Astra Cub .22 Short

[Green Lantern]

I posted in Revolvers about my Aunt getting a new S&W snubby for home defense. She's also had a little pocket auto for a LONG time - but it seems like she's lost the magazine! :banghead: Anyhow, she brought it down yesterday. I have a pic, sorry for the miserable quality!

Astra Cub .22 Short. Here's what I gathered from my tinkering:

-Single Action, and the slide stop ALSO serves as a safety.
-Also a magazine disconnect safety
-Made in Spain (tho being an Astra y'all probably already knew that. I don't know anything about the brand)
-For a second I thought it had a gold-colored finish, but I think it's just the OLD lube staining the frame.

It's got a bit of surface rust, and the innards look pretty rough. No instructions, so I didn't try to take it down to get a better look inside and clean a bit...

Anyone have any experience with the gun? Or know of a place to find instructions or a CHEAP replacement mag? I found one online for $25, but I don't wanna drop that $$$ before I'm sure the gun is safe to shoot!

(BTW, I was a TAD disappointed...I was kinda hoping to open the box and find an old Browning or Pocket Colt or something! Ah well...)

 

[PX15]

Try:

www.gun-parts.com.

I think you'll find what you need, plus new recoil springs and such..

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

 

[isp2605]

They're a fun little gun. Very well made. Astra also made them for Colt under the name of Colt Jr in both .22 Short and .25. Those in .25 seem to be found more often. Colt also did a run of Colt Jrs that came with both .22 Short and .25 barrels. Mags will interchange between the Astra and the Colt. I've never seen either the Colt or Astra in anything but blue but that doesn't mean they didn't come from the factory in other than blue. Someone may have also had it refinished.
Disassembly is pretty easy. Lock the slide back, give the barrel about a 1/4 turn and pull it out the front. The slide then comes off.
I bought this Colt Jr in 1969 for $25.

 

[Gordon]

seeing as I have 6 mags for my .22 short ones and an extra .25 top end, I'll advance the gun culture for the next gun generation and send you a new factory mag if you PM me your address and it is reachable by USPS!

These guns are super fun, just remember a .22 short can kill !

 

[Moonclip]

FIE corp also in addition to Colt juniors marketed their version as "the best" model which I suppose they were compared to their titan series of which I have two. Missed 2-3 of Best pistols, one was 90bucks w/o mag 4 years ago

My factory chromed and faux pearl gripped 22short Astra was neat, kind of rough but had two factory chromed mags and was $135 3-4 years ago, I like the 22short round for some reason.

I got rid of it as for some reason though it was the most accurate pistol of this type I've ever owned, the firing pin hit the rims at an extreme angle which caused many misfires. I think this was a design feature or manufacturing defect as gunsmith could not get firing pin to orientation in more reliable postiton. i have been looking for 25acp version to no avail. I'd give 22short another go to at right price especially with test fire.

 

[Moonclip]

Also look for proofmarks, they can be deciphered at www.gunboards.com Spanish handgun forum to determine year of manufacture. disassembly help can be found there too probably, really it's easy as mentioned.

 

[Green Lantern]

Thanks for the info...look forward to actually being able to fire it soon, barring finding anything wrong inside!