New to me Astra Model 960

Got pictures?

Also, what mechanical problems are you having?

I would shoot the crud out of that thing! Looks beefy enough to have the cylinder reamed for .357...

Looks good. What does P.M.V. on the lower sideplate stand for?

Tallball said:

I posted the picture as an edit, since I am apparently a poor planner.

Over time the hand has scratched the extractor in a couple of places. One of the cylinders hesitates just a little bit sometimes if you shoot it double action. I had another revolver that did that and the local gunsmith was able to repair it. My hope is that he can fix this one, too.

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Sometimes a whisper of grease will fix that, if I'm visualizing the problem correctly.

Gotta love Spanish revolvers, the reason Smith & Wessons say "Marcas Registradas" on them. I rather like the Astras, and they were fairly popular in the US when they were being imported.

I missed one locally for a great price last year. Kick myself for not getting it.

I’ve read they’re all .357 capable but they just didn’t bore them out for .357 for political reasons.

AJMBLAZER said:

I missed one locally for a great price last year. Kick myself for not getting it.

I’ve read they’re all .357 capable but they just didn’t bore them out for .357 for political reasons.

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I read somewhere that at least some of them will actually chamber .357, and the only thing difference between them and the .357s is the stamp saying .38 special.

Could be. I know Rossi does that with their .38 1892 lever actions they sell in Brazil.

interesting piece. I never have seen on of those in person before. Looks like a solid shooter.

Tallball said:

I got it for $259 plus shipping and FFL. It's a police turn-in from Spain. It's easy shooting: more than heavy enough for 38 special. For the first time ever (for me) I got a police turn-in with a minor mechanical issue, but it's worth fixing. I put 50 rounds through it the other day and look forward to doing it again soon. It's got a nice trigger and I like a larger than average revolver (about like an L or maybe even N frame).

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Tallball:

That is a nice 3" Astra 960. I happen to have a nice 4" Astra 960. In CA I have only seen one of these(mine). Mine wasn't imported via an importer but instead it was brought in to CA by a Spanish police officer who had put this revolver for sale in a gun shop to be sold as a ppt. This gun shop was located about 50 miles from my home. I was impressed with this Astra 960 and I wanted to have this piece of Spanish history so I bought it. Astra was known as the best quality Spanish revolver produced in Spain. I also only shot about 50 rounds through it and it had a very nice trigger as well. The original bluing was very nice as the gun had shown to have been well cared for and the only wear was just a slight amount at the very tip of the barrel on the side. However the grips were dinged up a bit but I soon discovered that mint Astra grips were very hard to find...well this bothered me so I spent a long time researching Astra revolvers....however I finally got lucky in contacting an ex employee of the Astra company and I asked him if there was any place in Spain where I could possibly acquire some fairly nice grips...he told me that he had one set of NIB condition Astra 960 square butt grips like mine and he agreed to sell them to me. And he was right these grips were 100% mint new condition! Despite the fact that I have several Ruger, Smith and Colt revolvers in my collection, still it's neat to have one of these Astra revolvers because they are well made and are fun to shoot and because not everybody had one of these....especially here in CA!

Nice looking Spanish revolvers, guys!

I have an Astra Police in .38 from the same department- though someone bobbed the hammer on mine. I reworked the stock wood grip (it came with that and the Hogue monogrip yours has. It looks just like your gun- I wonder what the difference is between the 960 and the Police? They are listed as different models but look identical to me.

Really nice revolver, excellent trigger. Five shots, rapid-fire at 7 yards-