A unique piece of British film making history. A rare collectors film prop, and at the same time, a WW1 UK spec deac C96 pistol dating from 1915 with original stock / holster.

In 1972 a supplier of guns and weapons to the film industry were asked to supply a C96 pistol, identical in every way to the pistol used by Winston Churchill for the upcoming film, “Young Winston” directed by Richard Attenbourough and starring Simon Ward. Th attention to detail of the pistol was to be so exact, it was to have the same Boer-War period London retailer markings to the side of “Westley Richards & Co London” to the side of the frame, and to the front of the frame “W.L.S.Churchill”, presumably incase there were any very close close-up shots.

The pistol used by Churchill in the Boer-War was the early version of the C96 known as the Cone-Hammer version. When making a film, it is always standard practice for the armourer to have two examples of the same gun. This is still the case today. This is in case the pistol jams, breaks, gets lost, stolen, etc,there would always be a second gun to carry on the filming. At the time, the gun hire company only had one Cone-Hammer C96 pistol, and some examples of standard WW1 C96 pistol. In order to be able to supply the standard two pistols for filming, they supplied WW1 pistol number 207859. To make the WW1 pistol look more like an earlier Cone-Hammer type, the workshop at  the gun hire company machined away to the right side of the frame above the grip, the two parallel milled slots into a square, although they left the centre area. The full milled square and the two parallel being the most noticeable difference between the early and late pistol. After this, both pistols were sent for the required engraving. It was also decided to have micro engraving in between the lines of the retailer detail, “COPY OF CHURCHILL MAUSER”, an honest mark to prevent potential future deception. All skillful hand engraving.

Both pistols were then used on location in the filming of “Young Winston”. Having examined both pistols, of the two, the Cone-Hammer has a very dark gloss black appearance, whereas this pistol 207959 has a more WW1 rust-blue, grayer appearance. It would appear that the Cone-Hammer was mainly used for promotional shots with Simon Ward, whereas 207859 was used in the actual filming and is the one seen in the film with Simon Ward.

In the images from the film, the first image in black and white, Simon Ward is clearly holding 207859 The additional work carried out on the pistol by the gun hire firm, the milled out square, but the centre of it is visible. You can also see the two “shiney” areas at the point of the milling work, which can still be seen on the pistol today.(you may need to copy / paste the image and zoom in) In the still of Simon Ward in the train cabin, he can be seen holding the gray looking 207859. In the last three images, Simon Ward is looking to the camera for publicity shots. In these three images you can see the black looking Cone-Hammer pistol. So, of the two pistols used on set for the film, it was 207859 that can be seen used in the filming. Possibly for scenes showing Simon Ward loading the pistol, the magazine spring and follower were removed, which would make the appearance of loading easier to perform.

out of interest, the same gun hire company in 1977 was again asked to supply a C96 pistol for a film with some additional work. That turned out to be Han Solo”s blaster pistol, a WW1 C96 which sold recently for one million dollars!

207859 as well as being a rare, historic film prop, is still a WW1 German C96 pistol, and as such has now got with it an original contemporary WW1 C96 stock / holster pistol in good condition. Deact in 2012 with its Birmingham proof house certificate, it can be stripped, cocked and dry fired. It remains in excellent condition with no rust or pitting.

Supplied with a signed letter of provenance giving more details.