TFB Armorer's Bench: C96 Grip Fit & Stock Repair

Welcome everyone to the TFB Armorer’s Bench! As mentioned in the little blurb below, this series will focus on a lot of home armorer and gunsmith activities. Today we get to dive into a rather spontaneous project. This is one I’ve had on my list for a while but have been very busy and even been a little under the weather lately. I need to fit some C96 grips to pair with my stock and I need to fix the stock so I can confidently use it with the C96. Let’s dive into the C96 Grip Fit & Stock Repair!

Note: C96 Broomhandle Mauser pistols are listed as an exception when it comes to putting a stock on them. They are not regarded as SBRs. I have heard mixed reports on whether the stock that is attached may be a reproduction one or not but I think that comes down to a given acronym agent vs actually being mentioned in any rule. The rules I have seen seem to be conflicting. Regardless, my stock is the real deal and its age shows. Let’s fix her up!

Recent TFB Armorer’s Bench Content:

• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Box Full of Gun Parts – What to Do
• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Firearm Conservation – Back From The Dead
• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Rust Bluing The Blunderbuss
• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Stock Finishing – Blunderbuss Kit
• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Initial Steps with a Muzzle Loader Kit

Here, we at TFB hope to inform, entertain, and even inspire any would-be gunsmith or armorer out there. Ideally, with the information I provide and with the help of our sponsors, you can have some useful knowledge about the conservation and improvement of firearms technology while at the same time sharing experiences and teaching each other new tips and tricks along the way in the comments. Digging deep into what it is to be an armorer or gunsmith has significance but what is important is what those people do to show they’ve earned that title. I am happy to share my experiences and knowledge and hope it is informative!

Make your personal safety a priority:

1. Practice proper gun safety. Always make sure before the firearm hits your bench that it is unloaded and safe to be handled.
2. Wear the proper safety equipment. The main one would be safety glasses (decent ones) since parts are often under spring tension and you may work with high RPM tools. Other honorable mentions would be latex gloves or a respirator when working with potentially harmful solvents and oils. Also hearing protection when working with loud machinery or test-firing firearms.
3. Modifications, alterations, and customizations will void your firearm’s warranty 9.5 times out of 10. Please take that into consideration before attempting any at-home gunsmithing.
4. If you are unsure about proper safety practices, disassembly procedures, or warranty standards, stop, put down the tools, and consult a competent gunsmith.

So for the sake of some necessary context let’s start with the fact that not only is my C96 what is commonly referred to as an M1930 or 1930 C96 but the stock is not matched to it. In fact, the stock (though original for the time or even earlier) is a Chinese-made one. In the 1930s some of Mauser’s biggest customers were in places like China. My C96 actually has Chinese characters on the lower portion of the receiver which translates to something like “Made in Germany”. These characters were put there by the Mauser company before a given export order was shipped.

All of that is a long way of saying that this particular gun was not hand-fitted to fit this particular stock. The original grips for one thing are a little too wide so inserting it into the stock offers some difficulty. Upon inserting however I revealed an existing crack which only popped up because those wide grips parted the base of the stock.

That is exactly what I tested on the reproduction grips, and it went well. So I started on the original grips, and I was much more careful than I was on the reproduction grips because I noticed that if I worked too fast, I could get some choppy-looking results for lack of a better phrase. I took time to use a relatively aggressive wood file and fit it slowly putting them on the C96 and putting it into the stock over and over again, looking for gaps, looking for places where it touched until it was slim enough where it would no longer spread the stock and reveal the crack

After the application of Acraglas, it needs to cure and harden. This is best done in warm dry environments. I have heard some people even go as far as putting their projects in the oven. My home is heated with a woodstove and it’s winter time so I just put it in the basement with the woodstove and left it overnight. A notable tip here is to leave the mixing tray, plate, bowl, or whatever you used to mix the Acraglas with your project. This way you can test how hard or how much the Acraglas has cured simply by touching or poking the leftovers on the tray.