Astra .44

[test drive]

OK had the Astra snub for 2 weeks now and shot 75 rounds of assorted mag ammo and 30 rounds of special. Magnum is borderline a bit much. 44 special is VERY mild. So it's a bit of a quagmire the gun is just too big and heavy just to carry special loads and I don't see Magnum as being practical. Going to try playing with some hand loading something like a really hot special (a Dirty Harry "light special ") might be just right. But still will have to see what speeds that will be. Got to find something over 1000 fps thats manageable or might as well stay with my 45 xds.

 

[RPZ]

I would stick with .44 Special. I don't think Astras are up to a sustained diet of magnum loads.

 

[test drive]

It's a pretty tough built cookie.

 

[RPZ]

Yeah, but I don't think the metallurgy is quite up to S&W, Ruger etc. The fact that it has a short barrel would make it better suited to 'Special loads anyway.

 

[test drive]

True some Spanish metal could be questionable but Astra was making military grade weapons before WW2 even helped supply Germany back then. Also John Jovino, Lewis Horton and Austin Behlert were involved in importing and customizing the .44 mag back in the 80s before Astra went out of business so that's got to say a little something about quality.

 

[bannockburn]

test drive

It's a pretty tough built cookie.

Yes that's partially true (my brother and myself have owned Astras and found them to be well built guns), but even a S&W Model 29, if fed a regular diet of .44 Magnum loads, is going to start having problems eventually. If it were my gun I would crank the handloads down a bit and keep them in the warmish .44 Special range as RPZ suggested.

 

[larryh1108]

If you hand load, use the 44 Mag brass and back it down to your comfort level. This will prevent the carbon ring from using 44 Special cases.

 

[Jim Higginbotham]

OK had the Astra snub for 2 weeks now and shot 75 rounds of assorted mag ammo and 30 rounds of special. Magnum is borderline a bit much. 44 special is VERY mild. So it's a bit of a quagmire the gun is just too big and heavy just to carry special loads and I don't see Magnum as being practical. Going to try playing with some hand loading something like a really hot special (a Dirty Harry "light special ") might be just right. But still will have to see what speeds that will be. Got to find something over 1000 fps thats manageable or might as well stay with my 45 xds.

I have had one of these for quite some time but I have not shot it that much. I really like the design. I don't think I'd hesitate to shoot something in it that I would shoot in any of my S&W .44s but, as others have mentioned, it is not a Ruger Redhawk or even a Colt Anaconda. Which doesn't bother me, I shoot very few full house .44 Magnums any more and have killed deer with good handloads in .44 Spl. If I lived out west I might think a little differently but for my environs a 240 to 250 gr. bullet at 900 to 1000 fps will do all I need to do.

BTW - the Speer Blazer 240 gr .44 Mangum factory load gets around 1050 fps in my short barrel - it is a bit less hot than most .44 Factor and so is a sort of "middle of the road" load. I have not shot anything with it and do not know if the bullet expands?

The Astra fits my holsters for the S&Ws and typically around November to February I switch my normal B.U.G. (a 1911 or Commander) to an N-frame S&W merely because I often drive to the farm and might run across a "volunteer" to test bullets on. Besides, I like revolvers as long as the caliber begins with a .4

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Years back I bought a Jovino Terminator for a song at a garage sale. I intended to flip it, but made the mistake of shooting it first and fell in love. Fit and finish was excellent and the trigger was superb. A LGS offered reloaded 185gr. HPs loaded to 1150 fps. from a 4" gun, and these were just the ticket in the Astra.

 

[entropy]

"...made the mistake of shooting it first...." Boy, I hear you there, Michael! I don't own one, but only because I had a 2.5" Python and a Redhawk at the time I shot one......wish I still had both of those.

 

[Jim Higginbotham]

Years back I bought a Jovino Terminator for a song at a garage sale. I intended to flip it, but made the mistake of shooting it first and fell in love. Fit and finish was excellent and the trigger was superb. A LGS offered reloaded 185gr. HPs loaded to 1150 fps. from a 4" gun, and these were just the ticket in the Astra.

BTDT - I won a S&W 57 at a match. I had .44 and .45 revolvers and did not need to add a caliber - but it had a couple of boxes of ammo with it and I made the mistake of shooting it - still got it (and added 3 more .41s) 40 years later...I can resist anything, but temptation