Chinese Type 17

Often confused with the German Mauser C96, better known as the "Broomhandle", the Chinese Type 17 is a knock-off of the C96.  China has a history of copying preexisting firearms.  Some examples include the Type 56, copied from the Soviet Izhmash AK-47, the Type 81 MGS, resembling the Soviet RPK, right down to the angled drum magazine, the Type 86, which strongly resembles the French Nexter FAMAS, and the M311, obviously modeled after the Colt M16A1, just to name a few.  With all of that established, how am I sure I need to make a Type 17 and not a Mauser C96?

So with that out of the way, it's time to get started on building our Chinese Type 17 as seen here:

As per usual, I started by tossing the highest-resolution photo of a profile of the Type 17 I could get my grubby, digital hands on into Photoshop, and enlarged it to 1:1 scale.  After that, I measured key points on the gun off my computer monitor and copied them down onto a slab of cardboard.  I then cut that out and traced it four more times, cut those out, trimmed down the trigger guard, hammer, and the sight on the outside two layers.  Then, I cut a 1/2" groove down the center so I could thread a dowel into the cardboard for the barrel.  As a bonus, it'll reinforce the prop when it's completed.

Next, I grabbed my knife and whittled down the grip to give it that classic "Broomhandle" namesake.  After that, I hotglued a frontal sight onto the barrel and the handle for the slide on the back, just above the hammer.  I also took a phillips head screwdriver(I don't own a drill press) and bored a hole into the front of the barrel to make it seem like a gun barrel. With all the components in place and the shape established, I filled in all of the corrugations with hot glue and smoothed them out time and again for a nice finish.

Next up, I hit it with a coat of black.  'nuff said.

Finally, the fun, meticulous part...detailing!

Thar she blows, complete with Chinese lettering between the grip and the sight on that little rectangle.  I believe it literally translates to, "Type 17".

I gave this to my girlfriend Jenn for her 22nd birthday, considering she's my EVA, I figured she needed a Type 17, as she has the custom holster for it and everything.  Plus, she can stop stealing my M1911A1 now.  :P

Here's a shot of her in her gear with the Type 17 from ACen 2011:

And from C2E2 in 2012:

image © David Ngo