Malone's handgun, nicknamed the “broomhandle” for its grip, was a ten round, 7.63x25mm semi-automatic pistol produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896. The C96, due to its long barrel and grade of ammunition, had a superior range compared to other handguns of the time.
The Irish Volunteers referred to the weapon as ‘Peter the Painter’ after the underground figure of the same name who allegedly used one in the 1911 Siege of Sidney Street. The use of a shoulder-stock which doubled as a holster for the pistol was first employed on the M1898 pistol carbine model.
Seamus Grace recalled Malone as ‘the crackshot of the 3rd Battalion with the Mauser automatic and in the main battle on Wednesday [...] he wrought terrible havoc among the enemy with it.’ In the 1930s, a C96 Mauser with a shoulder stock, claimed to be Malone's, was donated to the National Museum of Ireland.
(MAI, BMH WS 310, 1949, p. 7.)