There was something about the looks of those old Astras that I really loved. My best friend and I got to noticing that on the TV show “Mission Impossible” they nearly always had the bad guys using Astras. I suspect because they looked different.
Every now and then, I still see one and sure enough, it is in the hands of bad guys.
The quality was alwyas high no matter which model.
Through the '60s and '70s I hit the gun show circuit in the Midwest on a motorbike, limited in what I could carry in two saddlebaks and a backrest pannier; I managed to haul enough handguns to fill an 8-foot table pretty well, which kept my show expenses down.
I more or less specialized in European handguns, especially .32/7,65 shooters like the Walthers, HSC, Sauer 38, Berettas and many,many others, but of course the Astras were common and showed up, as did Polish Radoms and Walther P.38s and others- even some pretty decent revolvers from time to time.
I got to try most of them along the way, and I found out what worked for me and what didn't. I came to really like the Hungarian Femaru, and more than a couple of Astra and Mauser broomhandles came my way as well, sometimes in 9mm Parabellum, sometimes in 7,63 Mauser, and once in a while in 9mm Largo. The broomie, of course, was another common movie and TV *bad guy* gun, on MishImp and elsewhere.
And now I note that Sarco has a deal running on Star B autopistols and has had a few Astra 400s listed as well. It's been a long time, and they're far more pricy now, but we shall see...