Astra mdel 600/43

jrfoxx · March 17, 2006, 01:30 AM

I recently inherited an Astra model 600/43 9mm made in 1945 and after feild stripping and cleaning of old, gooey oil, seem to be unable to dry-fire the weapon regardless of saftey position or with or without magazine insertr. Is this an odd dry-fire "safety" thing unique to this tye of gun, or does it indicate a problem?

Harley Nolden · March 17, 2006, 05:17 AM

you may get a better response if you posted this in the Smithy forum. I can send you the disassem W/Photos if you want them

HJN

deadin · March 17, 2006, 10:09 AM

oops.... please disregard

Dean

sck · March 18, 2006, 01:03 AM

Just checked my Astra and it dry fires fine. Now the question becomes why won't yours? There are two possibilites. Either it isn't being "cocked" when you pull back the slide or the fireing pin isn't being released when you pull the trigger. The easy fix is the latter. When firearms are allow to sit over a long period, oil and dirt coagulate. This mixture can prevent the gun from functioning properly. When you "field stripped" it, how far did you go? Did you notice lots of old, dried oil and grease on the parts you cleaned? If you did, it may be that the spring is literally locked in one by the old, dried oil and grease. Try cleaning it more thoroughly and see if that doesn't solve the problem. Even if you don't want to go beyond a field strip, just take an aerosol can of a good cleaner that has one of those little tubes that lets you concentrate the spray, and spray it into firing pin hole. let it really run through there. You have to squirt in enough stuff to loosen the old grease, and then enough to rinse it all out. But be careful about the stuff you use. Some stuff will damage bluing and even some of the less potent ones will damage the grips. So be careful. If you get it all clean and see that the cleaning agent is running out nice and clean, and it still won't dry fire, I suspect that we have a broken part, either a firing pin spring or a part of the firing mechanism. Let us know what happens. Best of luck and good shooting -- Steve

jrfoxx · March 18, 2006, 06:46 AM

Thanks for the responses. It appears to have been a stuck part. I disassembled (field strip) it again, and hosed it out everywhere with LOTS of gun scrubber and then some Hoppe's No 9, then re-lubed with Rem-oil, and it will dry fire now. I had forgotten to mention in my origonal post that the trigger would only wiggle, and acted as if the safety was on when it wasnt (sorry). My guess is maybe the magazine safety was stuck, as I see this gun will not fire without a mag inserted, and the thumb safety has semed free and functional the whole time, so stuck mag safety seems likely. Anyway, thanks again. Cant wait to try this thing out at the range.

March 17, 2006, 01:30 AM	#1
jrfoxx Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2004 Location: Evanston,WY Posts: 898	Astra mdel 600/43 I recently inherited an Astra model 600/43 9mm made in 1945 and after feild stripping and cleaning of old, gooey oil, seem to be unable to dry-fire the weapon regardless of saftey position or with or without magazine insertr. Is this an odd dry-fire "safety" thing unique to this tye of gun, or does it indicate a problem? __________________ Q: How can I reduce the amount of mail I receive from the NRA? A: Simply email us at [email protected] or dial 800-NRA-3888 and request to be placed on the "Do Not Promote" list. Last edited by jrfoxx; March 18, 2006 at 05:55 AM.

March 18, 2006, 06:46 AM	#5
jrfoxx Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2004 Location: Evanston,WY Posts: 898	Thanks for the responses. It appears to have been a stuck part. I disassembled (field strip) it again, and hosed it out everywhere with LOTS of gun scrubber and then some Hoppe's No 9, then re-lubed with Rem-oil, and it will dry fire now. I had forgotten to mention in my origonal post that the trigger would only wiggle, and acted as if the safety was on when it wasnt (sorry). My guess is maybe the magazine safety was stuck, as I see this gun will not fire without a mag inserted, and the thumb safety has semed free and functional the whole time, so stuck mag safety seems likely. Anyway, thanks again. Cant wait to try this thing out at the range. __________________ Q: How can I reduce the amount of mail I receive from the NRA? A: Simply email us at [email protected] or dial 800-NRA-3888 and request to be placed on the "Do Not Promote" list.

March 17, 2006, 05:17 AM	#2
Harley Nolden Staff In Memoriam Join Date: January 8, 1999 Location: Brunswick,GA USA Posts: 1,884	you may get a better response if you posted this in the Smithy forum. I can send you the disassem W/Photos if you want them HJN

March 17, 2006, 10:09 AM	#3
deadin Junior member Join Date: September 6, 2005 Location: Ocean Shores, WA Posts: 1,052	oops.... please disregard Dean

March 18, 2006, 01:03 AM	#4
sck Member Join Date: December 8, 2000 Posts: 56	Just checked my Astra and it dry fires fine. Now the question becomes why won't yours? There are two possibilites. Either it isn't being "cocked" when you pull back the slide or the fireing pin isn't being released when you pull the trigger. The easy fix is the latter. When firearms are allow to sit over a long period, oil and dirt coagulate. This mixture can prevent the gun from functioning properly. When you "field stripped" it, how far did you go? Did you notice lots of old, dried oil and grease on the parts you cleaned? If you did, it may be that the spring is literally locked in one by the old, dried oil and grease. Try cleaning it more thoroughly and see if that doesn't solve the problem. Even if you don't want to go beyond a field strip, just take an aerosol can of a good cleaner that has one of those little tubes that lets you concentrate the spray, and spray it into firing pin hole. let it really run through there. You have to squirt in enough stuff to loosen the old grease, and then enough to rinse it all out. But be careful about the stuff you use. Some stuff will damage bluing and even some of the less potent ones will damage the grips. So be careful. If you get it all clean and see that the cleaning agent is running out nice and clean, and it still won't dry fire, I suspect that we have a broken part, either a firing pin spring or a part of the firing mechanism. Let us know what happens. Best of luck and good shooting -- Steve