Post Your Favorite Pistol!

[Nines&Twos]

Is that an Astra 400 or 600? Can’t tell from my phone.
Either way, I can dig that. Very cool!

[Hickory]

Great photo! Do you do photography on the side?

And it’s hard to argue with your photo description! LOL

I must confess, I did not take this photo. But I do have that gun.
It is a great shooter, and is more accurate then the two Mountain Guns I used to own.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Is that an Astra 400 or 600? Can’t tell from my phone.
Either way, I can dig that. Very cool!

It is a 600. It is hard to tell without seeing them in person -- the 400's have a little longer barrel.

Attachment 215032Attachment 215033

[RedlegEd]

I know you're supposed to love all your "kids" the same...but even with the several 1911s I have, these two .45s are my favorite. Ruger BH convertible in .45ACP/Colt and my Magnum Research BFR in .45-70. Ed
Attachment 215034Attachment 215035

[EMC45]

I also like my Contender G2

[country gent]

My favorite pistol is A 1911 I built up in 38 spl, a wadcutter gun. Has cylinder and slide shop sear and hammer. Hammer is skeletonized for a faster lock time. grips are a smooth walnut panel I made. standad grip safety and arched mainspring housing. trigger shoe added on the king trigger with stop. Barrel is a bar sto 6" I hand fitted to the pistol. S 7 lb recoil spring provides reliable feed and function. This is a lock up gun similar to what the AMU built in the 60s thru the 70s. Sights are a ultra dot 30mm on a bridge mount I made bolts to dust cover frame on each side and loops over the slide.

This pistol is very accurate with hornady HBWC over 2.7 grns bullseye. The old star 148grn are very accurate also but I'm running low on those. Of off a bench this pistol shoots 25 yd 10 shot groups that can be covered with a 50 cent piece.

I always wanted on of the AMU pistols but the price they bring is restrictive, same as having a top name builder build one. I started with a spring field government model bought the parts and started fitting. I planned on a 5" barrel found the 6" and never got around to cutting it down. I made the barrel bushing to a snug fit in the slide and honed it to .0005 of barrel dias large dia. Crowned the barrel with a sharp lathe tool then a brass ball hood is fitted to the slide, link gives the proper locking lug engagement.

This pistol is a piece of art on the targets and looks good also

[FergusonTO35]

Browning Hi-Power. I've loved them ever since I was a kid, and glad I got one of the last ones off the line made November 2016.

[Drm50]

I have 50+ handguns, mostly older S&W, P&R revolvers, a few Colts, Rugers, Brn, and Hi-STs. If
I had to pick one it would be my S&W M17, K22 which I've had since 1964. I have got more use
out of it over the years than any other. The only hand gun I own that has no sporting application
is a Walther PP, 32.

[murf205]

Attachment 215120Attachment 215121
Hard to decide between these 2. One is a 44spl Hand Ejector from the late 1920's and the other is a 4" 629 that now has a green fiber optic sight that has been to many Alaskan salmon stream with me. The older gun will out shoot the new one any time I do my part. I have another "favorite" but I'm guessing that the people here are getting tired of looking at "Old Ugly", a 9" black coated SRH 44, but it is a huntin' machine with any cast boolit you stuff into it.

[Dusty Ed]

The top one 22-45 Ruger My favorite SP 1911 Ruger it is a tack driver

[kmw1954]

Taurus PT92C



Witness Pavona 380, XD Mod2

[EMR]

It is a 600. It is hard to tell without seeing them in person -- the 400's have a little longer barrel.

