ASTRA 600/43 9mm 1943 Wehrmacht Contract for sale in Dallas Texas

$600.00

In 1943, the Third Riech was short of handguns. They turned to General Franco in Spain for help. Germany used their Luftwaffe's Blitzkrieg tactics to help Franco exterminate a few thousand rebellious citizens of Guernica on April 26, 1937.

In 1943, they turned to Uncets y Cia (Astra) to modify their Model 400 pistol to Wehrmacht specifications. IRONIC FACTOID: Astra started making high-quality guns in 1908, but in 1937, it had to move its factory from Guernica because the Germans bombed it.

The Wehrmacht contract called for 50,000 guns. Astra filled the entire order. They were to be shipped through occupied France, proofmarked, and sent to Germany during 1944. Three shipments, totaling 10,500, went to German troops. Then the shipments ran into a little snag...D-DAY!

The ASTRA 600/43 I'm selling was part of the 50,00 order, BUT IT DIDN'T GET TO GERMANY. If it had, it would be priced around $2500. It and the others were stored, and many ended up going to the West German Police, where they remained in service until the 1960s
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This is a very high-quality Retro, Art Deco (The 400 was created in 1921) style 9mm. It is 8.5" long and weighs 2.2 lbs. It has an 8-round magazine. It functions perfectly and is quite accurate. Included is an original issue hoster. It is in excellent condition.

A word about Spanish guns: back in the early 1900s, making guns became a cottage industry, and most were junk. Three companies, Astra, Ruby, and Llama, emerged to make guns equal to those made by Colt, S&W, Beretta, and Walther. The German High Command were bastards, but they knew quality.

I got this gun in a trade for a WWI Military rifle. It's neat, but I'm a revolver guy.

GIVE IT A GOOD HOME.