Astra A-75 in .40 S&W--is it a good gun or just a good price?
Bernielama
I am considering purchasing my first automatic handgun and one that I
can''t seem to find too much about in the magazines and from the gun
dealers is th Astra A-75 from E.A.A.
What catches my eye is the price-a local dealer has them at $400.00 out
the door (extra magazines, D.R.O.S., fees, etc.) For a steel-frame,
compact, .40 S&W it is hundreds less than Glocks, Sigs, etc. THe only
other that is competitively priced seems to be the Cat-9 in .40 by
Intratec, which seems too small for the size round
Anyway, does anyone have any experiences using one of the Astras? How's
their reputation in reliability and accuracy? Should I save up for the
P229 or Glock 26/27?
Wendel Warner
Bernielama wrote (about the Astra A-75) :
#
# What catches my eye is the price-a local dealer has them at $400.00 out
# the door (extra magazines, D.R.O.S., fees, etc.) For a steel-frame,
# compact, .40 S&W it is hundreds less than Glocks, Sigs, etc. THe only
# other that is competitively priced seems to be the Cat-9 in .40 by
# Intratec, which seems too small for the size round
I have a friend that uses an Astra A-75 in .45 caliber. He likes it a lot. I've
shot it and have no complaints about it. He uses his for CCW. I think he paid
less than $400.00 for his, so you might want to shop around. The Astra A-75 in
.45 caliber is pretty new so you might not see it in your gun store right away.
Bernie Stokes
Bernielama wrote:
#
# I am considering purchasing my first automatic handgun and one that I
# can''t seem to find too much about in the magazines and from the gun
# dealers is th Astra A-75 from E.A.A.
#
# What catches my eye is the price-a local dealer has them at $400.00 out
# the door (extra magazines, D.R.O.S., fees, etc.)
I don't know where you are looking at these prices, but here in Phoenix
AZ, I just saw an ad for them at $289 last week. You must be getting a
lot of extra mags for that kind of out the door price.
Personally I have owned and shot one for about 1 1/2 years. I believe
that I paid $279 for mine then. I use it primarily for my "house" gun.
It is very accurate, shoots where the sights look, and is not bad on
recoil. I did have a gunsmith do a job on the trigger mech, and this
helps the gun very much. Before the trigger job, the trigger pull was a
little heavy and felt "gritty". Works very well now. I would recommend
one, but I think you can do better on the price.
Mike Furlo
#
# I have a friend that uses an Astra A-75 in .45 caliber. He likes it a lot. I've
# shot it and have no complaints about it. He uses his for CCW. I think he paid
# less than $400.00 for his, so you might want to shop around. The Astra A-75 in
# .45 caliber is pretty new so you might not see it in your gun store right away.
I have an Astra A-100 in .40 S&W. All it needed was a slight budge of the sights to the
left and it is right on the money up to 50 or 60 feet. I'd like to think of this as a
economy Sig-229. It may not have the fit and finish of the Sig, but for the price I paid
( $345 + tax NIB) I have no complaints, other than I can't find spare mags for this
anywhere!
Mike
Garreth Edward Ecston
##
## I have a friend that uses an Astra A-75 in .45 caliber. He likes it a lot. I've
## shot it and have no complaints about it. He uses his for CCW. I think he paid
## less than $400.00 for his, so you might want to shop around. The Astra A-75 in
## .45 caliber is pretty new so you might not see it in your gun store right away.
#I have an Astra A-100 in .40 S&W. All it needed was a slight budge of the sights to the
#left and it is right on the money up to 50 or 60 feet. I'd like to think of this as a
#economy Sig-229. It may not have the fit and finish of the Sig, but for the price I paid
#( $345 + tax NIB) I have no complaints, other than I can't find spare mags for this
#anywhere!
#Mike
I had an Astra A-100 in .40 S&W, I moved up to it from a .32 CZ50, it
really is a nice shooting pistol, feels good in the hand, shoots pretty
well, recoil is not to bad, conceals well and draws well. Fit and finish are
not bad (remember its not a Sig), here the mags are now 13 rounds (sorry
about the states). I sold it to get a Glock 19, no regrets, but I will
recomend the Astra as a good fire-arm, I'd take the A-100 over the A-75 (it
really does conceal well, despite a full size grip) and you can take your
choice of 9mm, .40 or .45.
