Astra revolver

Interesting,
That looks like the frame size of my Astra Terminator.
Do the cylinder chambers look small as compared to diameter of the cylinder? If so, it might be a .44 mag size frame and cylinder chambered for either .357 or .38.
If the gun says .38 special on the cylinder, I'd trust the cylinder markings over the barrel markings, as the cylinder will be taking the brunt of the pressure.
But if the cylinder is a .44 mag cylinder chambered for .38, the extra metal in the cylinder might make a .357 doable....MIGHT. I'm no gunsmith, just my thoughts.

Any chance we can get a shot of the cylinder face?

Edit: Upon looking closer, I don't think they are the same size frame. I would keep my loads to .38 to be safe, if I were you, and go by what the cylinder says. Even if a .357 fits, you don't know if the cylinder has been treated to handle those pressures, and I don't know if you'll find a good answer for something as obscure, and imported, as an Astra.

Neat revolver though. I love my Terminator and am quiet happy with its quality.
If you take your grips off, do you have the adjustable spring as well? It's a ring with different depth slots cut in it for the mainspring to seat. If you seat in a deeper slot, you have a lighter pull...a shallower slot gives a harder pull.
Really neat and innovative.

I would REALLY want a gunsmith to check it out before i fired a single round through it. In case it's really a .38spl, where some bubba reamed out the chambers for .357mag, and swapped the barrel or something. I would want to know from a professional that it was safe just in case someone has been shooting loads in it that the gun is just not made for. They may be able to check for cracking and metal fatigue in areas that we just can't see or don't know to look for.
Either way, until it got a clean bill of health from a very knowledgeable gunsmith, I would not want to shoot it if it were mine.

I'll make a gamble and buy a mystery gun, but I'm not gambling my eyes nor hands!

Longhunter1750 said:

I recently pick up this Astra revolver at a local gun show,as you may be able to see in the photo the barrel is mark .357 magnum but the cylinder is marked .38 special. the fella I got it from thought it was a factory mistake but I figured someone changed out the cylinder.

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From studying the enlarged photo, it does seem to have had the cylinder changed out. Interesting.

I have shot .38 through it and it shoots just fine,i have no intentions of shooting .357 through it.

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My concern would not only be limited to .357s. the point of my post, and perhaps i was not clear, is that if that gun was fired with loads that are beyond the threshold for which it is designed, it may have weakened the frame through damage.
Once the frame is weakened, it may not even be safe with .38s, if micro-fissures could open up or something. I'm not gunsmith, nor am I a metallurgist.
My gut tells me that the gun would be loose and that you'd see symptoms of problems like that in the gun's functioning before it would just blow up on ya. BUT if it were me, I'd want it checked out by a real pro before betting my vision or use of my hands on that little assumption.

That's a beefy cylinder for .38 special. Just from appearance there looks to be more metal between the chambers than any of my .38's or .357's except for my 28-2...which is a .44/.45 sized cylinder chambered for .357.
So my first guess of a .44 magnum sized frame and cylinder might not be far off.
My Astra .44 mag Terminator has a cylinder diameter of about 1.72"
Do you have a set of calipers that you could measure yours?
You can see the cylinder has a step in the chambers, so it doesn't look like bubba just straight reamed the cylinder for .357.
I second a double check with a good gunsmith to see what they have to say about the chambers.

interesting, definitely a .357/.38 cylinder then,
guess my eyes were just playing tricks on me.
Solid guns though, hope she shoots well with .38's! Be interesting to hear what a smith has to say about the cylinder.

Would the chambers accomodate a little more than a 357 case, as most makers will allow? Some "Spl" guns will allow chambering of magnum ammo (NOT shooting).

This is all very academic though, as Astra might not have used the same steels / treatments for these two calibers, and we don't know what this cylinder was intended for.

They had a beefy 357 though, cylinder included, compared to mod 19's, Taurus, Rossi and Llama's productions.

Longhunter1750 said:

I have shot .38 through it and it shoots just fine,i have no intentions of shooting .357 through it. chicharrones what do you see that brings you to that conclusion,i also think it was changed out because of the stampings but as far as anything obviouse I don't see it,the fit and finish is perfect.

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Of course, I am just looking at the photo, but it seems that the polishing on the cylinder and crane is a bit better than the frame and barrel. Almost like the cylinder and crane came from another gun.

Although, all of the polishing might look the same in person. Hard to tell from here.

Length of cylinder is usually the first discernable difference between .38 S&W Special and .357 Mag. Also there are differences in chamber throating. Does the chamber readily accommodate the 1/8" longer .357 cartridge?

These questions must be answered before we can reliably go forward.

S&W 586 cylinder diameter - 1.55"
Colt Trooper mk III cylinder diameter - 1.55"
S&W M19 cylinder diameter - 1.44"

Wow, at 1.57", the cylinder on that .38 may not be a .44 mag cylinder with .38 size holes, but it is definitely beefier than S&W or Colt thought a .357 needs to be.

