Astra 300

[swany11]

Just uncovered this gem my Mom gave to me. It was my grandfather's gun, and he picked it up during WWII. My Dad cleaned up it years ago, but it has basically been sitting inside its leather holster, inside their cedar chest for probably 40+ years. By my untrained eyes, it looks to be in very good/excellent shape.

The world wide interwebs tell me it was an Astra 300, and the serial number places it in the first batch (5,000) of guns sent from Spain to the German Army in 1941. Most of the guns had a German Army (not Nazi) symbol on the gun, but this one does not. I assumed my grandfather (who was killed before I was born) pulled it of a dead German soldier, but he was stationed in Japan. So not 100% certain how he came about this weapon.

A few questions:

1. Anyone familiar with this gun and its potential origin? I haven't quite figured out if the Germans still used this gun if it didn't have the symbol on it.
2. Anyone know of a good gunsmith in or around Indy that might have experience with this type of gun? I would like to get it cleaned up and have an expert look at it.
3. It is chambered for 9mm/.380. I assume my best bet would be to use the .380? I think the 9mm part was 9mm Kurtz???
4. Assuming all is fine with the gun, it would still be ok to use, correct?

Enjoy the pics.

 

[2cool9031]

Very nice looking Astra!

 

[twisyblackmetal]

i had a star model b which was built as part of a Nazi contract but never delivered until after the war. it ended up as a West German police gun and bore those markings.There are a few great Spanish gun forums out there.

 

[Mgderf]

Post those pics onGunBroker forums under "ask the experts"

You'll likely have your answer in mere hours.

Pull up GB home page. Top right-hand side of the page, click on community, then forums, then ask the experts.

BTW- nothing personal, and it's just my opinion, but that is one ugly firearm!?!

 

[indy1919a4]

A few questions:

1. Anyone familiar with this gun and its potential origin? I haven't quite figured out if the Germans still used this gun if it didn't have the symbol on it.

-----> I do know some of the guns do not have German military acceptance stamps on them.. And yet were taken from the German Army

There are a couple of youtubes out there to show you how to break astras down for cleaning, They break down kinda slick..

To share one thing that happen to me with an Astra 600.. Cleaned it, placed it back together correctly,, Placed about 75 rounds through it.. No problems.. But somehow the front lug that locks the spring in the tube around the barrel. Somehow the lock moved into the open position and the spring and the lock at the end of the tube flew off down range.. The gun jammed open (no spring pressure to close the slide)..

After a little search did find the parts, But it can happen..

Astras are really cool looking guns, some real neat variations and sizes and yet they all look like Astras

 

[JohnP82]

3. It is chambered for 9mm/.380. I assume my best bet would be to use the .380? I think the 9mm part was 9mm Kurtz???

Yes it is .380

.380 is also called 9mm Kurtz which if I remember correctly means 9mm. short

You are correct about the .380 Do not attempt to use 9mm. 9x19 ammo

And congrats on the gun. Cool history you have with it as well.

 

[swany11]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Mgderf,
Not the most asthetically pleasing pistol, but considering its history/age, not sure how it compares to others that old.
And I will definitely post on that site you mentioned.

indy1919,
Thanks for the heads up. Might try and open it up this week.
How was the recoil on the 400 when you shot it?

JohnP82,
Thanks for confirming.

 

[indy1919a4]

Thanks for the replies, guys!


indy1919,
Thanks for the heads up. Might try and open it up this week.
How was the recoil on the 400 when you shot it?

st

The recoil was normal for a 9mm pistol.. The thing that was hard on my hand is charging the slide for the 1st round. The spring is very strong.. And that part of it is not Pleasant.. But all very workable

Just a FYI.. My dad brought this gun back from serving in Korea in the 1954 time frame.. It is always interesting the travel of firearms

 

[swany11]

st

The recoil was normal for a 9mm pistol.. The thing that was hard on my hand is charging the slide for the 1st round. The spring is very strong.. And that part of it is not Pleasant.. But all very workable

Just a FYI.. My dad brought this gun back from serving in Korea in the 1954 time frame.. It is always interesting the travel of firearms

Ya, noticed the difficulty of the slide also.
I was engrossed when reading about the history of these guns. Great history lesson.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

.380 is also known as 9mm kurtz, which indeed means "short". It's a 9x17 case, so the 9x19 (9mm Luger or parabellum) won't fit. No worries there. I've wondered if a 9x17 would chamber into a 9x19, headspacing on the extractor. That could lead to some ugliness.

