Astra A100

[modifiedbrowning]

Does anyone have any experience with this pistol? SOG have some listed for $249 in their ad in Shotgun News. The gun in the ad looks like a A80 or A90. The picture in the website is different from the SG ad. What is the difference from an Astra A90 and an Astra A100?

 

[MikeJ]

Many years ago I had an Astra A100 in .45. I loved the feel of it but the frame cracked one day at th range while shooting it so that was the end of my Astra association. I don't remember the difference between the the A90 and A100 but I think it was just a minor upgrade or change. Mike

 

[bpisler]

I had one 5-6 years ago,while it was accurate and reliable it broke the lock block after a couple hundred rounds of factory ammo.I never felt the need to buy another A-100 after that.To be fair to astra my A-75 in 45 was still in fine shape after 6 years before i sold it.Astra is out of business and parts may be hard to come by.

 

[Steven Mace]

The Astra A-90 was imported from about 1986-1990. The A-90 was offered in 9x19mm(14-shot mag.) or .45 ACP(8-shot mag.) with only a blued finish.

The Astra A-100 was imported from about 1990-1997. The A-100 was offered in 9x19mm(17-shot mag.), .40 S&W(12-shot mag.) or .45 ACP(9-shot mag.) with either a blued or nickel finish. Hope this helps!

Steve Mace

 

[Trini]

I had an older Model 80 in 45 ACP. It was a fairly good gun. I used it a few times shooting IPSC, not the best gun for it but what the heck... The main thing I didn't like about it was the barrel twist, there was a lot of torque to the gun. The hotter the load the more twisting of the gun.. I turned it on a Para, he was happy and I was happy.

 

[Drakejake]

I am a big fan of the Astra A-100. I have them in 9MM and in .40. They are clones of the Sig 228 (shorter than the 226). Despite their high mag capacity, they have a very comfortable grip. Mine are accurate and fun to shoot. They are all-steel and weigh about 35 oz. The 17 round 9MM mags can be had for $33.50 from Numrich, ditto the 13 round .40 mags, all mags made by Mec Gar. The steel may be softer than in some other pistols, causing faster wear, and spare parts may be hard to find. The finishes include polished blue, matte blue, matte nickel, and partly polished nickel. The polished blue and polished nickel models are very sharp looking. Takedown is extremely easy, as with the comparable Sigs. Condition is a factor because many have been used and abused by Spanish police and soldiers. One in very good condition might go for $250-300.

Drakejake

 

[Drakejake]

I left some things out of my prior message. I believe the difference between the 90 and the 100 is that the latter has no manual safety and has larger capacity mags.

Drakejake

 

[gremlin]

From Modern Firearms: http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg81-e.htm
"The Astra A-80, A-90 and A-100 pistols were developed by Spanish company Astra-Unceta y Cia SA, in 1982, 1985 and 1990, respectively, and are very similar in appearance and general design, differing mostly in safety features.

The Astra A-80 had been patterned after famous Swiss-Germany designed pistol SIG-Sauer P-220. A-80 features wery similar frame and slide shape, similar recoil-operated, locked breech design with improved Browning-style linkless locking and one large lug that locks into the ejection port in the slide. The double action trigger with frame mounted decocker on the left side of the grip is also patterned after the P-220. The A-80 also features firing pin safety, that locks the firing pin away from the cartridge primer untill the trigger is pressed. Another feature that is different from the SIG-Sauer P220 is that A-80 had double stack, high capacity magazines.

The Astra A-90 pistol appeared in 1985 as an improvement over the A-80 in terms of safety. Being very similar to A-80 in all other aspects, the A-90 featured two-piece firing pin with firing pin safety that locks frontal part of the pin, plus ambidextrous, slide mounted manual safety, that, when engaged, removed the rear part of the firing pin from the hammer path, regardless the position of the hammer. Accompanied with the frame mounted decocker, inherited from A-80, this resulted in very safe, but also very complicated design.

The Astra A-100 (first appeared in 1990) was an attempt to simplify the A-90 design while retaining the high level of operational safety. The manual safety had been removed and the operational procedures are similar to those of the A-80 pistol."


For what it's worth, I had an A100 and eventually traded it away. I liked the hi-cap magazines (they hold 17 rounds) but the gun really didn't group very tightly. I traded mine in for a real mccoy Sig P225 and have been much happier with the Sig than I ever was with the Astra--of course the Sig costs twice as much.

After having saved my dollars to upgrade, I'm glad that I did.

 

[PCRCCW]

The Astra is a Sig-Alike. They are wonderfully comfortable to shoot in 9mm....very accurate. Some of the Astra's fell victim to the Soft Metal Rumor...of other Spanish guns. A couple of smiths around here say its pretty true....but the one I shot quite a bit...just was very nice.
shoot well

 

[carym h]

Barrels for astra a-100

I need a barrel for my astra a-100 45 since they went out of buissness i have had a heck of a time finding this part, can anyone help me out pls feel free to contact me by e-mail or post reply thankyou.

 

[schmeky]

I shot an Astra A-80 in .45acp for many years and many thousands of rounds. I liked it's Colt Commander size and overall fit and finish was good. The DA trigger pull stacked (like just about every other DA auto) and the SA pull was creepy but smooth. Accuracy was very good.

I eventually bought another A-80 in 9mm. Both the .45 and the 9mm were very reliable. I think they are good guns if you can get one at a decent price, i.e., $300.00 or less. I still own an A-80 in 9mm, I traded the A-80 in .45 a long time ago.

I think are good looking pistols but in no way do they compare to Sigs, CZ's, Berettas, Glocks, etc.

 

[Ash]

Astra parts are very easy to get. Check out the EAA website and you can look up any part you need and they will ship it to you. I know this from personal experience getting two RAP 440's to run using A75 parts.

The A80,90, and 100 pistols are like SIG's but they do not lock up like SIG's. The lock up is more like the Browning High Power or CZ-75 with locking lugs on the top of the barrel which mate with lugs in the slide (not with a single lug in the ejection port). They are fine pistols. I used to own an A100 in 9mm with a nickel finish.

Ash