Is the .38 stamping on the cylinder the same font as the barrel markings? Possible...and I'm randomly thinking out loud here...but that stamping could have been put on a duty gun to signify the proper duty round....?
If it is a different font, perhaps it is a .357 proper, and was stamped post-factory by the agency issuing it, for use as a duty revolver only with .38 special duty rounds. If the gun was surplussed from a foreign government or police issue and then imported, that is. I know there were runs of revolvers made to order by S&W and Colt that you'd expect to be .357, in .38 special to satisfy duty requirements concerning issue loads. The Colt Trooper mkIII comes to mind, I know that a small run was made in .38 special...and there were a few model 10's chambered from the factory for .357. Both of these runs were done at the request of certain police agencies to satisfy their duty requirements.
Maybe a foreign force needed .38's for its force, and instead of paying for a special run of otherwise .357 guns, just had the cylinder marked for .38 special and issued them for use as duty guns with .38 special.

Edit...It looks like the stamping was done before the gun was blued, I don't see any bare metal in the stampings...but its hard to tell. If that's the case, either the cylinder was reblued after stamping, or it was stamped prior to the gun leaving the factory. Rebluing points to bubba or a custom rechambering/new cylinder, but a stamping from the factory is possibly something that would have on the guns when delivered, if my hypothesis about the guns being marked for .38 duty rounds only, but being a .357 in all other ways. The font not matching would be something that could come from the factory, as they might not have cared about matching the font on the two machines for a duty gun..

I have Rugers and S&W's with significantly different shades in bluing between the cylinder and frame. It's a pretty common phenomenon.
Getting the bluing on the cylinders and frames to match is actually pretty tricky, I've heard, because of the properties of hot bluing and the different alloys and treatment of the steel between the two.

chicharrones said:

Of course, I am just looking at the photo, but it seems that the polishing on the cylinder and crane is a bit better than the frame and barrel. Almost like the cylinder and crane came from another gun.

Although, all of the polishing might look the same in person. Hard to tell from here.

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I have a Llama .44 with three different "shades" for the bbl, cylinder and frame...

It is their .357 alright. The .44 (a few .45 Colt were reportedly made) would have a cylinder about 1.65 wide; and I don't think the bigger frame was ever made with fixed sights.

As silicosys4 said, many makers had identical looking guns in both calibers, some didn't go as far as using the same steels.

Does the gun have import marks?
If it does, I would have to stay with my hypothesis, that the cylinder is most likely a .357 that was stamped by the factory as .38 special because the gun was issued to a police or govt. agency that used only .38 special, and was subsequently sold as surplus and imported.

Given where Astra is manufactured and the local gun laws, I don't see the gun being sold locally to a civilian and then modified, then somehow making its way here....and I don't see a .357 Astra being bubba'd here in the USA into a .38 then reblued, or even a cylinder swap...where would you get a .38 Astra cylinder, anyways? Doubt you could get one from Astra, you'd have to find a donor revolver, and Astra's are uncommon.
Astra's are unfortunately (or fortunately, if you like to purchase them) not regarded as a high quality gun, even though they generally are. Why would someone spend the money to bubba an Astra when they could have gotten a S&W .357 for probably around the same money?

No, I am pretty convinced that the gun is a .357 as is the cylinder, and the cylinder was simply stamped .38 spl. at the factory so it could be issued to a domestic agency that used .38 special...then was subsequently imported

Definitely confirm with a gunsmith though.

I have seen stampings along the barrel, along either side of the frame, under the barrel, even under the grips if the importer has a conscience, lol
On my Astra the stamping is on the right side under the cylinder on the frame. "Interarms. Alexandria, Virginia"
Look for a company name and a state. It might be a nice blued rollmark...usually on guns made for import.
On guns that were surplussed off, the stamping might be done with electropencil or a punch.
It should be there somewhere, I think even the guns that were made for import were required to be stamped in some manner.
If it's not import stamped, I am at a loss.

Edit. Here is a slight clue, another thread referring to an Astra model 960...which looks like the same gun as yours, but in a longer barrel, adjustable sights, and in .38 special. The cylinder on the 960 looks to be the same length as yours though. The thread also mentions that .38 versions of the Astra 357 were not imported. I assume your gun is an Astra 357, you didn't mention model number but that would be easy to miss. If the .38 version was not imported, than it would be safe to assume that .38 special cylinders to ream would be next to impossible to come by in the U.S, so that might point towards the conversion and cylinder stamp being done at the factory.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=390191

That gun is a Barracuda. It is a 70 s vintage leftover Astra production for FN. It has the ability to go from 357 cylinder to 9mm. The guns imported here int eh last 5 years did not include the 9mm. I did find one for mine, though. Mine shoots 38 special and 357. The photos are clear when the 357 round is good. It is safe. To be honest, I like shooting 38 specials more. It is a very nice gun, and shoots well to point of aim and impact. I bought mine because i wanted a 3 inch blued revolver. I paid $380 or so.

chart referenced:

http://www.9mmlargo.com/year_codes.htm