22 Astra Cub

[Bad Water Bill]

I picked this up over 50 years ago.

It COULD BE a fun plinker at close range IF there were any DEPENDABLE 22 short ammo available.

At the moment I have only found 22 shorts made by Rem on the market and they are running 70% fire and 30% dud.

If they did NOT fire in the Astra they were tried in several proven 22 cal firearms. 0 fired in the other guns so the fault was not in the Astra.

Any Ammo suggestions and sources?

[rond]

CCI makes very good .22 short ammo, comes in the 100 round plastic box.

[tacklebury]

+1 on the CCI. I have several hundred of these squirreled away that I use for varmint shooting mainly.

[Fishman]

CCI +2. I had a little Beretta 22 short auto at one time that gobbled them up like candy. Should have never traded it.

[Intel6]

I have one of those and found my Aquila .22 Shorts I bought for my Win 74 don't work well. I have some old production Rem and Win that both work well in it. Have not tried any of the "new" production stuff.

Neal in AZ

[tenx]

have a astra cub in 22 short, has been fired but blueing is perfect, can't believe the workmanship in such a small pistol. before the gun control act of 1968, colt imported these from astra, put on wooden grips and stamped them "colt junior". also have a beretta 950 in 22 short that is marked made in brazil, was purchased by an old guy in southern california during the watts riots in the 1960's, said it was all he could get at the time. wouldn't want to depend on it for protection but wouldn't want to get shot with it either. anyway it's too much fun to play with occasionally to get rid of. both feed and function flawlessly and are surprisingly accurate.

[Jeff Michel]

The Astra I have doesn't seem to prefer any brand over another. You may want to check that your firing pin isn't burred or the return spring isn't on a bind and of course not jambed with dirt/burned/powder. You might want to give it a good cleaning, tear it down, remove the grips, scrub it with mineral spirits, blow it dry with an air hose. Do not over lubricate, spray it with a good lubricant, then blow all of it off with an air hose. The oil that remains will be just enough