An interesting Spanish pistol as used by the Germans...

I guess I'm a sucker for guns with interesting stories. This one fills the bill. Did you know that the Germans used some Spanish pistols during WWII? Some of you probably know that the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion that fought in the Spanish Civil War as a prelude to the late great hate used Astra 300s. These were chambered in .32 and .380 ACP. They were basically the larger Astra 400 (in 9mm Largo) scaled down for the smaller cartridges. In 1941, the Germans ordered about 6000 Model 400s. They sometimes used their own 9mm Luger cartridges in them, but with 9mm Largo chambers, this was dicey, not reliable, and sometimes dangerous.

The Nazis like those Astras so much that they ordered more in 1943, similar to the Model 400, but chambered for their standard 9mm Luger (Parabellum) cartridge. The Heereswaffenamt requested them to supplement their other 9mm handguns. The resulting handgun was designated by the Wehrmacht as the Pistole Astra 600/43.

An initial trial order of 50 resulted in another order for 10,450 more pistols. Deliveries on this contract began in May, 1944 through the Franco-Spanish border town of Irun, and continued through July of '44. A second contract for 31,350 units was placed, but something interesting happened in the meantime. The Allies had invaded France, and deliveries to the Nazis from Spain were cut off at the ankles.

Those 31,350 units were not delivered, and they were seized under orders of the Spanish Government. Those guns, already paid for by the Germans, were sent to Parque de Artilleria in Burgos, Spain until the war was sorted out. Production did not halt, however, and continued until 1945. In all, a total of 59,400 units were produced.

After the war, many of the seized and stored pistols were re-sold to the Germans (nice going, Spaniards!) for police and border guard duties, and the remainder were sold here and there on the world market. Some were purchased by the Portuguese for their navy, some went to Chile, Turkey, and Jordan. Even the Philippines, Costa Rica and Egypt bought some for troop trials. The rest were sold to civilians in Spain.

This pistol was one of those manufactured in 1945 after deliveries to Germany were cut off. It has matching serial numbers on the frame, slide and even the magazine. There are no import marks on it. A brown leather holster similar to that used for the P.38 came with it.

These are well-made and substantial blowback pistols, with the leverage of the internal hammer making them more of a delayed-blowback type.

So - an interesting footnote to WWII - A Spanish pistol modified to suit the Germans and actually issued to them.

If only these old guns could talk, hm?

John

That IS interesting! You shoot her any?

With that barrel I always thought they looked like a fancy pop rivet gun.
Thanks for the info.

Yep , I've had an Astra 600 , a few of them actually , for over 30yrs. Actually one was my first centerfire auto-pistol. Bought it from the man who bought it thru an Interarms mail order ad for $19.95 back in the 60s.



So much for a 9mm Para needing a locked breech , this blowback pistol works just fine , and is accurate and reliable to boot.

Star also supplied some Model Bs to the Third reich too.

Waffenamt-marked Spanish pistols bring several times what an unmarked pistol does. As a result , there are many fakes out there.

There are many fakes out there. I saw some Star Model BM's (unfortunate name) marked with swastikas; the line went that they were special order pieces for the Gestapo.

Rumour control also says that many German officers carried Spanish 6.35mm pocket pistols from a variety of manufacturers and that even French pocket pistol factories made guns for them in occupied France. I have always wondered if the Spanish pocket pistol fad started in the SCW with the Condor Legion.

I do know that some Mauser 98K rifles had Belgian FN barrels, because my Russian captured example is just such a rifle.

With that straight grip and a blowback action I'd guess that it has pretty snappy recoil?

Very accurate and reliable. A heavy pistol so recoil isn't bad for the caliber.
I had both the Mod600 and a 9mmLargo Model 400.
One M600 was a W.German police surplus pistol that Interarms bought up & imported in the 60's.
I got it with the holster and extra magazine for $100 in the early 90's.
The other was one of the Portugese Navy contract pistols that was offered for sale a few years back from a dealer/importer in CT.

Sold all of them off a couple of years ago reluctantly. But I just couldn't operate the slides anymore.
Beautifully made pistols.

mkk41 said:

Star also supplied some Model Bs to the Third reich too.

Waffenamt-marked Spanish pistols bring several times what an unmarked pistol does. As a result , there are many fakes out there.

Click to expand...

I have three an A-400, A-600 and Star Model B

FWIW, ALL Astra 600s are reported to have been manufactured for Germany during WWII. Interestingly my A-600 SN dates it to 1943, but it has no military markings whatsoever! It is in very nearly as-new condition having never been re-finished. It came with with a 1955 marked Mauser flap holster from German Police service.

Likewise, my Star Modelo B dates to 1944. It has no German military markings either. It does have the markings of the L.P.M., Landes Polezei Neder-Sachsen, so was a Police pistol from post WWII. Unfortunately, while the pistol, magazines and holsters were all serial numbered together, and the pistol is easily better than 98%, no two of the set I have bear the same number! This one has a "Hard Shell" flap holster manufactured by Geco.