Garreth.
Michael Ray
In article <4qub6l$f...@xring.cs.umd.edu>,
161...@cosmos.wits.ac.za (Garreth Edward Ecston) wrote:
#I had an Astra A-100 in .40 S&W, I moved up to it from a .32 CZ50, it
#really is a nice shooting pistol, feels good in the hand, shoots pretty
#well, recoil is not to bad, conceals well and draws well. Fit and finish
#are not bad (remember its not a Sig), here the mags are now 13 rounds
#(sorry about the states). I sold it to get a Glock 19, no regrets, but I
#will recomend the Astra as a good fire-arm, I'd take the A-100 over the
#A-75 (it really does conceal well, despite a full size grip) and you can
#take your choice of 9mm, .40 or .45.
#
#Garreth.
#
I own 2 A-75s in .40 and have had no problems. I have small hands so I
didn't care for the A-100. FWIW, I got both of mine for $319 USD + tax.
Just got a Glock 23 but haven't had a chance to shoot it. It should be an
excellent gun also. The A-75 is still smaller (the smallest .40 DA I could
find at the time, plus it was decent quality and cheap!), but definitely
heavier than the 23 (mine are the steel frame).
Michael Ray - Systems Engineer
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Rifle Coach
Check out http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1190/
Luv 2 load
I have no complaints with my Astra A-70 in 9mm. It has proved to be
durable, reliable and surprisingly accurate for a compact 9mm. I have no
direct experience with the A-75 ( simply the double action version of the
A-70) but based on my experience with my two Astras ( I also have a
Constable in .22 long rifle, similar in size and function to a Walther PPK
at ablout 40% of the cost) I would give serious consideration to the Astra
A-75. The price quoted seems it may be a bit high. Recent EAA ads in
Shooting Times show a suggested retail as starting at $289!! Perhaps this
is for the 9mm version but the .40 S&W shouldn't be that much more. Maybe
you should try a little negotiating with the dealer or check out a local
gun show if they allow them where you live. Chuck
rah
h...@adnc.com wrote:
#luv2...@aol.com (Luv 2 load) wrote:
#>I have no complaints with my Astra A-70 in 9mm. It has proved to be
#>durable, reliable and surprisingly accurate for a compact 9mm. I have no
#>direct experience with the A-75 ( simply the double action version of the
#>A-70) but based on my experience with my two Astras ( I also have a
#>Constable in .22 long rifle, similar in size and function to a Walther PPK
#>at ablout 40% of the cost) I would give serious consideration to the Astra
#>A-75. The price quoted seems it may be a bit high. Recent EAA ads in
#>Shooting Times show a suggested retail as starting at $289!! Perhaps this
#>is for the 9mm version but the .40 S&W shouldn't be that much more. Maybe
#>you should try a little negotiating with the dealer or check out a local
#>gun show if they allow them where you live. Chuck
#I had the .45 version Astra and it was one of the worst pieces of junk
#I have ever owned. The gun jammed every 20 - 30 rounds and the
#magazine release siezed up on me. I only had it for a month when I
#took it back to the dealer. He gave me full trade in value and I
#bought a real gun.
Yeah, well, I've had a A-75 in .40 since they came out. Mine works
fine with all kinds of ammo. It seems to prefer the Remington GS HPs
best of all for accuracy. The HydraShocks in 155 aren't too shabby
either.
My only complaint is the early version of the gun I have is that the
front sight is nickel with an orange dot. I've tried painting that
sucker black so I can see the damn thing in bright light. I noticed
the newer models have a totally different front sight setup with a
black front sight using the usual 3 white dots.
Not as good a gun as my Les Baer .45 but then again it's $1100 dollars
cheaper too. :-)
r...@ntrnet.net
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== r...@ntrnet.net ==
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Edmann
Here in the Fort Worth area Astra A75's are selling from about $200 to
$240 at the gun shows. I have two A75's: the lightweight 9mm and a 40
S&W. Both good shooters and reliable guns. --Ed