless they live in a state that allows civilian ownership of National Firearms Act or Title II weapons. Self-loading automatic pistols can be divided into "blowback" and "locked breech" categories according to their principle of operation. The blowback operating principle is suitable for smaller, lower-powered calibers, such as .32 ACP and .380 ACP , as
11972-482: The Weimar government had to have their barrels cut down to 99 millimetres (3.9 in). 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
12118-722: The area of the Yangtze River Delta . Other sections of China were essentially in the hands of local Chinese warlords. Japan sought various Chinese collaborators and helped them establish governments friendly to Japan. This policy was called the Specialization of North China ( 華北特殊化 ; huáběitèshūhùa ), more commonly known as the North China Autonomous Movement. The northern provinces affected by this policy were Chahar , Suiyuan , Hebei , Shanxi , and Shandong. This Japanese policy
12264-517: The banned 9×19mm Parabellum and 9×25mm Mauser Export cartridges for domestic sales but it never supplanted the 9 mm calibre. Mass-production of the weapon was from 1921 to 1930. It was sold in quantity to armies in the contested Baltic region and was carried by the Poles, Lithuanians, German Freikorps and White Russians . The Bolshevik government (and later the new Red Army ) of the embryonic Soviet Union purchased large numbers of this model in
12410-442: The branding to unit armourers, not all 9mm pistols carry the nine. Of the 150,000 pistols commissioned, approximately 137,000 were delivered before the war ended. Original 9mm pistols can be told from 7.63mm-to-9mm conversions because they have 9mm-rated sights (marked "50 m-500 m") rather than 7.63mm-rated sights (marked "50 m-800 m"). The French government set up an order for 2,000 pistols with 99-millimetre (3.9 in) barrels for
12556-404: The capture of Nanjing, Japanese committed massive war atrocities including mass murder and rape of Chinese civilians after 13 December 1937, which has been referred to as the Nanjing Massacre . Over the next several weeks, Japanese troops perpetrated numerous mass executions and tens of thousands of rapes. The army looted and burned the surrounding towns and the city, destroying more than a third of
12702-464: The city's large foreign community and increase China's foreign support. On 13 August 1937, Kuomintang soldiers attacked Japanese Marine positions in Shanghai, with Japanese army troops and marines in turn crossing into the city with naval gunfire support at Zhabei , leading to the Battle of Shanghai. On 14 August, Chinese forces under the command of Zhang Zhizhong were ordered to capture or destroy
12848-601: The city. After more than three months of intense fighting, their casualties far exceeded initial expectations. On 26 October, the IJA captured Dachang, a key strong-point within Shanghai, and on 5 November, additional reinforcements from Japan landed in Hangzhou Bay. Finally, on 9 November, the NRA began a general retreat. Japan did not immediately occupy the Shanghai International Settlement or
12994-508: The conflict into a full-scale war. Following the shooting of two Japanese officers who were attempting to enter the Hongqiao military airport on 9 August 1937, the Japanese demanded that all Chinese forces withdraw from Shanghai; the Chinese outright refused to meet this demand. In response, both the Chinese and the Japanese marched reinforcements into the Shanghai area. Chiang concentrated his best troops north of Shanghai in an effort to impress
13140-568: The country. China was reduced to a fractured state. As a result, China's prosperity began to wither and its economy declined. This instability presented an opportunity for nationalistic politicians in Japan to press for territorial expansion. In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands to extort further political and commercial privilege from China, which was accepted by the regime of Yuan Shikai. Following World War I , Japan acquired
13286-618: The country. Yuan's attempts at restoring the monarchy triggered the National Protection War , and Yuan Shikai was overthrown after only a few months. In the aftermath of Shikai's death in June 1916, control of China fell into the hands of the Beiyang Army leadership. The Beiyang government was a civilian government in name, but in practice it was a military dictatorship with a different warlord controlling each province of
13432-545: The expectation of destroying the Chinese Air Force . However, the Imperial Japanese Navy encountered unexpected resistance from the defending Chinese Curtiss Hawk II / Hawk III and P-26/281 Peashooter fighter squadrons; suffering heavy (50%) losses from the defending Chinese pilots (14 August was subsequently commemorated by the KMT as China's Air Force Day ). The skies of China had become
13578-409: 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
13724-576: The frame. The screws also held the frame together. The bolt was of round cross-section, unlike the square Mauser bolt. The weapon was stamped with either "Royal" or "ETAI". Clones were made in China. Beistigui introduced an improved version of the Model H as the MM31 – the Modelo Military 1931. It included a number of improvements. A 20-round fixed magazine version was quickly introduced, followed by
