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...
I always liked those Spanish made pistols tho there was not much of a market for them back then. Also any other oddball ones.
Daddy was a good scavenger and brought back a Luger, a P-38 and what he described as an Austro-Hungarian .32 Which probably was Femaru. I was born in 1947 and the only one I ever got to see was the Luger. I can still remember Daddy using to kill an alligator in Otter Pond near Leonia, Florida. It was a pretty long shot and Daddy nailed him. He sold all of them before I was old enough to remember them. I did know he sold the Luger to Paul Stanley, who was Daddy’s Cousin and once Golden Gloves champion of Florida.
At Daddy’s funeral I asked Paul if he still had it and he had sold it many years ago. He said if he still had it he would have given it to me.
I got a really nice Radom or VIS from the same dealer I bought the Astra 600 from. I tried to order a second one along with a Chilean Mauser. The owner sent me a letter saying he was out of the Astras but would substitute a more expensive Radom if I wanted him to. I wrote back and told him OK as long as he picked out an early one.
The Radom was indeed an early one but it had Nazi markings. Unfortunately the extractor hook was nearly broken off. Just a tiny piece sometimes touched the case rim and sometimes probably did not. It would fire maybe two or three shots then leave one in the chamber.
I tried to get it repaired but none of the local gunsmiths seemed to know where to get the part. Actually it should not have been that difficult to make but I ended up selling it to my Brother. To my surprise Joe made a perfect replacement himself and heat treated it. I guess his Son who is into shooting has it now.
Joe was an excellent machinist tho that was not technically his job at a chemical plant. He was the chief engineer. One day he brought a Mosin Nagant in which he had machined a near mount which attached to the rear sight. Unlike all those which use a long eye relief scope, Joe’s mount went all the way back to over the action. It took a standard eye relief scope. It looked really nice too.
Both his Son and I tried to get him to patent it but Joe seemed to have no desire to.