9X23 Largo anyone??

Mbrgr1 · May 29, 2021

I got this out of the "time out" section of the collection the other day and remembered why I really like the straight blowback design and the 9x23 round.

The Astra model 400 was a from scratch design and one of my favorite, it fits my big mitts for one and the round is nothing if not punchy! Tears down in 10 seconds, easy to clean and robust.

This one was one of 4950 units shipped to various Spanish armories between 1938/39

Anyone else a fan?

bulletslap · May 29, 2021

I don’t have a 400, but I do have two 600/43s in 9x19 that I enjoy shooting. Both are very accurate well made handguns.

Echo40 · May 29, 2021

Very nice, is your one of the ones stamped for .38 ACP as well or just 9mm Largo?

jmace57 · May 29, 2021

I had one as well, and passed it on to my brother-in-law, along with a Star Super and 880 rounds of ammo. It can be a challenge getting that S T R O N G recoil spring back in after field stripping, eh?

Mbrgr1 · May 30, 2021

jmace57 said:
I had one as well, and passed it on to my brother-in-law, along with a Star Super and 880 rounds of ammo. It can be a challenge getting that S T R O N G recoil spring back in after field stripping, eh?

It can be a little challenging, but not too bad, pretty sure it came from a pogo stick!

This one is marked .38 as well.

Walter Rego · May 30, 2021

Here is my Star Modelo Super A chambered in 9mm Largo

Mbrgr1 · May 30, 2021

Walter Rego said:
Here is my Star Modelo Super A chambered in 9mm Largo

Very clean, thanks for sharing.

2152hq · May 31, 2021

Nice pistols, I always liked the Astra's even with all of the negative talk about being too heavy, poor Spanish quality (which they certainly are not),

I had the 400 and 600, several of each. They were all pleasant to shoot and accurate. Surplus 9mmLargo was still around at the time, very cheap in those 25rd boxes and made the 400's easy to feed even if the stuff was mostly corrosive.
I never got into reloading the 9mmLargo. Commercial brass wasn't available yet. Most people used some variation of 38acp/38Super brass. Either trimming the slight rim or some pistols accepted the round as is.

Lots of both models have the TD nose cap knurling all damaged from attempts to turn it with a pliers after trying unsuccessfully by hand w/o first depressing the bbl lock.

I used the same 9mmLargo ammo in my Steyr Hahn 1912 pistols as well. Probably a little hot, but it worked well.

The nicest Model 600 I had was a Portuguese Navy issue. A company imported a small number of these in excl condition in the 90's. I don't remember how many were in the Astra contract.
A plain Model 600 w/ West German Police holster, xtra mag I bought for $120 at a show in the 90's.

I sold all of them a while back as I could no longer pull the slides back on them at all.
The STAR pistols are much easier to operate not needing such a heavy recoil spring being a locked breech design.

I do still have one Astra ,,a Model 4000,,that's the smaller framed ''Falcon'model in .22LR. Needs restoration yet. Still a Box O'Parts.
Looks like the older model Astra 300 & 3000

I like them Astra's and STAR pistols!

bigmtnman · May 31, 2021

I had this one about 27 years ago. It benefited from one of my earliest grip making efforts using some osage orange. It was an excellent shooter and cheap ammo seemed to be common at gunshows (Virginia). One of those "sure wish I hadn't sold it" guns for sure !

Mbrgr1 · May 31, 2021

bigmtnman said:
I had this one about 27 years ago. It benefited from one of my earliest grip making efforts using some osage orange. It was an excellent shooter and cheap ammo seemed to be common at gunshows (Virginia). One of those "sure wish I hadn't sold it" guns for sure !

I just recently got mine to replace one sold years ago, I was lucky to find one with no import marks.

If I read your serial number correctly, that was an early one, 1 of 3000 sent to the Arms Division, Army Ministry, Spain 1923

Thanks.

austintexas · Jun 1, 2021

I reload 38 Super cases with 3.5 gr of Bullseye and 115 grain bullet and It shoots very well out of my 400. In my pistol it shoot point of aim at 25 yards and doesn't throw emptys half way down the range. I don't have to do anything to the super cases in my gun. In my reloading book this is a fairly light load.
SWCA 892

robertrwalsh · Jun 1, 2021

I have had a couple of them. When the super cheap 9mm largo became unavailable I got rid of them.

scoobysnacker · Jun 1, 2021

robertrwalsh said:
I have had a couple of them. When the super cheap 9mm largo became unavailable I got rid of them.

I've went the other direction-

I've had a Star Super B in 9x19 for years. When the ammo crunch hit last year, Largo was cheaper and easier to find (as was 7.65 Tokarev). So in a just in case move, I picked up a couple cheap barrels for guns that could run these, and a goodly supply of ammo. It never hurts to have options.

gwpercle · Jun 1, 2021

EZ Rack .... It Isn't !
I always thought they looked sort of modern ... even futuristic ...
Had lots of fun shooting them back in the Surplus arms and ammo days. Myself and several high school buddies all bought them ( Dirt Cheap)
Bought a set of reloading dies from CH and a bullet mould and we had a cheap supply of ammo ... good times at the range !
Thanks for posting ... enjoyed seeing the Astra's and going for a ride in the wayback machine ... FUN !
Gary

scoobysnacker · Jun 2, 2021

gwpercle said:
EZ Rack .... It Isn't !
I always thought they looked sort of modern ... even futuristic ...
Had lots of fun shooting them back in the Surplus arms and ammo days. Myself and several high school buddies all bought them ( Dirt Cheap)
Bought a set of reloading dies from CH and a bullet mould and we had a cheap supply of ammo ... good times at the range !
Thanks for posting ... enjoyed seeing the Astra's and going for a ride in the wayback machine ... FUN !
Gary

Gary, we're local to each other. You know of any sources for Largo, surplus etc?

Decades ago a buddy's dad gave him an Astra, I think it was a 400. We took it shooting at Precision, it ran 9x19 for the box or so we shot. In retrospect we probably shouldn't have used that, no disasters but wrong caliber.

We've fallen out of touch, but I imagine he still has it. He was the type of guy who, even as a kid, would collect things, like gold certificates (you'd occasionally find them in regular currency), baseball cards, etc; and would store them in a way to keep them safe. He probably has that Astra similarly tucked away, cleaned with a coat of JPW, tagged with a description, next to some other stuff.

PALADIN85020 · Jun 2, 2021

bulletslap said:
I don’t have a 400, but I do have two 600/43s in 9x19 that I enjoy shooting. Both are very accurate well made handguns.

Cool collector items! I also have a 600/43. A number of these were purchased by the Germans from Spain in WWII just before D-Day; subsequent shipments were canceled and held until the Spaniards figured out who would win the war. After the war, even though the Nazis had paid for them already, the guns were released to Germany and had to be paid for all over again.

Big advantage is being able to use standard 9mm Luger/9x19 ammo. Big disadvantage is an incredibly stiff recoil spring!

John

BigBill · Jun 2, 2021

What’s the surplus 9 mm ammo worth today?

Here a site.
(Reborn) 9mm Largo Webpage

9X23 Largo anyone??

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