13870-420: The hammer or striker may be either thumb-cocked or activated by pulling the trigger when firing the first shot. The hammer or striker is recocked automatically during each firing cycle. In double-action pistols, the first pull of the trigger requires roughly twice as much pressure as subsequent firings, since the first pull of the trigger also cocks the hammer (if not already cocked by hand). The Beretta 92F/FS
14016-691: The high command of the armed forces and issued to motorcycle and flak crews of the Luftwaffe. There were many variants of the C96 besides the standard commercial model; the most common are detailed below. 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 300 millimetres (12 in) (early production) or 370 millimetres (15 in) (late production) barrels. They were dropped from production after 1899 due to poor sales and little military interest. There
14162-577: The historic Kakori train robbery in August 1925. Chinese communist general, Zhu De , carried a Mauser C96 during his Nanchang Uprising and later conflicts; his gun (with his name printed on it) is in the Beijing war museum. Three Mauser C96s were used in the killing of Spanish prime minister Eduardo Dato in 1921, and a Mauser C96 was used in the assassination of the King of Yugoslavia, Alexander I of Yugoslavia , in 1934. Imported and domestic copies of
14308-709: The investigation results of the Association of the Families of the Victims of the Jinan massacre, it showed that 6,123 Chinese civilians were killed and 1,701 injured. Relations between the Chinese Nationalist government and Japan severely worsened as a result of the Jinan incident. As the National Revolutionary Army approached Beijing, Zhang Zuolin decided to retreat back to Manchuria, before he
14454-513: The larger being in Hanyang , Shanghai , Gongxian , Shanxi . They were often used with a detachable shoulder stock. Hanyang alone produced around 13,000 copies. During the Warlord era of Chinese history in the early 20th century, the province of Shanxi was ruled by warlord Yan Xishan , who had established a modern arms factory in his capital city of Taiyuan . Yan was equipping his troops with
14600-421: The left of the hammer) was marked S for seguro ("safe") and F for fogo ("fire'). It was used with Brazilian State Military Police (Polícia Militar) forces in the 1980s. They preferred to use it as a semi-automatic carbine and reserved its full-auto setting for emergencies due to its recoil and muzzle-climb. In 1970, the Policia Militar do Rio de Janeiro (PMRJ) asked the services of Jener Damau Arroyo,
14746-537: The mid-1930s. The PASAM ( pistola automática semi-automática Mauser , 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
14892-482: The milling on the sides found on commercial Mausers). They also have a "ring hammer" (spurless hammer with a hole through its head) instead of the early "cone hammer" (spurless hammer with ribbed cone-like projections on the sides of its head). These guns had their own serial number range, running from 1 to 5000. The Persian government ordered 1,000 pistols. They have the Persian government's " Lion and Sun " insignia on
15038-570: The oppression of Korean residents". After five months of fighting, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932, and installed the last Emperor of China, Puyi , as its puppet ruler. Militarily too weak to challenge Japan directly, China appealed to the League of Nations for help. The League's investigation led to the publication of the Lytton Report , condemning Japan for its incursion into Manchuria, causing Japan to withdraw from
15184-481: The original condition). The weapon took standard detachable 10-round box magazines, although they can also take the extended 20- and 40-round magazines. The most common and popular pistol in China since the beginning of the Republic in 1909, was the Mauser C96, called the "Box Cannon" (盒子炮) in Chinese. It was imported from Germany and Spain ( Astra 900 and MM31 ), but mostly produced locally in various arsenals,
15330-410: The pin's impact; at other times, it operates as a single-action striker-fired firearm. In contrast, a single-action (SA) semi-automatic pistol must be cocked by first operating the slide or bolt, or, if a round is already chambered, by cocking the hammer manually. The M1911 is an example of this style of action. All SA semi-automatic pistols exhibit this feature and automatically cock the hammer when
15476-420: The pistol and is easily accessible only for those who are holding the pistol in the right hand. Many modern SA semi-automatic pistols have had their safety mechanisms redesigned to provide a thumb safety on both sides of the pistol (ambidextrous), thereby better meeting the needs of left-handed, as well as right-handed users. Many SA semi-automatic pistols have a hammer position known as " half-cocked ". Squeezing
15622-491: 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
15768-500: The problem of inadequate stopping power and featured a greatly improved Borchardt-type Kniegelenk ("knee-joint") locking mechanism. Unlike Browning's locked-breech design, the barrel in a Kniegelenk design does not tip up and down while the gun is fired, thereby theoretically improving shooting accuracy. Luger's P.08 was adopted by the German military and served as their standard sidearm in World War I . During World War II, Germany
