We’re very curious at the Daily Mirror HQ these days about what sort of pistol Robert Downey Jr. is using in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” For example, in this picture he’s got a nice broomhandle Mauser. Notice that it’s in his right hand.
At first, I had the dim recollection that in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mysteries, Holmes never carries a gun, but then I recalled that Holmes dispatches the Hound of the Baskervilles with a revolver:
But the next instant Holmes had emptied five barrels of his revolver into the creature’s flank. With a last howl of agony and a vicious snap in the air, it rolled upon its back, four feet pawing furiously, and then fell limp upon its side. I stooped, panting, and pressed my pistol to the dreadful, shimmering head, but it was useless to press the trigger. The giant hound was dead.
Art directors love these Mausers, which turn up in many films — even adapted to become Han Solo’s blaster in “Star Wars.”
Now the Mauser is in his left hand!
Hullo, what’s this? It’s a revolver! In his right hand.
Looks like a break-top revolver, perhaps a British Webley, rather than the German Mauser. Perfect for shooting crazed hounds on the moors. But it’s in his left hand.
Curioser and curioser. Now Jude Law has the Mauser – in his left hand — and Downey has the pistol in his right hand.
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What I really hope is that they don’t put the Eiffel Tower in London.
ladailymirror.com 
This being 1893, having a Mauser C96 (introduced in 1896) thrusts us into science fiction, seeing as they are commandeering weapons from…the future! (Relatedly, definitely a Webley, but clearly not the correct Webley Mk I, introduced in ’87, but rather a much later Mk V or VI.)
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Maybe Sherlock is ambidextrous and is holding a prototype broomhandle..
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No way the first prototype is from 1895, and this kind of recharging system only appears in 1930.
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Sam, it’s reasonable in the spirit of things to acquiesce and consider both your points valid (thus, now consumed with Suspension of Disbelief, I fully expect in this picture a zeppelin involved somehow).
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There are a couple of errors relating to the C96 Mauser used in the film: It was indeed introduced 3 years LATER (in 1896, hence the C96 model number). Also, in the film, the character of Colonel Moran introduces the weapon to Holmes stating that it is loaded with a box magazine. The C96 had an internal magazine, loaded by pushing the ammunition DOWNWARDS into the weapon (usually from a specially-developed clip – see this illustration courtesy of Wikipedia http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Mauser_C96_M1916_Red_4.JPG/220px-Mauser_C96_M1916_Red_4.JPG)
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The Federle brothers, who invented the Broomhandle, did so in 1892. They worked for Mauser who “stole” the design. It is called a C96, which notes the first year it was officially available.
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