Relics of a bygone age. Astra 600/43

Status
Not open for further replies.
gopguy

gopguy

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
1,226
Location
S.W. Ohio
I seem to have accidentally fallen into becoming a collector of Astra 600/43 pistols. My friend Leonardo Antaris will find it all very amusing as I told him I was resisting the call of Spanish service pistols a couple years back. I have now managed to accumulate three of these interesting 9mm Parabellum pistols. None have import stamps so they came into the US prior to the 1968 GCA. All have their holsters as well. The guns began life as a special order from the Nazis but only the first 10,000 or so made it to the Third Reich. The rest remained in storage and were later obtained by the Post War German government and used as police and border guard side arms. A quantity were also sold to Portugal. These three went to Germany. Neat pieces of history.

http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/Astra_/astra_.html

http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg/sp/astra-mod-400-and-600-e.html

Even saw some use in film.
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Astra_300/400/600#Astra_600

eta2rq.jpg
s48cqb.jpg
 
I have one and I love to shoot it. I also have M400 and a few Stars. These are old pre war ones and are well built. Trying to get a M300 to complete the collection but they are high money so far.
 
Prior to the Hi-Points, those were the only high production straight blowback pistols made for the powerful 9mm Parabellum (600) and 9mm Largo (400). They did it with a heavy slide, strong spring, and a little trick. The hammer was made so it was at a mechanical disadvantage in cocking and acted to delay the blowback action. When Astra produced the Model 800 Condor after the war, which was a Model 600 with an exposed hammer, they dropped the delay feature so the hammer could be manually cocked; the pistol ran into problems and was dropped.

Still, those Astras are not pleasant to shoot, the feel being compared to hitting a baseball with a cracked bat. But they are reliable and durable, as well as very accurate for service pistols.

Jim
 
gopguy

The one I had looked exactly like the three you have pictured, along with a holster and spare magazine. A well made and finished pistol it was as Jim K said: "not pleasant to shoot". I use to manage to get through a box of ammo before I would stop shooting it and put it away for the next time I went shooting. The gun was just too painful to shoot and kept me from doing any more shooting until my hand and wrist felt better.

Bottom line: an interesting design and a well made gun that was not a lot of fun to shoot.
 
Bottom line: an interesting design and a well made gun that was not a lot of fun to shoot.
__________________
Click to expand...


Grip angle and being a pure blowback would be the culprit for that.
 
Beautiful guns. I just picked up a pristine 300 in 32ACP. I own a 400 and it is a later one. It accepts a super's rim and I like to pull the bullets on the supers, drop the charge a bit and reassemble and shoot. The gun has all new Wolff springs installed. I did shoot a few factory super's through it, and honestly couldn't tell them from the Largo's, but better safe than sorry.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2396[1].jpg
    IMG_2396[1].jpg
    153.2 KB · Views: 20
I think they have more perceived recoil than most guns of their caliber. There is a lot of muzzle flip and they throw empties randomly and into the next county. But I love em'.

I've never seen any of the "Squirt gun" Astra.s that wouldn't feed any thing you give them. My 400 feeds 148gr wadcutters, seated to normal depth. The short rounds work their way to the front of the mag after a shot or two and the gun runs! I put in a worn out recoil spring to shoot the light loads.
 
I think they are kind of ugly.... I love ugly guns though... especially ones with history behind them!
 
Gopguy is correct on the VP70Z. I forgot about that gun, even though I have one. But that gun also has a massive slide (like the Hi-Point) and a very heavy recoil spring, plus an atrocious trigger pull. Basically the same idea as the Astras but (IMHO) the Spanish made a neater package.

P.S. I might shoot the VP70Z more if I can get used to the safety being where the magazine release should be.

Jim
 
I have a 9x19 threaded stainless (federal ordinance) barrel that I have fitted to my 400. I keep the original 9 Largo barrel in it in Calif. When I go visit my son in Oregon he has a registered 9mm supressor. While there are no sights , the combination is a lot of fun to shoot and 100% reliable.
 
I've got two of these myself - in very similar condition to yours with wear on exactly the same places. I haven't even gotten a chance to shoot them yet. I had a 1921 for a while in 9mm Largo, but sold it to my bro-in-law along with 950 rounds of ammo.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top