Yeah, I missed “May the 4th be With You” by a smidge… The 4th is always a fun day on the internet and among your Star Wars buddies. Interestingly, Han Solo’s blaster, among other movie props used in Star Wars, has quite a history. Might you know what actual weapon was used for that particular blaster?
I didn’t notice any of this stuff as a kid, but now that I’m a “gun guy” these things cross my mind when I see them. You can’t mistake a “Broom Handle Mauser” pistol for anything else. Yes, the German Mauser C96, was the core weapon used in Star Wars and became Han Solo’s iconic “BlasTech DL-44” which is easily recognized around the globe now. More interesting is the fact that a movie prop BlasTech DL-44 is pretty valuable. One of them sold for over a half-million dollars not long ago… That’s right. A non-firing movie prop Harrison Ford used during filming fetched $550,000.00 at auction…
I sure wished I’d kept the plastic versions I had as a kid. But, my brother and I used them too hard and too often, and they didn’t survive my childhood. Paul Mauser didn’t actually design or initially endorse the C96. The Feederle brothers, Fidel, Friedrich, and Joseph, worked in the Mauser prototype shop and cooked this up without the approval of Paul Mauser. The story goes that Mauser was introduced to the pistol, and didn’t care for it at all, but liked the potential revenue more than his pride, and put it into production. I’d liked to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation! Over a million of the C96 variants were produced from 1896 to the late 1930s.
If you start paying attention to the Star Wars weapons used in the films, you’ll find more amalgamations from the real world. The Sterling, AR15, German StG 44, German MG-34, Lewis Light Machine Gun, and the Soviet Margolin are among the weapons I can quantify. There might be more tucked away here and there, but I haven’t spotted them yet.
IFC is comprised of civil rights advocates, specifically focused on the 2nd Amendment. But, some of us are also movie buffs. I love good movies, and happening across something fun like this is worth sharing. JOIN IFC and support us as we support you!
Here’s a bit of history on the Broomhandle from Ian:
In Liberty,
Michael Ware – IFC Board
Recent Comments