Prince Yamato
Member
I used to have one. Nice guns. They're direct blowback though, so they are not comfortable for all day shooting.
Astra 600: Ugly, or Retro Cool?
- Thread starter SharpsDressedMan
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Vern Humphrey
Member
Or like a fat chick -- for the same reason.
rodinal220
Member
Retro Kool!!
ApacheCoTodd
member
Seriously retro cool as the "go to" gun for the UI bad guys in Mission Impossible viewed almost religiously as a kid. In our neighborhood, as the adult males were either Ford or Chevy, the kids were either Star Trek or Mission Impossible. I was always diggin' the baddies' Astras and Madsens.
gc70
Member
The appearance of the 600 is ... different. The grip angle looks awkward to modern eyes.
Field-striping is a breeze; I could field-strip and reassemble my 600 faster than a Glock. OTOH, removing the recoil spring from the slide was an adventure often resulting in dents in walls and ceilings.
Dr.Rob said:
Field-striping is a breeze; I could field-strip and reassemble my 600 faster than a Glock. OTOH, removing the recoil spring from the slide was an adventure often resulting in dents in walls and ceilings.
kBob
Member
Had a 400 and shot it with 9 Largo only as there was a guy at the same show that had a bit of it. Oddly enough 20 or so years earlier someon gave me a mysterymagazine that didn't seem to fit anything I could think of and when I got the 400 home that myster magazine was no longer a mystery.
A buddy turned out to want it more than me and at the time ammo was hard to find and I did shoot and playwith it a bit so I sold it.
Buddy in the service while in Germany hada 600 as a personally owned weapon that he took to Germany from the states. I shot it likely as much as I did the 400 later and rather liked it. The right grip of the 600 had a NSDAP lapel pin of the larger variety with its promenent broken cross in let into it. The response to this at the local German gun club was shall we say mixed. Interestingly one of the older guys that had been a civilian politico of some sort under the nazis looked upon it nostalgicly and commented that he had one "just like it" right down to the inlet lapel pin. My friend had inlet the lapel pin him self and did not know what to think of that.
I can not see one with out thinking of the Condor Legion and their famous raid on Guernica a city that we are told in history classes had no military value or targets........take a look at the top of the slide of those Astra 400 (M1921) spanish service pistols and tell me where they were made.
As a youth (ute?) I wanted an Astra Condor, basically a 600 with an exposed hammer because I thought they were the coolist of the series.
I heard them all refered to as "Spanish Water Pistols" on more than one occassion.
I think retro cool is a good discriptor of their appearence.
Now I have a certain TV theme song in 5/4 time stuck in my head.....thank you guys very much!
-kBob
A buddy turned out to want it more than me and at the time ammo was hard to find and I did shoot and playwith it a bit so I sold it.
Buddy in the service while in Germany hada 600 as a personally owned weapon that he took to Germany from the states. I shot it likely as much as I did the 400 later and rather liked it. The right grip of the 600 had a NSDAP lapel pin of the larger variety with its promenent broken cross in let into it. The response to this at the local German gun club was shall we say mixed. Interestingly one of the older guys that had been a civilian politico of some sort under the nazis looked upon it nostalgicly and commented that he had one "just like it" right down to the inlet lapel pin. My friend had inlet the lapel pin him self and did not know what to think of that.
I can not see one with out thinking of the Condor Legion and their famous raid on Guernica a city that we are told in history classes had no military value or targets........take a look at the top of the slide of those Astra 400 (M1921) spanish service pistols and tell me where they were made.
As a youth (ute?) I wanted an Astra Condor, basically a 600 with an exposed hammer because I thought they were the coolist of the series.
I heard them all refered to as "Spanish Water Pistols" on more than one occassion.
I think retro cool is a good discriptor of their appearence.
Now I have a certain TV theme song in 5/4 time stuck in my head.....thank you guys very much!
-kBob
wally
Member
Ugly retro old school about sums it up 
I'd jump on one if the price was right.
Parts are likely to be a problem.
I'd jump on one if the price was right.
Parts are likely to be a problem.
I tend to think they're kinda ugly, yet very cool. I've wanted one for a LONG time.
Maybe not ugly, maybe just funny looking. But I've always liked tube guns.
Looking at the A400/A600, you can see where Bill Holmes got ideas for the upper of his home workshop semiauto pistol.
Maybe not ugly, maybe just funny looking. But I've always liked tube guns.
Looking at the A400/A600, you can see where Bill Holmes got ideas for the upper of his home workshop semiauto pistol.
The Condor has a bit of a drawback. The Astra 400 and 600 are not quite straight blowback; the hammer is designed to cock at a considerable mechanical disadvantage; that causes those pistols to act as delayed blowbacks. But the Condor hammer is designed to allow manual cocking and its spring is lighter and the leverage is different, about eliminating the delay factor. So the feel is different and, IMHO, the recoil harder than the earlier guns. Also, reportedly for the same reason, the guns didn't hold up well.
The best description I have heard about the recoil of those three Astra pistols is that firing one is like hitting a baseball with a cracked bat.
(It has been said that those Astras don't have feeding problems - with that recoil spring, ANYTHING that is in front of the slide is going into the chamber, whether it wants to or not!)
Jim
The best description I have heard about the recoil of those three Astra pistols is that firing one is like hitting a baseball with a cracked bat.
(It has been said that those Astras don't have feeding problems - with that recoil spring, ANYTHING that is in front of the slide is going into the chamber, whether it wants to or not!)
Jim
TimboKhan
Member
Oh, I kind of dig it. Retro cool is my vote.
dmassey
Member
Hi. Newbie here. Was firing my 600 this afternoon, had a misfire due to old ammo and the slide jammed. Did a web search on correcting the situation and one of the hits was a post from this site. Using the info from that post, I was able to free the slide and eject the round safely. While I was into it, I finished the field stripping and gave it a cleaning. I haven't had it very long. According to the SN (9XXX) it was in the ones that was used by the Germans. It's a great firing pistol and targets better than my Ruger. For me it's easier to disassemble for cleaning too. Anyhow just wanted to say that I was really fortunate to find this site and greatly appreciate the info.
picturerock
Member
Retro cool for sure. If you watch any or the original Mission Impossible series, it was always the Astra that the bad guys would pull out to hold Cinnamon hostage. It just looked like a bad azz gun to those Hollywood producers.
aarondhgraham
Member
M humble opinion,,,
Way "retro cool".
It looks like something that Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon would carry.
Aarond
.
Way "retro cool".
It looks like something that Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon would carry.
Aarond
.
TAKtical
Member
Tokarev, 1911, and ruger mkii had a baby.
djarie
Member
I have a 600, serial is 27,xxx. I've fired it once, and it's not a fun pistol to fire for a while, nasty recoil.
SharpsDressedMan
member
Maybe your recoil spring needs replaced. A stronger spring might make it just a gentle push instead of letting it slam back.
krupparms
Member
Many years ago I bought a box of Astra 600 gun parts &magazines . I was able to build. 6 pistols out of the parts. Traded 5 &keep a Port.Navy pistol in very good shape! Still have about 60 magazines left. Nice plinking gun! People always come over to check it out! I ended upon paying $80 per gun. About $1 per magazine! Great retro piece!
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