Thoughts on an Astra 600

[DeanWinchester]

I've got a opportunity to trade into a really clean little Astra 600, two magazines and the matching holster. It'd be a fair deal money wise for me, just curious about shooting it?
It would be a range toy that I would like to shoot quite a bit, to some degree. By quite a bit, I mean like 100 rounds a month or so. Just a box or two when I go to the range.

Is it fairly cast friendly? I know it's blowback operated so keeping the loads down is a must. I'll likely find a gentle cast load that will just barely cycle the action, using something like Nitro100NF or Bullseye. 3.0g of N100NF is SUPER gentle in my Glock.

Just fishing for thoughts before I trade. I know replacement parts are non existent so I wouldn't want to trade into something I couldn't get some use out of.

Thanks.

[MtGun44]

It is a decent, functional gun, well made but a bit weird - 100% held together with
L-head pins except for strange muzzle nut. Be sure you release the lock tube and
don't damage it.

Never tried cast in mine, it should be fine, I would think.

Bill

[DeanWinchester]

The guy wants to trade me the Astra or a Hungarian Hi-Power. Kinda torn, either could be fun.

[KCSO]

They shoot cast just fine but are straight blow back and not really suited for +p ammo. Barss may be a problem as they are NOT shoot anything guns and 38 super brass and loaded ammo is not quite right. I did load super brass with the proper dies to get the right taper. Under no circumstance sshould you try shooting regular 9mm in a B/B chamber.

[DeanWinchester]

They shoot cast just fine but are straight blow back and not really suited for +p ammo. Barss may be a problem as they are NOT shoot anything guns and 38 super brass and loaded ammo is not quite right. I did load super brass with the proper dies to get the right taper. Under no circumstance sshould you try shooting regular 9mm in a B/B chamber.


I'm confused? Are you talking about 9mm Largo? That would be an Astra 400. The Astra 600 is a regular ole 9mm Parabellum.

[Dutchman]

The guy wants to trade me the Astra or a Hungarian Hi-Power. Kinda torn, either could be fun.

The Astra 600 (and 400) are interesting but very vintage handguns. For pure shooting I'd go for the FEG Hungarian Hi-Power. I've shot and handled one and they are very decent representations of the GP1935 Browning. Fact is I'm sorry I didn't buy one when they were dirt cheap.

Dutch

[KCSO]

Got my numbers backwards yes the 600 is the 9x19 and it will shoot any not +P load and is excellent for cast. I also had a Largo and a matching Destroyer so I got confused a little...too many guns???

[DeanWinchester]

.too many guns???

Blasphemey!!

[bob208]

I have one in 9mm largo it shoots cast nice. I use super brass and .38 acp loading data. one thing I think they were designed to lose the empties. they do throw them a good ways.

me I would keep the hi-power. way better gun and it would be a good carry gun also.

now too many guns. that is like a girl too pretty. a horse too fast. whiskey too old.

[gwpercle]

Being blowback operated they have a heavy bolt and heavy recoil springs , the bolt recoiling back then slaming forward gives it a , shall we say snappy recoil . A friend had one and what I thought was recoil was the action of the bolt, especially when compared to my Walther P-38. The fixed sights are not adjustable in any way. It is not an attractive gun either...always reminded me of a Buck Roger's ray gun from sci-fi.
FEG Hi-Power...locked breach , much better styled and much newer .
For the Astra
you can find most parts on-line but I'm not sure how much hand fitting is required.

If you like different , it is different and we had fun shooting them at the range.
Gary

[9.3X62AL]

No experience with any Astra pistol other that a Constable in 380 ACP many years ago. From strictly a "using"/"managing"/"maintaining" perspective, that Hungarian FEG Hi-Power makes a lot more sense--parts galore, magazines all over the place, locked-breech vs. a HEAVY recoil spring (I have a Makarov, and that is ENOUGH).

[bstarling]

I had an Astra 600 in 9x19 and shot a ton of Israeli submachine gun rounds in it. I has always shot whatever I ran through it. I dont' know of the submachine gun stuff is up to +P, but I'll bet it ain't far from it. It is also the only semi-auto handgun I've ever had that never jammed, not once!

