Need help with astra 600

[69daytona]

Need to know how to get the firing pin and extractor out for a good cleaning.
Gun has been packed in grease for last 50 years in uncles collection, I field stopped it and cleaned it good spraying half a can of carb cleaner through firing pin hole because I could not find how to remove it.
Went to range and only got real faint pin strikes on primers. Not one fired.
To nice of a gun to not take shooting.

[2152hq]

Remove the slide from the frame. No need to remove the bbl completely,,just a simple takedown is fine where the bbl is still held under recoil spring tension in the slide unless you want to battle that recoil spring & end cap back into place.

Turn the slide over. There is a recessed slot cut into the bottom of the area of the slide serrations on the right side of the slide (now looking up at you on the left side as the slide is upside down)

Down in the slot are 2 pins that are L shaped. You can see only the lower leg of the L,,the longer upper leg is the pin of each,,one retaining the extractor,,the other the firing pin.
With a small tipped screw driver like a jewelers screwdriver pry under the tip of each 'leg' (there is a slight bevel on each) and lift the pin up and pull each out of the slide.
That will allow the 2 parts to be removed from the slide.

They are made to be easily removed like that,,not a hard, press fit.

When re-installing,,about the only trick if there is one is that you have to press the firing pin in the right amt to allaign the slot in the firingpin so the L retaining pin can pass by and seat all the way.
The extractor is a round hole and has to be allaigned as well to set. Each part has a spring you are compressing when reassembling but w/o too much trouble they go right back together.

They usually need a good cleaning,,especially the firing pin and it's spring. Dried, thickened oil and dirt get in there and it sticks in position.

Nice pistols and very accurate.

[69daytona]

Thank you for the detailed description, made it easy to understand.

[Texas by God]

Hold the slide breech face down and see if the firing pin tip hangs out. If so it's broken and explains the light strikes. My Astra 400 did this once.

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[69daytona]

Was just gummed up with 50 year old oil, broke two jewlers screwdrivers prying the pins loose.
Cleaned everything with acetone and lubed it lightly now it all seems to be working good for now.

[Texas by God]

Enjoy that pistol. Every one I've had was match accurate with the best loads and darn accurate with cheap stuff.

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[69daytona]

Did a chamber cast and it must be a 400 as it's chambered for 9 largo, had to stretch the extractor spring to make it catch the rim of the 9mm i have, then it worked ok, would not catch all of them, so now looking for largo brass.

[2152hq]

The Astra 400 has it's magazine catch on the bottom of the frame at the rear of the mag well. Hangs down below the frame a bit. Pull back to release & pull the magazine out.
The 600 has the magazine catch on the bottom of the left hand side of the grip. Inletted partially into the grip itself and it's surface serrated. It fit's flush with the grip and frame and does not protrude from the guns surface. Simply push in to release magazine.
600 magazine has a small rectangular cut low on the left back spine corner for the magazine release to lock into.

The 600 magazine has a tab protruding from the right hand side of the floor plate to assist removing the magazine.
The Model 400 magazine has no such tab on the side(s). Just the lip of the floor plate in the front to assist in pulling the magazine out of the pistol.

This is the quick way to ID either model from a distance and other than using the difference in bbl length, slide markings ect..

[Texas by God]

Did a chamber cast and it must be a 400 as it's chambered for 9 largo, had to stretch the extractor spring to make it catch the rim of the 9mm i have, then it worked ok, would not catch all of them, so now looking for largo brass.

It will probably work with .38 Super brass as well. Mine did with the Largo level loads- which aren't that far behind .38 Super level. Starline should have both. Is your gun marked "9mm/.38"-if so it's a 400/1921. Beautifully built guns.

[pietro]

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FWIW, I've had excellent luck de-gunking a pistol's internals via a partial disassembly after removing the grips & magazines, then giving all the parts a swim-n-swirl in a bucket of clean kerosene (I get mine at a gas station).

Some pistols require a repeated or longer soak to effectively clean the internals.

The removed gunk can be seen as a black film at the bottom of the bucket; and the real beauty is that after the kero evaporates, a thin film of lube remains on those small, hard-to-get-to metal parts.




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[Der Gebirgsjager]

I'd very much like to see a photo of your pistol. I've enjoyed these guns for many years and own several, and not all are in the attached photo.

The ones that I've encountered always say what they are on the top of the slide near the rear sight, be it 1921 (400) or 600/43. During the Spanish Civil War this model pistol was made by a couple of other manufacturers, and if yours is not marked it may be one of those. If that is the case it is of unique collector interest. It should be really easy to identify which you have by the location of the magazine catch as described by 2152hg (above) and by the fact that there is an obvious difference in the barrel lengths, with the 600 being visibly shorter. Another thought comes to mind which is the possible conversion of a 600 from the original 9mm Luger cartridge to 9mm Largo. I have never done that conversion, but it might be possible simply by cutting off a 400 barrel and inserting it into a 600 slide. I did convert a Star Mod. A (Largo) to a Mod. B (9mm Luger) by doing a barrel swap and it worked quite well, but it's an entirely different animal. At any rate, the Astras are very strong pistols, being one of the very few straight blowback designs for a cartridge more powerful than .380 ACP, but I feel that it's still poor practice to fire 9mm Luger in a 9 mm Largo chamber. No doubt the design can withstand the pressures that result, but the mouth of the 9mm Luger is not resting against the forward edge (shoulder) of the chamber and is being held against the face of the slide just by the extractor. You may encounter misfires due to a lack of resistance to the firing pin's forward movement just pushing the cartridge deeper into the chamber; or worse yet, you may eventually break the extractor. Parts for these pistols are becoming very difficult to obtain, so if you have a Largo chambered barrel that's what I'd shoot exclusively. Starline makes brass for the Largo cartridge, and I acquired a couple of 100 count bags several years ago.
Attachment 212924

click to enlarge.

The pistol at the top left is a 600, all of the others are 400s.

[Texas by God]

I have owned 400s and 600s but the little one always eluded me. I would love the .32/7.65 model.
I think it was the 300 but could be wrong.
I bushed the chamber of a 400 for 9mm Luger and with .357" 125gr XTP bullets the "36 Astra" as I called it was/is scary accurate. The pitted barrel didn't like cast, though. My Marine nephew got it for high school graduation. It shoots regular 9mm fmj as accurate as any other 9 I've shot.
Yeah, I'm a fan too.

[2152hq]

They actually made a few of the Model 400 pistols in 32acp .

But you are most likely thinking of the more common Model 300 or it's post-war version the 3000.
Made in 380CP also. Nice pistols,,,all of them.

Wish I still had my W/German Police issued M600 w/holster, xtra-magazine.
Bought it for $125 at a gunshow in the 90's. No one wanted it.
I finally let it go a couple years back as I no longer had the strength to pull the slide back anymore. Even then I still hated to part with it!
Sold a M400 about the same time.