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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  SPANISH PISTOL ASTRA MODEL 300 9MM SN# 577362
Maker/Manufacturer:	UNCETA Y COMPANIA
Date of Manufacture:	1937-1946
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 974
Measurements:	OL: 16CM 6 3/8" BL: 9.6CM 3 7/8"

Object Description:

SPANISH PISTOL ASTRA MODEL 300 9MM SN# 577362
Manufactured by Unceta y Compania, Guernica, Spain - Standard semi-automatic pistol with 7-round magazine feed mechanism. Blued finish with checkered wood grips. Fixed sights. 6-groove rifling; right hand twist. Made in Spain for Germans in WWII. Germans purchased 300 of these in WWII. Slide jammed otherwise complete with 7-round detachable box magazine.

Markings:
Frame: Eagle/WaA 251/577362. Left side: S Spanish proofs.
Slide: 577362 - UNCETA Y COMPANIA/GUERNICA ESPANA/ Spanish proofs/Astra TM.
Barrel: 9MM KURZ/Spanish proofs.
Magazine: ASTRA trade mark.

Notes: "Astra-Unceta & Co. Astra-Unceta y Cia, SA, Guernica, Spain. This gunmaking business makes a variety of handguns. The company was founded in Eibar in 1908 as Esperanza y Unceta, registered the Astra trademark in 1914. moved to Guernica in 1913, and became 'Unceta y Cia' in 1925. The company was one of only four gunmakers permitted to continue trading after the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939, and the current trading name was officially adopted in 1955…..
However, it must be remembered that guns introduced prior to 1955 (in this particular case) were often still being made many years afterward with nothing more than a change of manufacturer's name - and sometimes also the designation - to distinguish them for their predecessors.
The business collapsed at the end of 1997 only a few months after Star-Bonifacio Echeveria SA and during a severe recession in the Spanish gunmaking industry. A workforce numbering 103 was dispersed as a result. Some of the assets were acquired by Guerniquesa de Mecanizado, Tratamiento y Montaje de Armas SAL, registered in Vizcaya, but the current status of the handguns in unclear. They were avialble for some years after the collapse of Astra, but it is likely that these were being assembled from pre-1997 components." - Hogg & Walter

"Similar version of the Astra 400 introduced in 9mm in 1922 for Spanish Prison Service; in 7.65mm and 9mm in 9mm in 1923 for commercial sales. Adopted by the Spanish Navy in 9mm in 1928. Total of 85,390 (both calibres) supplied to the German Army in 1939-44; these will have German property marks (WAA and NAZI eagle). Manufacture ceased in 1947, 171,000 having been made." - Hogg & Adam

References:
Hogg, Ian & Rob Adam. JANE'S GUN'S RECOGNITION GUIDE. Harper Collins, Glascow, Scotland. 1996
Hogg, Ian, & John Walter. PISTOL OF THE WORLD. 4th Ed. Rev. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 2004
Schwing, Ned. 1998 STANDARD CATALOG OF FIREARMS. 8th Ed. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 1998.