15914-582: The rectangular milled panel on the left side of the receiver and the serial numbers range from 154000 to 154999. It is often confused with the Turkish contract Mauser. Austria-Hungary ordered 50,000 Mausers in the standard 7.63×25mm. A small number were rebarreled to 8mm Gasser (8.11×27mm) for an unknown reason. During World War I, the Imperial German Army contracted with Mauser for 150,000 C96 pistols chambered in 9mm Parabellum to offset
16060-477: The region by pressuring Yuan Shikai , the president of the Republic of China at the time. With a widened range of economic privileges in Manchuria, Japan began focusing on developing and protecting matters of economic interests. This included railroads, businesses, natural resources, and a general control of the territory. With its influence growing, the Japanese Army began to justify its presence by stating that it
16206-408: The resistance of the recoil spring and mass of the slide are sufficient to retard the opening of the breech until the projectile has left the barrel and breech pressure has dropped to a safe level. For more powerful calibers such as the 9 mm Parabellum (9 mm) and .45 ACP , some form of locked-breech is needed to retard breech opening, as an unlocked blowback pistol in these calibers requires
16352-458: The revolution. Yuan, wanting to remain in power, compromised with the revolutionaries, and agreed to abolish the monarchy and establish a new republican government, under the condition he be appointed president of China. The new Beiyang government of China was proclaimed in March 1912, after which Yuan Shikai began to amass power for himself. In 1913, the parliamentary political leader Song Jiaoren
16498-601: The royal palace guards. They had their own range of serial numbers, running from 1 to 1000. They differ in that they use a Farsi number system on the tangent sight and serial number , and the weapon is designated in the Muslim calendar year number system "1314" in place of the year of the Gregorian calendar "1896/1897". Markings include a six-pointed star on both sides of the chamber and the crest of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (a trophy of crossed Turkish flags, various polearms, and
16644-461: The same .45 ACP ammunition used in the M1911A1, because of the great demand for handguns and the need to adopt a common cartridge for use in both semi-automatic pistols and revolvers. After World War II, most nations eventually adopted 9 mm Parabellum caliber pistols employing some variant of Browning's locked-breech design for their standard-issue military pistols. The most popular early choice
16790-490: The same principles to handguns, including Maxim. Maxim's designs for smaller firearms using his recoil-powered ideas never went into production. In the 1880s, other designers worked on self-loading designs. The Salvator Dormus was the first semi-automatic pistol followed closely by the Schönberger-Laumann 1892 . The first model to gain any commercial success was Hugo Borchardt 's C-93 , which, together with
16936-402: The shell casing and reloads the chamber. This mode of operation generally allows for faster reloading and storing a larger number of cartridges than a revolver. Some modern semi-automatic pistols are exclusively double-action (DA or DAO) trigger function; that is, once a round is chambered, each trigger pull cocks the hammer, striker, or firing pin, and additionally releases the same to fire
17082-595: The shoulder stock to avoid "hammer bite". Small numbers of M1932s were supplied to the German Wehrmacht during World War II, who designated it the M712. The US National Firearms Act of 1934 placed a $ 200 tax on select-fire weapons ("machine guns"), making exports of the Schnellfeuer guns to the US impractical since at the time this was roughly half the cost of a new car. After World War II, importers sold
17228-519: The sleek A5Ms in dogfights , and it also proved to be a battle of attrition against the Chinese Air Force. At the start of the battle, the local strength of the NRA was around five divisions, or about 70,000 troops, while local Japanese forces comprised about 6,300 marines. On 23 August, the Chinese Air Force attacked Japanese troop landings at Wusongkou in northern Shanghai with Hawk III fighter-attack planes and P-26/281 fighter escorts, and
17374-430: The slide is first "racked" to chamber a round. A round can also be manually inserted in the chamber with the slide locked back. Then the safety can be applied. It is generally not a good idea to load a round manually as this can cause excessive wear on the extractor as semi-automatic firearms were designed to have cartridges loaded from the bottom via the magazine. The normal mode of carrying an SA semi-automatic pistol
17520-402: The slow production of the standard-issue DWM P.08 pistol. They use the same clip-loaded internal box magazines as the 7.63mm Mauser and also hold ten rounds. This variant of the C96 was named the "Red 9" after a large number 9 burned into the grip panels and painted in red. (This was done to warn the pistols' users not to incorrectly load them with 7.63mm ammunition.) Because the army delegated
17666-557: The stability of a short-barreled rifle and doubles as a holster or carrying case, and a grip shaped like the handle of a broom. The grip earned the gun the nickname " broomhandle " in the English-speaking world, and in China the C96 was nicknamed the " box cannon " ( Chinese : 盒子炮 ; pinyin : hézipào ) because of its rectangular internal magazine and because it could be holstered in its wooden box-like detachable stock. With its long barrel and high-velocity cartridge,
