Teeny Tiny Astra Cub .22

Mbrgr1

Mbrgr1

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Got this for my "just for fun" gun group.



C1 code puts this at 1957, held up pretty well.



After some cleaning and forcing cone filing and polishing (don't dry fire these!!) ,it shoots well and with some extra punchy shorts it will be a great pocket gun for around the property. :D


Any other shorts out there?


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Nice one,,great condition.
I had a couple in 22short and one in 25acp. They always worked great. Don't know why I didn't keep one..
The last one was a blued in .22short I bought for $80.
I've always liked Astra and Star semiauto pistols.
I had a box, xtra mag and papers for a 'Camper' ,, the extended bbl model.
Don't have any idea where it came from and don't recall ever having one of those.
Sold that too..
 
I have one of the 25acp models.
The one thing I have never understood is if they can make one in 25acp and one in 22 short why not 22LR? It is only .009 longer than the 25acp, and would make the gun a lot more attractive.
 
I have two in .25 acp and one in .22 Short. Very well made sturdy little guns, built to last. They come with a magazine safety which is very easily removed if you don’t like them. I removed them from all three of mine.
 
Astra made some great little pocket pistols. The pics below are of my mom's "purse gun". I didn't learn that she had it until I was grown and out of the house. It's a .25 acp Astra 200 Firecat that was made in the late 40's as best I can make out. I think one of my uncles got it for mom in the mid-60's.

Don
 

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I think a lot of folks quietly carried little guns like these years ago, not saying anything. Their younger family members only found out about them much later. There were a few ancient, folded head (!) .32 S&W cartridges in my grandpop's dresser, but that break top went to his mother-in-law. Of course, this was before carrying a gun for protection was evil...

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
 
woodsltc said:
Astra made some great little pocket pistols. The pics below are of my mom's "purse gun". I didn't learn that she had it until I was grown and out of the house. It's a .25 acp Astra 200 Firecat that was made in the late 40's as best I can make out. I think one of my uncles got it for mom in the mid-60's.

Don
Click to expand...


That is cool! Don't know about the Firecat, but my mom (and barely me) could never pull this slide back, not because of the slide spring like on the Astra model 400, but because of the trigger spring, it is a beast! I may experiment with light springs, but that weakens the pin strike.


A lot of women carried Rohm RG10s and 12s which were way cheaper that the Astras, in cost and especially in quality.
 
BC38 said:
I have one of the 25acp models.
The one thing I have never understood is if they can make one in 25acp and one in 22 short why not 22LR? It is only .009 longer than the 25acp, and would make the gun a lot more attractive.
Click to expand...


Because the 22s are rimfire, they must have a rim. Obvious, right? Rimmed cartridges do not sit right on top of each other. The rims would lock. They must sit in a slant - each cartridge must be slightly forward of the one below it.


With a little bitty Pocket Gun like that, there is not a lot of room to angle the magazine. Using shorts you have room to set them at an angle. The longer 25 ACP, being rimless (all right - semi-rimmed. Sue me) can stack right on top of each other with no problem.


The question that you should be asking is how did Beretta manage to put 22 long rifle in their little bitty pistol. Because nobody else seemed to have figured it out.
 
Not sure when this one was made but I think it's a fairly early version.

Astra.jpg

It's a 22 short.

I have a fair number of "mouse guns" in 25ACP, 22 Short and 22 LR. Most of the ACP and short are offered in both chamberings. I always seem to choose the one that uses the expensive, hard to find magazine. Or only Triple K ... :(
 
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Alpo said:
Because the 22s are rimfire, they must have a rim. Obvious, right? Rimmed cartridges do not sit right on top of each other. The rims would lock. They must sit in a slant - each cartridge must be slightly forward of the one below it.


With a little bitty Pocket Gun like that, there is not a lot of room to angle the magazine. Using shorts you have room to set them at an angle. The longer 25 ACP, being rimless (all right - semi-rimmed. Sue me) can stack right on top of each other with no problem.


The question that you should be asking is how did Beretta manage to put 22 long rifle in their little bitty pistol. Because nobody else seemed to have figured it out.
Click to expand...


That's a great point and I am noticing that at and after 6 rounds in this magazine, the rounds tend to dip down at the bullet and barely hit the ramp to load, any more stacked on top and they would be pointing down!


Interesting! How did Beretta do it?? :confused:
 
Alpo said:
Because the 22s are rimfire, they must have a rim. Obvious, right? Rimmed cartridges do not sit right on top of each other. The rims would lock. They must sit in a slant - each cartridge must be slightly forward of the one below it.


With a little bitty Pocket Gun like that, there is not a lot of room to angle the magazine. Using shorts you have room to set them at an angle. The longer 25 ACP, being rimless (all right - semi-rimmed. Sue me) can stack right on top of each other with no problem.


The question that you should be asking is how did Beretta manage to put 22 long rifle in their little bitty pistol. Because nobody else seemed to have figured it out.
Click to expand...




Straight vs Delayed blowback?? Inexpensive vs not so much?
 
dsf said:
Not sure when this one was made but I think it's a fairly early version.

View attachment 549817

It's a 22 short.

I have a fair number of "mouse guns" in 25ACP, 22 Short and 22 LR. Most of the ACP and short are offered in both chamberings. I always seem to choose the one that uses the expensive, hard to find magazine. Or only Triple K ... :(
Click to expand...




Nice, proof marks and date code may be under the left grip?


Here is a link to Astra dates.


Astra Firearms Production Dates By Year Code
 
Mbrgr1 said:
That's a great point and I am noticing that at and after 6 rounds in this magazine, the rounds tend to dip down at the bullet and barely hit the ramp to load, any more stacked on top and they would be pointing down!


Interesting! How did Beretta do it?? :confused:
Click to expand...

No extractor for the rims to engage when the rounds leave the magazine which allows for a steeper feed angle in such a tiny pistol.
 
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