I picked one up from a guy at work, I have never owned an Astra. I fired it last weekend, the double action trigger is horrible, but the single action is very nice, crisp and suprisingly light. The weapon handled comfortably, no malfunctions, and pretty accurate for a compact. Now for the questions. First, about the recoil spring guide rod. It seems to be aluminum, will the steel recoil spring cause it to gall and result in malfunctions after a number of rounds? I understand that Astra is out of business? Are parts available? And what do owners of this piistol think of the weapon, overall? Thanks, and sorry for the newbie questions, but nobody I know has any experience with this piece.
Anyone owned an Astra A75 in .40 s&w?
- Thread starter Jack M
- Start date
riddleofsteel
New member
i owned an A75 Astra in .40 some years ago and i morn it's loss. congrats on owning a fine pistol. is it a blued or stainless model? when i got mine new. it was blued and had a 3 inch stratch on the slide. i got $50.00 off of the price and sent it to Mahaskies Metalife and had an industrial chrome finish put on it. then i contacted Chandler arms and bought a Recoilmaster guide rod for it. i did not use the original rod for long so i don't know if it would have lasted. i have the old original rod if you want one so e-mail me if you want it. i also made a set of bird's eye maple grips for it that i still have. i also have a nice Kramer horsehide left hand vertical belt scabbard holster for it. by the way most holsters that fit a Kahr full size Kahr should fit your pistol.
i found that the trigger smoothed out with time but some models had worse double action triggers than others. talk to your gunsmith about smoothing it some. i found my A75 was as accurate and reliabile as the 229 sig in .40 i was shooting at the same time.
enjoy
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
Let he that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one. Luke 22-36
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Song of Solomon 3-8
The man that can keep his head and aims carefully when the situation has gone bad and lead is flying usually wins the fight.
i found that the trigger smoothed out with time but some models had worse double action triggers than others. talk to your gunsmith about smoothing it some. i found my A75 was as accurate and reliabile as the 229 sig in .40 i was shooting at the same time.
enjoy
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
Let he that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one. Luke 22-36
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Song of Solomon 3-8
The man that can keep his head and aims carefully when the situation has gone bad and lead is flying usually wins the fight.
I've got an Astra A100 in 9mm, not quite the same gun as yours; however, the A100 is a fine pistol. Mine's reliable and functions flawlessly with a 17 round magazine. It groups 5 shots to about 3.5" at 10 yards--I generally shoot half that with my CZ, so I won't claim that the Astra is a nail-driver, but, it's point and shoot factor is pretty good. If you just grab the gun and fire without lining up the sights at eye level, it's an excellent shooter. It provides lots of 7 yard center torso hits with zero misses...
The double action trigger is rough, but the single action is pretty crips. The de-cocker is Sig-style, but the push back from it is much stronger than with a Sig; the first time you hit it, you jar your thumb.
I like mine, but I like mine because it was an inexpensive hi-cap wondernine (got mine for $260 with one hi cap). For another $100 I'd have been disappointed that I hadn't bought a CZ75 compact or something...
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Take the long way home...
The double action trigger is rough, but the single action is pretty crips. The de-cocker is Sig-style, but the push back from it is much stronger than with a Sig; the first time you hit it, you jar your thumb.
I like mine, but I like mine because it was an inexpensive hi-cap wondernine (got mine for $260 with one hi cap). For another $100 I'd have been disappointed that I hadn't bought a CZ75 compact or something...
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Take the long way home...
Yep,I had one. A-75,blued .40 It was a neat little pistol. Small but very solid (and HEAVY!). The DA on mine was heavy but fairly smooth(others I tried varied from decent to terrible),single action was pretty darn good for a cheap Spanish gun. It felt good in the hand,but the tang used to chew a hole in the knuckle of my thumb after a box of hot 155gr.s BTW nobody else who fired it ever had this problem. The knuckle thing and the weight are the main reasons I sold it. Marcus
I owned an A-75 in .40 and loved it. Sold it and bought an A-75 in 9mm because I shot it so much, the 9mm was cheaper.
Fired ball ammo flawlessly. The only problem I ever has was with Fed Hydro shocks. Because of the bullet shape, They would sometimes catch the end of the ramp and not feed.Though I think they have changed the bullet shape. I know they did with their .45 Hydro Shocks.
I went to Remington brand ammo (it has a rounder head shape on it's JHP's and it worked great! Had the same trouble with the 9. Went to Remington 115 +p's and all was well.
Great gun, you will enjoy it.
Fired ball ammo flawlessly. The only problem I ever has was with Fed Hydro shocks. Because of the bullet shape, They would sometimes catch the end of the ramp and not feed.Though I think they have changed the bullet shape. I know they did with their .45 Hydro Shocks.
I went to Remington brand ammo (it has a rounder head shape on it's JHP's and it worked great! Had the same trouble with the 9. Went to Remington 115 +p's and all was well.
Great gun, you will enjoy it.
hksigwalther
New member
Got a couple A75/9mms too (all steel not alloy). Only complaint is that it's a bit heavy. Incredibly compact.
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- Ron V.
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- Ron V.
Targetshooter
Inactive
I had one in a 40 once but my dad got overly atached to it so I sold it to him after he repeatadly asked me what I wanted for it. Great little pistol. I know have one in 45acp
and occasionaly carry it.
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Keep on shooting
and occasionaly carry it.
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Keep on shooting
Regarding whether Astra is still in business, I heard that Astra was merged into Star or something like that. So I believe that they are still being imported but some models were discontinued.
Like my first handgun, an Astra A100 in 9mm Luger. As Gremlin noted, not a tack driver but a fun gun nonetheless -- especially with the three 17 round magazines.
Justin
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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Like my first handgun, an Astra A100 in 9mm Luger. As Gremlin noted, not a tack driver but a fun gun nonetheless -- especially with the three 17 round magazines.
Justin
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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
A few years ago had an A75 Astra in .380 caliber. At least I think it was an A75. It malfunctioned with the safety bar having a design flaw with a hole through it for the firing pin. Memory's bad on that detail, but the holed bar broke and useless to shoot. Dealer took it back. Gun was big for a .380 but had good heft and shot pretty well until it broke.