Attachment 215032Attachment 215033

This is cool! I haven’t seen one of these before and I had to look it up. I kinda want one now

[Der Gebirgsjager]

They are interesting -- and historical. The 400 is in 9mm Largo, but will also shoot .38 ACP (not .38 Super -- very dangerous) and was adopted by the Spanish Army in 1921. They are generally considered to be the only straight blowback design of that large a caliber that was commercially successful and practical. They remained in service into the 1970s with some units, giving them a similar run to our 1911. During the Spanish Civil War (1930s) they were used by both sides and manufactured in smaller quantities by a couple of other makers. Astra started making them for the Republic, but their factory was overrun by the Nationalists, so the Nationalists benefited from both the early and late production. They are very accurate, and won many European competitions, but the sights are tiny and obsolete by today's standards. In WW II the Germans were pistol hungry and asked Astra to make the pistol in 9 mm Luger, the result being the 600/43. After the war they continued in use by some German Federal agencies. If you get a chance to buy one of either model by all means do it, but check the bores, especially the 400 model which used corrosive ammo up until the middle 1960s. The barrels of the 400s will often be marked, visible through the ejection port, or the top rear of the slide as "9mm/.38", and the 600s are usually marked 9mm 08 on the barrel and 9mm Parabellum on the slide; but some of both types are not marked indicating something a little unusual and probably collectable in their manufacture. Some folks shoot 9mm Parabellum (Luger) in the 400, and this is a very poor practice as the chamber is too long and the shorter case does not seat on the ledge provided for it at the front of the chamber and is only held against the face of the slide by the extractor. Break the extractor and you'll have a rough time finding a replacement as Astra went out of business around 35 years ago. Otherwise, they are a tough gun, and with the right ammo will last a lifetime. When they were first imported they were going for around $125. I saw a 400 go at auction just two days ago for $380. It appeared to be in nice condition. I do have a few more:
Attachment 215296

[TCFAN]

The 2 that I shoot the most.......

My SP101 327 that I plink with instead of 22RF



And my 686 that I use mostly for bullseye shooting mainly with wadcutters.

[arlon]

I like my really old S&W .357 Magnum. It's a "REGular" model. Shoots good. (-:}

[LUCKYDAWG13]

The 2 that I shoot the most.......

My SP101 327 that I plink with instead of 22RF



And my 686 that I use mostly for bullseye shooting mainly with wadcutters.

What type of Optic do you have on that 686 looks really sharp

[EMR]

What type of Optic do you have on that 686 looks really sharp

Looks like a Burris fast fire. It’s interesting because I usually see these on Glocks.

[EMR]

They are interesting -- and historical. The 400 is in 9mm Largo, but will also shoot .38 ACP (not .38 Super -- very dangerous) and was adopted by the Spanish Army in 1921. They are generally considered to be the only straight blowback design of that large a caliber that was commercially successful and practical. They remained in service into the 1970s with some units, giving them a similar run to our 1911. During the Spanish Civil War (1930s) they were used by both sides and manufactured in smaller quantities by a couple of other makers. Astra started making them for the Republic, but their factory was overrun by the Nationalists, so the Nationalists benefited from both the early and late production. They are very accurate, and won many European competitions, but the sights are tiny and obsolete by today's standards. In WW II the Germans were pistol hungry and asked Astra to make the pistol in 9 mm Luger, the result being the 600/43. After the war they continued in use by some German Federal agencies. If you get a chance to buy one of either model by all means do it, but check the bores, especially the 400 model which used corrosive ammo up until the middle 1960s. The barrels of the 400s will often be marked, visible through the ejection port, or the top rear of the slide as "9mm/.38", and the 600s are usually marked 9mm 08 on the barrel and 9mm Parabellum on the slide; but some of both types are not marked indicating something a little unusual and probably collectable in their manufacture. Some folks shoot 9mm Parabellum (Luger) in the 400, and this is a very poor practice as the chamber is too long and the shorter case does not seat on the ledge provided for it at the front of the chamber and is only held against the face of the slide by the extractor. Break the extractor and you'll have a rough time finding a replacement as Astra went out of business around 35 years ago. Otherwise, they are a tough gun, and with the right ammo will last a lifetime. When they were first imported they were going for around $125. I saw a 400 go at auction just two days ago for $380. It appeared to be in nice condition. I do have a few more:
Attachment 215296

Thanks for the interesting read! If I ever find a 600 I’d seriously considering bringing it home!

[Drifty4]

Not a Python anywhere?

[lefty o]