The Model 400 that was ordered by the Germans (I have one by serial number) was never accepted nor stamped as approved. When I was younger, the ones I encountered were darn near mint, which means there were never issued, or at least issued to non-combantants as a last ditch effort. Personally, I think they were never issued and probably liberated from a warehouse by invading armies. One reason for the military rejection was advanced that the German Supermen couldn't pull the slide back on them. Hence, they ordered the Model 600 with revisions. One think I would like to mention here if you intend to acquire one, I guess because they were designed as a military weapon, when you pop the slide to load a round, IT AUTOMATICALLY KICKS OFF THE SAFETY. I found that out one day when I accidently murdered 3 suits in my closet. (Yeah, yeah, I know, shouldn't have had my finger on the trigger, but with the safety on, I thought I was okay.) Found out that with the Model 400, you aren't. I don't know about the 600?

Cheers for pointing this thread out Mkk41, I love Astra 600/43's I picked one up last month a second contract 1944 O coded one serial no 22,000's.
I would put the pick of it on here but don't use photobucket or anything like that, so if anyones offering I would send them the pic's.
I also picked up an excellent book Astra Automatic pistols (the blue one by Leonardo Antaris who is quite friendly) so if any one wants more details on any Astra semi auto pistol PM me.
Also got a pic of a SS engraved Astra 600/43 (which Antaris has told me is a fake )but looks very nice.
Forgot to say my gun came from Northern Ireland (apparently the RUC used them, can anyone confirm/elaborate this.)

Armyphotog said:

The Model 400 that was ordered by the Germans (I have one by serial number) was never accepted nor stamped as approved. When I was younger, the ones I encountered were darn near mint, which means there were never issued, or at least issued to non-combantants as a last ditch effort. Personally, I think they were never issued and probably liberated from a warehouse by invading armies. One reason for the military rejection was advanced that the German Supermen couldn't pull the slide back on them. Hence, they ordered the Model 600 with revisions. One think I would like to mention here if you intend to acquire one, I guess because they were designed as a military weapon, when you pop the slide to load a round, IT AUTOMATICALLY KICKS OFF THE SAFETY. I found that out one day when I accidently murdered 3 suits in my closet. (Yeah, yeah, I know, shouldn't have had my finger on the trigger, but with the safety on, I thought I was okay.) Found out that with the Model 400, you aren't. I don't know about the 600?

Click to expand...

The 600/43 operates the same way. When the slide closes, the manual safety is disengaged.

John

One thing that I always do when I acquire a cool old pistol I intend to shoot is replace at least the recoil spring with a fresh Wolff spring. No need to batter these old relics. Wolff makes top quality spring kits for almost every pistol known.

Nice gun sir. I really like those Astras from WWll.
Heres my 600/43 (non Waffenampt marked) and it's little brother a 300 (380 cal) with Waffenampt in original rig.

moosedog said:

Nice gun sir. I really like those Astras from WWll.
Heres my 600/43 (non Waffenampt marked) and it's little brother a 300 (380 cal) with Waffenampt in original rig.

Click to expand...

You have some really nice examples, there. Thanks for sharing!

John

I have loved and wanted one of these guns ever since I saw one in a gun shop back in 1975. There's just something about them. It's like the S&W Model 39 that I've always wanted, but never owned.

My brother has a waffenampt stamped Astra 300 that my father brought back from WWII. However it's not quite as pretty as Moosedog's. finish is about 80-85% with good evidence it saw a good deal of carry. Dad also brought back 2 Lugers but he traded those off before he left the transport ship in New York Harbor.

BTW, Moosedog I could use a bit of help with field stripping that Astra 300. I've managed to get the recoil spring out but haven't a clue on where to position the slide to lift it off the rails. Dad kept it in his sock drawer until he passed and it's a bit over due for a proper cleaning and a bit of lubrication.

Here's the standard takedown procedure which applies to the Astra 300-400-600 series:

1. Remove the magazine and clear the chamber.

2. Depress the barrel bushing with the lip of the magazine floorplate and turn the bushing lock 1/4 turn.

3. Carefully ease the bushing and lock off the slide, and remove the recoil spring.

4. Draw the slide fully to the rear, then move it forward slightly and engage the manual safety.

5. Rotate the barrel counterclockwise (as you face the front of the gun) until it stops.

6. Release the safety and draw the slide and barrel off the frame.

This is a bit easier said than done, but after you've done it a few times it gets easier. That recoil spring is under a lot of compression and it's very strong, being as how these are blowback pistols.

John

They are very cool old guns. 10-12 years back I had a 300 in .32 acp, a 400 and a 600, and somehow I ended up selling and trading all of them off. I would love to pick up another 300 and 600, but the prices around here have really gone up on them.

About 1/2 of the bad guys in the first couple seasons of Mission Impossible are armed with 400s.


I had always read that 400s would shoot just about anything that you fit into the magazine, but mine would only work with 9mm Largo and sometimes with .38 ACP.

While it’s always nice to see a good example of an interesting pistol like yours I have to disagree with y’all about the Astras. I’ve owned 400s and 600s back when a C note would get you your choice of either and probably some ammo thrown in. While the ones I’ve owned have always been reliable to me the sights were hard to see and they had the aesthetics of a piece of pipe screwed to a hunk of 2x4 for a handle. Basically a well-made Spanish zip gun. Interesting mechanical design, great workmanship but no curb appeal or ergonomics taken into consideration during the design phase.