17812-471: The striker is partially cocked back as the slide closes. This allows for significantly shorter trigger pulls than DAO. The trigger spring can be replaced with a lighter one and paired with a low-strength sear connector resulting in lightened trigger pulls to improve a shooter's accuracy (like models G34 and G35 ). Standard modern semi-automatic pistols are usually double-action (DA), also sometimes known as double-action/single-action (DA/SA). In this design,
17958-608: The tensions in the Northeast that led to the Mukden Incident and eventually the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Soviet Red Army victory over Xueliang's forces not only reasserted Soviet control over the CER in Manchuria but revealed Chinese military weaknesses that Japanese Kwantung Army officers were quick to note. The Soviet Red Army performance also stunned the Japanese. Manchuria was central to Japan's East Asia policy. Both
18104-419: The term "automatic pistol" technically refers to a fully automatic machine pistol , which is capable of continuously firing multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger, although in popular American usage it is also used as a synonym for any self-loading pistol, the vast majority of which are semi-automatic. In colloquial usage, because machine pistols are very rare on the market, an "automatic pistol",
18250-399: The thumb safety (accessible only to right-handed users) positioned in the off (or ready-to-fire) mode. The primary advantage of the half-cocked position versus the uncocked position in that particular scenario was added sound suppression (of the click of the weapon being cocked). A secondary advantage was the avoidance of accidental discharges if the gun was accidentally dropped. The half-cock
18396-727: The time, the Nationalist government relocated to Chongqing in the Chinese interior. After the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact , Soviet aid bolstered the National Revolutionary Army and Air Force . By 1939, after Chinese victories at Changsha and with Japan's lines of communications stretched deep into the interior, the war reached a stalemate. The Japanese were unable to defeat Chinese Communist Party forces in Shaanxi , who waged
18542-540: The trigger will not fire the gun when it is in the half-cocked position, and neither will dropping the gun in this state cause an accidental discharge. During World War II , in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater , an unofficial and unapproved carry mode for the SA M1911 by left-handed U.S. soldiers in combat was carrying the gun with the magazine full, a round chambered, the action in half-cocked position, and
18688-547: The type of locked-breech action which is commonly used by the vast majority of modern large caliber semi-automatic pistols. One of Browning's most enduring designs was the Colt M1911 , which was adopted by the U.S. military as its service pistol and is in active use since 1911 within some U.S. special forces and Marine units, albeit in modernized forms (the M45A1 Pistol is a prime example). Browning also co-designed
18834-423: The usual five or six shots of a revolver are deemed inadequate. Second Sino-Japanese War [REDACTED] China [REDACTED] Japan [REDACTED] 14,000,000 total [REDACTED] 4,100,000 total Second Sino-Japanese War Taishō period Shōwa period Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Second Sino-Japanese War
18980-559: The war they were considered obsolete, being put up for sale cheaply to army or police officers. All of this meant that they saw a lot of use and as a result few specimens survive today, many of them in quite harsh conditions. In 1899, the Italian government ordered Mauser's first major military contract; an order for 5,000 C96 pistols for the Italian Royal Navy . They differ in that their receivers are "slab-sided" (i.e., lacked
19126-617: Was assassinated by the Kwantung Army in 1928. His son, Zhang Xueliang , took over as the leader of the Fengtian clique in Manchuria. Later in the same year, Zhang declared his allegiance to the Nationalist government in Nanjing under Chiang Kai-shek , and consequently, China was nominally reunified under one government. The July–November 1929 conflict over the Chinese Eastern Railroad (CER) further increased
19272-662: Was adopted by the (normally unarmed) British police in 1911 and by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines before the First World War, revolvers were generally preferred by most British military . In the Soviet Union, the TT pistol replaced the Nagant M1895 revolver during the war. In the United States, the M1911A1 was adopted as the standard military sidearm. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson produced revolvers chambered for
19418-480: Was also called the "Eight Years' War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 八年抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 八年抗戰 ), but in 2017 the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a directive stating that textbooks were to refer to the war as the "Fourteen Years' War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 十四年抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 十四年抗戰 ), reflecting a focus on the broader conflict with Japan going back to
