C&R · IV · 008
Azul selective-fire pistol
Section IV: still an NFA firearm, also a curio or relic
Official wording
ATF P 5300.11 · APRIL 2025 EDITION · SECTION IV · VERBATIM · PDF P. 82 ↗
Azul, selective fire pistol, cal. 7.63mm (.30 Mauser), copy of Mauser Model 1896 pistol.
What this entry requires
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1931–1936.
- INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
SpainBasis: outside reference ⁴- Manufacturer
- Eulogio Arostegui, EibarBasis: outside reference ²
- Type
- PistolBasis: outside reference ¹
- Action
- Select-fire / autoBasis: the ATF wording
- Caliber
- 7.63mm MauserBasis: the ATF wording
- Made
- c. 1931–1936production; ATF states no dateBasis: estimate ³
- Service
- Commercial
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 82 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: Medium · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “Mauser C96” ↗, type: Spanish makers began producing select-fire C96 copies in 1927–1928
- 2. catalogacionarmas.com ↗, maker: Juan L. Calvó, Spanish Short Weapons 1875-1950s, part 3 ch. 11: the SUPER AZUL "Mauser-type" pistols, "a brand derived from the AZUL brand registered in 1922 by Eulogio Arostegui"; often taken for a Beistegui Hermanos product marketed by Arostegui, "However, Artemio Mortera tells us that it was exactly the other way around": Arostegui built them and Beistegui marketed them (the Mauser C96 article gives the older Beistegui attribution)
- 3. catalogacionarmas.com ↗, years (estimate: partly supports it): the Super Azul was "Also marketed under the MM31 trademark" (MM 31 = "Modelo Militar 1931", trademark registered by Beistegui in 1932); no production span is stated, so start 1931 is the model year and the 1936 end is our estimate
- 4. catalogacionarmas.com ↗, country: made in Eibar, Spain, by Eulogio Arostegui's workshop (founded by Salvador Arostegui in 1908)
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- 2 changes · see below
Correction history
- Evidence passEditorial confidence: Low → Medium. Re-rated after supporting references were added or re-checked.
- Evidence passYears: 1930–1936 → 1931–1936. The Super Azul is marked with the MM 31 (Modelo Militar 1931) trademark (Calvó), so 1930 predates its first possible year
Historical context

Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Mauser C96 7,63 (6971794467).jpg” by Askild Antonsen, CC BY 2.0. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “Mauser C96”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Mauser C96 is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century.