I am truly addicted. I am truly lost... I "heart" Spanish hardware

P

Pond James Pond

New member
I know that kind of statement hardly sets me apart on this forum: pretty much everyone is a slave to the pursuit these fine forums lionise.

However, this is slightly different.
Whilst, yes, it is true that I am quite addicted to shooting now, and reloading for that matter, there is one particular field that seems to have seeped to my very core: Spanish-made handguns!!

I have two Astra 680s. It should have only been one, but I damaged the barrel of my first with a squib incident and so when another pristine-ish example appeared I had to have it. That first has since been reserved by a club member as I was selling it cheaply (due to the damage which doesn't appear to have affected accuracy!).

Then there is the first gun that ever actually took my breath away, lying there under the gun-shops glass counter-surface: an Astra Constable .380.

Then there is the Star compact PK28/30 hybrid that I rue not buying last year.

And now... I see two more lovelies on sale, and I am almost considering one of them.
An Astra A-70 single stack 9mm, and another Astra: a A-60 double stack .380 that looks very much like the Constable I had lusted over back in the infancy of my shooting career. (Career-wise, I am probably a teething toddler now).

Both are allegedly very well made and shoot accurately and reliably, if the net is to be believed, and both are so reasonably priced.

Thus, again, I find my heart-strings being plucked by not one but two pistols. It is the 2 mag, ammo and holster equipped A-60 I am actually seriously considering.

It is hard to justify: money is somewhat tight. The baby is here, and the A60 is the same size and capacity as the 9mm-shooting G19 and so has not real world advantage over what I already own. All the same, I just love it!! The A-70 is even cheaper, but only with one mag.

But to put it into perspective, buying both would be less costly than my used G19 was when I bought it!! These guns are such good value: what a crying shame spares are not easy to come by...

Why, oh why, must temptation rear its head again?
More importantly, why, oh why, can't my lotto tickets be the winners?!

OK: self pity is over - just a little reflection on how I'm feeling at the mo'....
:o
 
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Pond,

Don't feel bad, you are not alone on this, we all have the same symptoms when it comes to guns.

I too am waiting for my lottery ticket to win, (LOL)

Jim

 
Whilst, yes, it is true that I am quite addicted to shooting now, and reloading for that matter, there is one particular field that seems to have seeped to my very core: Spanish-made handguns!!
Click to expand...

Too bad there aren't any current Spanish handguns.

I have a Firestar I picked up 2 or 3 years ago, that I don't shoot well or often. Nifty, very well made, but it's pretty much trade fodder for me now.

DSC02430_zpsef0398f5.jpg


pf9starsm1_zps4b05e9d0.jpg
 
The Astra A70 looks a lot like the Firestar, and according to one review, was an even better gun.

The Star I passed last year was only €190, and the A70 only €200!!!:eek:

Admittedly both only came with one mag, I think, but I was convinced I could have done something with CZ mags.

The little .380 comes with everything.....
Oh, it calls to me. I hear it at night.
A smooth metallic voice like the snick of a safety coming off or a mag falling free: "buy me, buy me!!" it whispers :(
 
I got a LNIB Astra A75 9mm that I loved. A short time later I saw a .40S&W complete upper for the A75. I bought it and it fit perfectly. Even the mags are marked for 9mm or .40S&W. It is truly a gem and with the all steel weight it makes shooting the 9mm feel like a .22 and shooting the .40S&W feels like a soft 9mm. Excellent gun.

.40S&W slide with wood grips:




same gun with original grips in 9mm:

 
Up until couple weeks ago I was still joking about Spanish firearms (I've since diverted my jokes to the French)

Seriously Spanish guns are way cool and inexpensive and parts are not completely dried up yet. I've got a star starlet coming in
 
I have had only a little experience with Spanish made handguns. While in the Army in the late 'Fifties my buddy bought a Llama .38 Super clone (sort of) of a Colt Government Model. This gun had a ventilated rib on top of the slide, otherwise a dead ringer for our issue .45s.

This pistol was every-time reliable, and deadly accurate out to seventy-five yards or so. Reliable except for the first shot. I fired the first shot put through the pistol after he bought it and suffered a ruptured case which put the pistol out of action for the day. Once cleared, never any problem afterwards. The .38 Super was pleasant to shoot, and deadly on ground squirrels.

Bob Wright
 
I kinda like the Star BM.

This reliable, handy size, all steel, external hammer, single action, single stack 9X19 is kinda neat to fool around with.

Don't detail strip it. Unless maybe you do it inside a pillow case. There is this little bitty, elusive part that lives under the thumb safety that is prone to vanish.

salty
 
I have a Llama IIIa in .380. You know, the little 1911 clone. Cute bugger, and it shoots well. I bought mine used, but it was imported by Stoeger in the late 70's. Unfortunately, it is the straight blowback version, not the locked breech.
 
You need to find a locked breech one. They are twice the pistol the blow back is. A really cheap, best kept secret in the .380, all steel pistols.
 
Those have me looking. I have been partial to Italians myself, but I do see the allure of the Spanish Ladies as well.

On that note I saw a unique shooter I had not known about before. It is an Iver Johnson Pony in .380. This particular gun is a Border Patrol Commemorative of some type currently listed on GB and it's sort of fetching if I do say so myself. It has me looking.
 
The Spanish locked breech pocket 380 sare horrible horrible firearms please don't get them. I'll dispose of them for you. Nobody needs to know about them Star cough DK cough;)
 
I have dozens of Star DK, S, SI, CQ, BM, B, A, Llama blow back and locked breech....love them all. The DK's (and FI model D) are the most fun to shoot and are super easy for a concealed carry .380. I have shot thousands of rounds in Star pistols without incident ( although a crack formed on the U.S. Made frame of a F.I.)...along with DK and S, ..bm and bkm 9mm's are also high on my shootable list.
 
Ive posted my Star B Super 9mm a few times here, but give me a reason to show it again? HECK YES! :D
Best $250.00 I ever spent

 
Has anyone noticed the price on these things has gone up over the past months? Either that, or I'm living in a neighborhood with a LOT of dreamers. :confused:
 
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