[ Astra 400 Target Model ]
Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and today we are
taking a look at the extremely rare
Target Model of the Astra 400.
These were made at the very end of Astra 400 production, this particular one is a 1945 gun.
And in addition to the sort of typical much improved adjustable sights
that you would expect on a target version of a pistol,
this has also been given a single set trigger.
Which is a really kind of interesting and unusual modification.
Now the standard trigger in the Astra 400 is pretty "eeh".
But with the set-trigger set up here, you actually get a really nice trigger press.
So, let's go ahead and take a closer look at this, I'll show you the sights,
and we'll pull it apart and look at how the trigger has been changed.
One of the other interesting aspects to these target guns
is that most, if not all of them, are actually built using Navy-style frames.
So the standard mass of production of Astra 400s for the army
had a heel-mounted magazine release like so.
However, the Navy contract for Astra 400s used
well, still sort of a heel release, but it's a side-mounted release
much more like the Astra 300.
So it uses its own distinctive magazine that has a grasping tab on the side
because it doesn't have a tab on the toe of the magazine.
And the release button is located on the side there.
So a little interesting that they went ahead and used
that frame for the target guns, but they did.
When it comes to the sights, we have a Patridge-style front sight
instead of the original rounded half-moon front sight.
This gives you a much ... nicer, crisper front sight picture there.
And then instead of the original sort of small, lumpy, rear sight notch
the target guns have a really nice, wider, square U-notch.
Adjustable, so there's a screw right there to adjust it for windage.
And this is ... basically a bolt-on rear sight.
This is fundamentally kind of similar to like the King's revolver sights
that you would see on early custom 1911 pistols.
Now there is a significant amount of variety
in the exact specifications of the rear sights that were used.
Some of them had longer or shorter tangs here.
... There were variations in the width and the height of the rear sight blade itself.
So don't take this as a single uniform standard, they did use a bunch of different rear sights.
And if we compare the sight pictures here,
you really have a much better sight picture. ...
It's a little hard to get them both in focus on the camera,
but you can see that you have a much improved sight picture with the Target Model on the right.
So that's a good start for a target gun, but the trigger is also important.
And frankly the factory trigger on the Astra 400 is kind of heavy, and not very great.
What they did on these, as I said, is give them a set trigger.
So, if the gun has simply cycled like so (reset the hammer),
there is a magazine safety and a grip safety,
but I still can't actually fire the gun until I press this little button.
There's a little click, and now ...
I have a really short, crisp, single-action trigger press that's really quite good.
So what's going on? Well what they did is
reconfigure the ... firing sear so that it has very little engagement with the trigger.
So that it requires just a tiny bit of force to actually release the sear and fire the gun.
The problem is there's so little engagement
that you risk the gun essentially bump firing from recoil when it resets.
And so the solution to that is essentially to have an interrupter back here.
Where the ... hammer will be caught and held back
by a second little plunger every time you fire.
And you have to push this button to release the hammer
to come up just to the edge of release on the sear
before you can actually use the trigger.
So, if that doesn't make sense, let me open this up and show you.
Let's start with a standard Astra 400. We have our sear engagement surface right there,
that little sharp edge, and it is held under this part of the trigger.
So when I pull the trigger back, this lifts off, and allows the hammer to release.
So ... that is the hammer in the cocked position.
And of course once it's cocked like that you can't see anything down in there.
And then as I pull the trigger it's going to release that to come up.
Notice on our Target Model we have a little bit of a scalloped cutaway here on the hammer,
and we have this hole in the side.
Once again the relevant sear engagement surface is right here,
and we have the trigger down below.
The spring on the trigger is a little bit lighter.
And then the actual amount of engagement
(which you just can't see at all because the gun's still assembled here),
the ... engagement between this surface and this part is much lighter.
So what has been added is this crossbar for a spring,
and that little stud right down there.
And when I push this button in, that stud retracts into the frame.
So when the gun cycles the hammer is going to be pushed back,
and that little round stud is going to catch in that hole ...
like so, and that holds the hammer down.
And ... it's essentially sort of a safety,
because as long as that little stud is holding the hammer down
I can pull the trigger all I want and the hammer is not going to be released.
What happens now is I push the button and the hammer is going to snap up just slightly, right there.
Now it is only being held by that little bit of engagement surface on the sear.
So now I have a really nice, there we go,
just a really short crisp trigger press to release the hammer and fire.
It's actually pretty neat to me how simple of a modification it was
for Astra to do that and really dramatically improve the trigger press on the pistols.
It was a clever design decision that keeps the guns very safe.
The one downside to it is you kind of turn these pistols into manually operated pistols
in that you have to actually push in this little button between every shot.
And so in a rapid (or timed fire) course of competition fire
this is going to be a little less useful
... if you have to change your grip to depress that button between every shot.
Now maybe you do, maybe you don't, and in slow-fire competition this is no big deal.
But that's what they went ahead to do.
On the back here we have our standard Spanish three proof marks.
That centre one, the "P", indicates 1945 manufacture.
And it's interesting to point out that this gun
was converted to a Target Model after it was proofed.
You can see the hole for the hammer release button
has been drilled right through one of the proof marks.
On the opposite side we have our serial numbers on the slide and the frame.
Like I said at the beginning, these Target Models were all made
by the factory at the very end of standard production.
... All the existing ones that are known are in the 105,000 serial number range.
Otherwise, there are no special markings that denote this as a target gun.
Up here we have just our standard Astra markings:
Unceta y Compañia, Guernica, España, Modelo 1921
Now in addition to these original factory guns,
there are also just a small handful that were reworked
in the ... late 1950s from surplus Astra 400s.
They have basically all the same modifications, but they have serial number ranges
that are much lower because they came from earlier guns.
It's just a few of those, they are pretty easily recognisable
because they are in fact salt blued, which is a process that Astra started using in the late 1950s.
Where the original factory guns are all rust blued
because that's how Astra 400s were done in original production.
So, if you're interested in the Astra 400, the interesting sub-versions of the Astra 400,
perhaps the copies of the Astra 400 from the Spanish Civil War,
or everything else that was made by Astra, the absolute best reference guide on this
is Leonardo Antaris' "Astra Pistols and Selected Competitors".
Still available, although I believe he's starting to run pretty low on copies of this.
So if you're interested, definitely check out the book. Either way, hopefully you enjoyed the video.
Thanks for watching.