19564-406: Was assassinated ; it is generally believed Yuan Shikai ordered the assassination. Yuan Shikai then forced the parliament to pass a bill to strengthen the power of the president and sought to restore the imperial system , becoming the new emperor of China. However, there was little support for an imperial restoration among the general population, and protests and demonstrations soon broke out across
19710-814: Was chambered for the 7.65×25mm Mauser, but could also shoot the weaker Borchardt ammunition. The Schwarzlose design was most advanced and far ahead of its time, but not widely adopted with less than 1000 pieces being manufactured. Small lots were sold to members of the Russian Social-Democratic Party who were plotting insurrection but were confiscated at the Russian border and issued to the Imperial Russian Frontier Guards. In Belgium , in 1896, American gun designer John Browning developed self-loading semi-automatic pistols. His models were first manufactured in Europe by
19856-403: Was continued on German service pistols even after the ban was ignored and the conversions had stopped. Mauser began manufacturing a compliant version of the C96 for commercial sale from 1920 to 1921. It featured smaller grips, a shorter 99-millimetre (3.9 in) barrel, and was chambered for the standard 7.63×25mm Mauser. An experimental 8.15×25.2mm Mauser cartridge (DWM 580) was used to replace
20002-621: Was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part of World War II , and often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. It was the largest Asian war in the 20th century and has been described as "the Asian Holocaust ", in reference to the scale of Japanese war crimes against Chinese civilians. It
20148-664: Was largely intended for export to South America and China or to the opposing sides in the later Spanish Civil War. From 1932 to 1935, the Yugoslavian military tested batches of the Schnellfeuer in both 7.63mm and 9mm Parabellum for the purpose of arming mountain troops and special operations units. Improvements requested by the Yugoslavs included a detachable barrel, improved front and rear sights, more durable parts to prevent breakage under sustained fire and lowered position of
20294-437: 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. A version of the Mauser pistol with a full-sized grip, six-shot internal magazine, and a 120-millimetre (4.7 in) barrel. Production
20440-575: Was most effective in the area of what is now Inner Mongolia and Hebei. In 1935, under Japanese pressure, China signed the He–Umezu Agreement , which forbade the KMT to conduct party operations in Hebei. In the same year, the Chin–Doihara Agreement was signed expelling the KMT from Chahar. Thus, by the end of 1935 the Chinese government had essentially abandoned northern China. In its place,
20586-534: Was phased out by 1899. 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. 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
20732-406: Was revised by Colt in the 1970s and subsequently other manufacturers – the hammer will fall from half-cock if the trigger is pulled on most newer 1911 type guns. A self-loading pistol reloads the chamber with a new round automatically each time the weapon is fired, without additional action being required by the user. For a semi-automatic pistol, this is typically accomplished by recoil operation. In
20878-453: Was simply protecting its own economic interests. However militarists in the Japanese Army began pushing for an expansion of influence, leading to the Japanese Army assassinating the warlord of Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin . This was done with hopes that it would start a crisis that would allow Japan to expand their power and influence in the region. When this was not as successful as they desired, Japan then decided to invade Manchuria outright after
21024-474: Was the FN Browning Hi-Power mentioned above; another popular model was the locked-breech Walther P38 because of its many safety features. Over the course of the postwar 20th century, additional popular semi-automatic pistols were introduced, including the Smith & Wesson Model 59 , Beretta 92 , CZ 75 , Glock , SIG Sauer P226 , Walther P88 , Heckler & Koch USP , Kel-Tec P-11 , and Kel-Tec P-32 , among many other models. The almost universal trend since
21170-459: Was the first nation to adopt a double-action pistol, the Walther P38 , which could be carried loaded (with a cartridge chambered) and ready to fire without the risk of an accidental discharge if dropped. The P38 also used Luger's 9 mm Parabellum cartridge. Revolvers were still issued by various major powers, but their use was decreasing. Though the British firm Webley & Scott had developed several adequate self-loading pistols, one of which
21316-425: Was used by Japan, as neither country had made a formal declaration of war . From the Japanese perspective, localizing these conflicts was beneficial in preventing intervention from other countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, which were its primary source of petroleum and steel respectively. A formal expression of these conflicts would potentially lead to an American embargo in accordance with
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