Astra Police .38

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Linda and I picked up a pair of Astra Police .38 revolvers recently. These are police trade-ins from Spain. The PMV stamped on the sides stands for 'Policia Municipal de Vitoria.' These L-frame sized guns were made in 1985-86 with 3" Barrels, fixed sights, and were made in .38 Special and .357 Magnum. They are surprisingly high-quality and have several innovative features. One is the large screw in front of the trigger-guard- this is actually a button that when depressed releases the crane and cylinder from the frame; handy for cleaning or even changing calibers. Another is in the handle- the mainspring terminates in a circular assembly with four different depth holes- this makes the weight of the trigger pull/strike user-adjustable.


Both of these guns have moderate holster wear but are very well fitted and finished. The trigger on mine (with the bobbed hammer) is very good, and on Linda's gun it is exceptional. These guns are typically provided with the factory grip(slightly damaged) and a Hogue Monogrip- which isn't a great fit but works. These are quite robust for .38 Special, and were typically issued with Super-Vel +P ammunition; sort of a latter-day .38-44. There was never any doubt that Linda's gun will get a custom grip in some lovely wood. For mine I reworked the factory grip, with very satisfactory results-


Very nice guns to shoot- quite accurate and well-balanced. Currently they are selling for around $259 if you can find one, and are a bargain at that price- though proper-fitting grips can be an issue.

 

[Striker]

Nice job on the grips Tinker, but you always do good work....

Did you pick the pair up locally or thru a distributor?

Thanks in advance.

 

[bannockburn]

Tinker

I remember seeing Astra Cadix revolvers at the local sporting goods store many years ago. While not as nicely finished as a comparable S&W revolver, they were still well made and a decent buy for the money. Would love to have one those 3" barrel models like yours.

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Nice job on the grips Tinker, but you always do good work....

Did you pick the pair up locally or thru a distributor?

Thanks in advance.

I picked up mine at a gun store locally for $220. Linda liked it, so she got one off of Gunbroker for $259.

 

[Walkalong]

Those are good guns.

 

[NoirFan]

Great work on that factory grip! I’m loving the rounded profile.

 

[Walkalong]

I'm a fan of the Astras. .357 & .44 Mag.

 

[Monac]

IIRC, Astra also made the revolvers shown in Michael Tinker Pearce's first post for FN of Belgium, for sale as the FN Barracuda. This was the only revolver ever sold by FN, I believe. The Barracuda could be had with either a 357 Magnum cylinder or a 9mm Parabellum cylinder or both, interchanged by using the quick release feature Mr. Pearce pointed out. (Maybe they all came with both - I don't remember.)

This was back in the late 1970's or early 1980;s, when a number of European police agencies were considering replacing their 32 automatics with revolvers, like the American police carried at the time. Pretty much all of them outside of Spain adopted 9mm Parabellum automatics, instead. But that is why S&W made a K-frame 9mm revolver (the Model 547) and Ruger made the Service Six and Speed Six in 9mm for a while.

 

[Tallball]

Those are very nice-looking revolvers. Coincidentally, I purchased one of the GunBroker $259 Astras last night. That vendor seems to be finally running short of them. I got the last one without a badly cracked grip.

I am glad to read more nice things about them. Everything I read online about them was positive, so I took the plunge. I have big hands, and it looked like the Astra would be a good fit for me.

I hope to receive and shoot it within a week. I'll post a range report afterwards. After reading this thread and many similar ones, I'm expecting to have a good report.

 

[bannockburn]

Monac

IIRC, Astra also made the revolvers shown in Michael Tinker Pearce's first post for FN of Belgium, for sale as the FN Barracuda.

That sounds about right as I recall reading that somewhere back in the mid '70s that the FN Baracuda was a rebranded Astra Police revolver with some minor cosmetic changes. Would love to find either one with the interchangeable 9mm. cylinder assembly.

 

[mistermills357]

They look good.

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Took the Astra out for it's first serious range outing yesterday, and I am quite happy with this gun. Seven yard rapid-fire target:

Twenty-five yards, standing/unsupported, double action:

This gun is a real pleasure to shoot, and no doubt I'll be able to improve on these results with practice.