POTD: Chinese “Mauser/Nationale” Pistol – A Warlord-Era Brand Mashup

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a pistol that tries really hard to be two guns from two different companies at the same time. This is a Chinese “dimpled slide” pistol from the Warlord-Era, chambered in 7.65mm (32 ACP), and this exact gun is photographed on pages 168 and 169 of Ian McCollum’s “Pistols of the Warlords.”

Warlord armies loved semi-autos, and the FN 1900 and Mauser C96 were the two they copied most. For the book, Ian dug through hundreds of these and found the homegrown designs fell into six families.

The funny part of this one is the markings, and here they are the whole story. The slide and frame carry fairly convincing fake Mauser banner logos, and then “NATIONALE” is stamped all over it, with the left side of the slide alone carrying it three times, borrowing from FN. Mauser and FN never teamed up on a pistol, so a gun claiming to be both gives the game away. Obviously, whoever built it knew a foreign name sold better than no name at all. Ian points to this mix of fake brands as a classic warlord trait.

It also wears a “1942” date on several parts, even though the real date of manufacture is unknown. I would go as far as saying the stampings on these tell you more about the maker’s sales instincts than about when the gun was made.

Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!

“Documented Chinese ‘Mauser/Nationale’ Dimpled Slide Pistol.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4097/1349/documented-chinese-mausernationale-dimpled-slide-pistol. Accessed 29 Sept. 2026.

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