Astra 900

[Rasputin]

Thought y’all might appreciate this C96 clone, the Astra 900. Only 35K were made, mostly for China. This one has an original but non-matching stock. This is also one of those few models models that is both a curio/relic and exempt from SBR regulation. So because I have a C&R FFL, I got to experience the joy of having this little short-barrel delivered right to my home!

 

[Garufa]

Cool. 

[papa61]

That is cool. I didn't know Astra built those. I was thinking about the weight of Bruin decision and historic firearms being in use before the SBR ban this morning. And this pops up! 

My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely!

Thanks Rasputin

[Rasputin]

That is something I had never considered - the implication of Bruin on SBR regulations. I’m not remotely close to a gun control expert but there probably weren’t any barrel length and stock restrictions in Ben Franklin’s day. On the flipside, there probably aren’t a lot of people who want to challenge SBR laws because of the optics. Personally, while I am no fan of the Bruin decision, I think SBR laws are dumb. This pistol is pretty heavy and hard to hold steady. Mount the stock and suddenly your grip becomes rock solid, the weapon pulls in nice and tight, and your eye aligns naturally over the sights with a firm cheekweld. The stock makes any average shooter into a capable fighter. I can envision many many situations, hunting or defense, where the addition of the stock on a compact gun makes the difference between hitting and missing your target in a stressful situation. Just my 2c.

Re: the Astra, I also didn’t know these existed until I saw them on Gunbroker. There are a few more clones out there, I think Star and Royal also made some. These Astras are known for having many improvements over the Mauser, particularly the takedown is very fast and easy. The left side lifts off to reveal the interior, which came from the factory jeweled (mine has faded but the jeweling can be seen on Forgotten Weapons’ video on this model). The bore is near perfect. As soon as ammo arrive I intend to take it to the range. I also want to do some accuracy comparisons between stocked vs unstocked. I’ll try share the results.