Happy New Year everyone... Here is a New Years treat... Spanish copy of the Astra Model 400..After the Astra plant (Unceta y Cia) in Guernica was bombed in April of 1937, and Franco's take over of this area.. The Republicians had a great need for Model 400 pistols to arm their troops. So two factories were set up in the Republician zone to produce Model 400 copies the scarce one is The F. Ascaso, produced by a Republician arsenel In Tarrasa Northwest of Barcelona in the province of Cataluna.. This copy was named after Francisco Ascaso an Anarchist who was linked to several Spanish political assassinations in the late 20s.. He was later deported from Spain in 1931, and had returned to Spain shortly before the start of the Spanish Civil War.,and died in 1931 in Barcelona, He was then Publicized as a Republician hero, and his name placed on the pistol....It is estimated that around 5000 of these super rare pistols were produced..Apparently no Holsters were produced for this pistol, as this one was found in a heavely modified Campo-Giro model 1913 holster...The calibre is 9m/m Largo. It is reputed that some of the pistols made their way to the USA in the Luggage of the International Brigades.... The other copy was a R.E.... Enjoy this News Year Day...BILL
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Holster
Bill,
I think this is the holster/strap for your gun... I think!
Robert
Ps. I just sold it for $45.00Comment
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picture 2 for you!
picture 2 for you.Comment
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picture 3
Picture 3 for you!Comment
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Astra Mod.400
Robert, Nice holster. It is the standard issue Spanish Army issued, Mfg.. holster for the Astra Mod. 400 (1921) from the Spanish aresnals of the 1930s... Thx... BILLOriginally posted by Robert ZimkasComment
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#55
Hello, Yes the assembly number is 55..BILLComment
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Astra 400.. F. ASCASO copy revisited
Here is a revisit a a very rare Copy of a astra 400 Pistol.. The F. AscasoComment
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Hi Bill
I really love this gun. The Astra 400 series were popularly called PUROS (cigars) after their shape.
Do you think the RE version is rarer than the Ascaso one?
Regards
AceComment
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F. Ascaso
Festungspain, I have seen R.E. Astra 400 copies new in their issue or sales boxes...But very few Ascaso copies..The one in my collection is the only one that I have seen in many years... It is estimated through serial number survay that there were around 5000 Ascaso copies and around 15,000 R.E. copies of the Astra 400... In the book Astra Automatic Pistols by Antaris..He states that "The more plentiful of the two copies is the R.E. which is a abbreviation of Republic Espanola.. I hope this helps some The assembly number of my F. Ascaso is 55... BILLComment
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