 

[Chapparal]

Keep the piece and love it! It has a great history and would be among my prize possessions IF I came into it with that family background!

That said, I always thought the Astra looked like the "ugly sister/brother" ;-) The shoot and operate well. Enjoy it!

Wish I could give you a better background on the piece!

 

[indy1919a4]

So like have you tried her out yet???? Its now been a week,, The suspense is killing me

 

[winstonsmith84]

. I've wondered if a 9x17 would chamber into a 9x19, headspacing on the extractor. That could lead to some ugliness.

I was under the impression that the Astra 300/400/600 used a cone shaped chamber of some sort that would allow everything from 9X17 to 9MM largo to fire in a pinch. I seem to remember reading that and I believe that is what I was told at the gun shop while looking at a 400. They had a pile of 400's for like $119 in the mid 90's and were touting this as a feature.

Anyway...

Astra's are pretty cool.

 

[swany11]

Sorry guys...haven't had much time lately to bring it in. The shop I narrowed down to isn't near home or my office. Hopefully this coming week.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[indy1919a4]

I was under the impression that the Astra 300/400/600 used a cone shaped chamber of some sort that would allow everything from 9X17 to 9MM largo to fire in a pinch. I seem to remember reading that and I believe that is what I was told at the gun shop while looking at a 400. They had a pile of 400's for like $119 in the mid 90's and were touting this as a feature.

Anyway...

Astra's are pretty cool.

The 300 & 600 can only shoot what there were made for 9mm or 380.. Some were made for some other calibers... The 400 can accept a range of
rounds, 9mm x19 Luger, 9mm x 20 Browning long, 9mm x 21, 9 x 23 Largo, 38 Super and 38 automatic (maybe even more) .. But its more "it can situations" vs "Should you".. There can be all kinds of issues from what I have heard over the years from cracked slides to feed and eject problems..

 

[swany11]

Just got back from Indy Trading Post. Had some people look at it, and everyone was amazed at how clean it was. I ran about 10 .380's through it on the range and it worked like a charm! The first one I was a little apprehensive, but it went boom, so I was happy. The rest of the shots felt pretty good.

It is a pain to take apart, but I am sure once I get some reps under my belt it will be fine.

Fun gun to shoot, and some fun history behind it. Half the fun is researching and talking about where it came from, what the markings are, etc. Thanks to Charlie for taking a look at it, and Ed and James at Indy Trading Post for helping me out!

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Yeah, with a wartime design I can see them wanting to slap something together that "could" be used with multiple rounds, but it would be extremely unlikely you could get good performance out of all of them. If all you need is a piece of hot lead coming out the end pretty fast for a 5m shot, yeah. Keyholes, whatever, no big deal.

Sweet find, though. I'm envious. I missed a cache of wartime firearms once by a couple of months. I try not to think about it too much.

 

[growl18]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Mgderf,
Not the most asthetically pleasing pistol, but considering its history/age, not sure how it compares to others that old.
And I will definitely post on that site you mentioned.

indy1919,
Thanks for the heads up. Might try and open it up this week.
How was the recoil on the 400 when you shot it?

JohnP82,
Thanks for confirming.

Astra did learn to make asthetically pleasing pistols. The A60 is a favorite.

Good luck with yours !

 

[swany11]

Put 50 rounds through it on Friday. Only a couple FTF's, not a big deal.
Seemed to be fairly accurate...as accurate as the user is. It was hard to figure out the trigger pull, but I am still a novice when it comes to handguns. Magazine can be tough to load and chopped up my thumb/fingernail a bit. Only holds 6, and I can only imagine how expensive a second would be.
Had fun cleaning it this morning. Plenty of black wipes. I get great satisfaction when giving it a thorough cleaning.
All in all a fun gun to shoot.

 

[indy1919a4]

Put 50 rounds through it on Friday. Only a couple FTF's, not a big deal.
Magazine can be tough to load and chopped up my thumb/fingernail a bit. Only holds 6, and I can only imagine how expensive a second would be.
.

Last time I looked they were running in the 70 to 90 dollar range for originals, I have no idea if there are any knock offs for it.. I think the Holsters for the astras are real nice, saw a holster for the 300 once, outer pouch for the extra magazine, classic Euopean look.

Nice thing to hear it is working again. Nothing as pleasing as firing an old family gun again. If you ever watch the old TV show mission impossible, they used astras alot for the Eastern European countries side arms..