Bill

[JayinAZ]

If you ever watched the old Mission Impossible tv show, how could you not want an Astra? :)

[MtGun44]

Yes! Pretty much ALL the bad guys in unknown countries carried Astra 600s in MI.

Bill

[Doc1]

IMNSHO the Astra 600 is a really COOL little gun! It's also known to be very reliable and tough. While I wouldn't say it was the best pistol of the WWII era, it is unquestionably the least-appreciated. It's also one of the very few military 9mm Parabellums equipped with a grip safety. I'm probably an old stick in the mud and am doubtlessly influenced by my love of the 1911, but I do believe in grip safeties. By most modern metrics, the M600 would still be a perfectly acceptable carry weapon today. It has superb pointing characteristics and its slim, single-stack design is both easy to carry concealed and does not "print" noticeably.

My only gripe with the weapon is that its thumb safety - like most European pistols of that time - is unacceptably tiny and difficult to manipulate. It's also placed too far forward on the frame for people with smallish hands. Interestingly (what are the chances?), I just found an M600 thumb safety on eBay for seven bucks! My plan is to build it up with my mig welder and shape it to give it a more modern, enlarged thumb pad.

Now I'll share a little M600 history. I'm doing this from memory so some specifics may be wrong, but the overall picture is correct: the Germans, having been impressed with the Astra M400 in 9mm Largo, asked the Spaniards to develop the pistol in a 9mm Parabellum version. The M600 was the result and the Wehrmacht duly placed an order. I believe that somewhere on the order of 60,000 - 70,000 of the pistols were produced, but shortly after deliveries to Germany began, D-Day and the Allied advance into France ended the overland route between Spain and Germany. The majority of the pistols were never delivered during the war and sat in a Spanish warehouse. Sometime after the war, the Germans, having already paid for the pistols once, repurchased (and repaid) for the remainder of them for issue to their police forces.

The earlier pistols which were delivered to Germany have Nazi "Waffenampt" acceptance and proof marks, while the undelivered pistols are identical in all respects, though lack these stamps. The Waffenampt stampings greatly increase the collector value of the pistols. My own M600 is one of the delayed-delivery and less valuable versions, but it's a fine shooter and a really fun pistol. It always prompts friendly questions at the range. As others have observed, its felt recoil is substantial for a 9mm, though it's nothing I would describe as being difficult to shoot.

And yes, I have to admit that growing up in the 1960s I was influenced by those old Mission Impossible episodes, too!

Best regards
Doc

[JHeath]

You know those guys who are 50 and still wearing the same clothes their mom bought for them when they were twelve? Well that's what owning a Hi Power is like. Not that there's anything wrong with tighty whities and Buster Brown shoes, proven technology. But at some point you become your own man and start shooting Astras, MABs, Modelo Super Bs, etc. And if the other guys on the playground look at you funny, well that's their problem.

[9.3X62AL]

When I need to fly the FREAK flag, I have a Mauser C-96 x 30 Mauser and a Nagant M-1895 in 7.62 x 38R to broadcast the concept.

[Doc1]

Dean,

No one has come up with the obvious answer to your dilemma. Get BOTH the M600 and the Hi Power! Rob the kids' college fund, sell your wife's car and hock the neighbor's lawnmower. Sure, you'll catch a little grief in the short run, but the long-term benfits will outweigh the brief pain. Anyway - admit it - you never really liked that neighbor, Bob - or his snotty kids - anyway and a little walking would be good for your wife, right? As far as the kids' college goes, education is over-rated in any case and the little ingrates will probably major in Transgender Studies or 13th Century Peruvian Pottery or something equally useless.

Now if you can talk your kids into going to gunsmithing school that's a different kettle of fish. Save their college fund and take two of Bob's lawnmowers!

Best regards
Doc

[9.3X62AL]

Funny stuff, Doc.

[Char-Gar]

Doc1

I like the way you think.

[JHeath]

Neighbor's got a newish riding lawnmower. I could be on my way to a Gyrojet . . .