I ran across an interesting revolver at the gun show this past weekend. It is a 5-screw 44 Magnum pinned barrel & recessed cylinder that happens to be stainless with a 2 5/8" barrel.

No, it isn't a S&W - but I am quite impressed with the fit & finish as well as the SA & DA trigger pull (it actually has an adjustible feature with 4 settings).

It is an Astra imported by Interarms and has "44 INOX" on the barrel. I've looked around on the internet some, but I have found little to no information -- in addition, I see none currently on the auction sites.

Anyone familiar with this revolver? I didn't pay much for it -- but I'm curious of the value. It is in excellent condition rubber pachs for grips. I'll try to get some pics uploaded later this week.

Thanks.

I don't know anything about Astra products, but I Googled the brand and caliber and found some threads on other forums about .44 Magnum Astras in different barrel lengths. Sounds like there aren't too many of them, but they are mostly regarded as reliable guns.

I found an expired Gunbroker listing for one two or three months back. It didn't sell at $400.

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David Wilson

All I know is that there have been plenty of S&W clones from both Spain and the Philippines. Quality is up and down the scale but nothing close to the real deal. I wouldn't be loading any real magnums in that one. I have yet to see any real decent value in these and I think that questionable quality is the reason why. When you do post pics, I would love to see the side plate pulled to see if they copied the internals or did their own thing with the small parts.

I know that the Spanish Company Llama made some .44 Magnums similar to S&W products. Some of these "knock-offs" had a decent enough reputation. Not sure, but I am guessing that Astra had a similar level of quality as Llama.

Would have to be just about a give-away price before I would buy. Not that it might not be ok, but if the price is anywhere near what a Ruger, Colt, or S&W would cost, the purchase would not make any sense.
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Editted to add:
I just found the following information that may be of interest in my 1980 Gun Digest --
For comparison, the 1980 GD prices these S&W products as follows:
M13 ... $139.00
M19 ... $202.00 (same price for Bright Blue or Nickel)
M27 ... $303.00
M28 ... $190.50 (add a whopping $5.00 for Target Stocks)

I know the OP is in regard to a .44 Mag, but at least this should give an apples to apples type price comparision for the year 1980. Of course, these are MSRPs, which was often heavily discounted.

My take-away from this is that the Astra must have been pretty high quality to be priced above both the M19 and M28. Either that or the folks at Astra were hallucinating.

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You're shy a few manners.

I did read that some of these were marked "Terminator" on the left side of the barrel. Here is one in blue that sold earlier in the year for $700+ -- so there is definitely a cult following of sorts out there...

http://www.gunauction.com/search/dis...emnum=10117248

Given that I have less than $300 in this one -- I'm pleased with the acquisition.

I also read that the character in the show Hunter carried one, as well as George Clooney in the movie From Dusk Til Dawn.

They were sold through distributor Lew Horton in the 1980s.

Astra has been around for a while. They made the Junior Colt (if I remember the name correctly), and their own Astra Firecat (.25ACP) was a well-made and reliable pistol. The fact that Colt was willing to put their name on Astra's production is probably a hint at their quality.

I would judge any Astra on what I saw in front of me, just as I would a Smith & Wesson. I certainly wouldn't be ashamed to tell anyone I owned and liked (if I did) an Astra.

I think it was our member Swissman who posted on an Astra revolver that he'd picked up. IIRC it had a feature that allowed for the trigger weight to be tuned by rotating a cam. Astra was around for a good number of years and supplied handguns to Nazi Germany. My brother has an Astra 300 my Dad brought back from WWII. Overall, it's a very well made little pistol with a bit of wear to the finish.

Personally, I suspect that was probably a pretty well made revolver and might have made for an interesting acqusition.

As promised - here are some pics of the new-to-me revolver:

Nice gun. I just purchased one in blued finish. I shot 200 grain magnums through it and was suprised on how manageable the recoil was. Fun to shoot, and the trigger pull is smooth.

Looks good to me, especially for $300. Is there a screw in the trigger guard?

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God spelled backwards is dog.

My father had one with a 6" barrel. The action was as smooth as butter, and it was a quite accurate gun. Workmanship appeared to me to be of top notch quality.

Here's a picture of my terminator.

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P1180377.jpg (50.0 KB, 161 views)

My Dad has an Astra, real fancy engraved and gold inlaid auto in .32 he took off a German officer in France that "didn't need it anymore". The original owner was a Fallschirmjager. Never have shot it. It still has the grease he filled the bore with when he went to a dust up in Korea.

Nice. I would hang on to that one.