| Astra 300 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Place of origin | Spain |
| Service history | |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | Spanish Civil War World War II |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Astra-Unceta y Cia SA |
| Produced | 1923–1946 |
| No. built | 153,085 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 0.630 kg (1.39 lb) |
| Length | 160 mm (6.3 in) |
| Barrel length | 98 mm (3.9 in) |
| Height | 118 mm (4.6 in) |
| Cartridge | .32 ACP (7.65 mm), .380 ACP (9 × 17 mm) |
| Action | Blowback/Single |
The Astra 300 was a Spanish semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Astra Unceta from 1922 to 1946.
The Astra 300 is a Spanish semi-automatic pistol that can be loaded with 6 or 7 cartridges in a stick magazine, depending on the caliber size (7.65mm or 9mm). The length is 160 mm (6.3 in) overall, of which the barrel occupies 98 mm (3.9 in). The Astra 300 was originally designed as a smaller version of the Astra 400. [1]
The Astra 300 was developed in 1922 by the Astra Unceta company and was first produced in Spain in 1922/1923.
This weapon was originally used by the Spanish prison administration in the 1920s, in 1928 the pistol was then used for the first time by the Spanish Navy. [2] In the 1930s, the Astra 300 was primarily an army pistol. In 1937–1938, the USSR purchased a small number of Astra 300 pistols from the Spanish Republic. Richly trimmed, they were used as awards. In particular, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov handed over the M300 of the luxury model to the Soviet pilots such as Vasily Stalin, Timur Frunze, and Sergey Mikoyan. Larger weapons, with significant "representative" dimensions, such as the 7,63-mm Astra pistols of models 901-903, were handed over either to military leaders or to the highest commanding staff of the NKVD. [3] During the Spanish Civil War, it would be provided to the German Condor Legion by the Nationalist faction, and would later be supplied to the German Wehrmacht during World War II. [4] Between October 1941 and July 1944, a total of about 85,000 copies of the Astra 300 were delivered from neutral Spain to Berlin in Nazi Germany.
In 1946, the Astra 300 was largely replaced by its successor, the Astra 3000.
Republic of China: Imported alongside other Astra pistols. Used by commander Luo Binghui of the New Fourth Army. [5] 
Nazi Germany 
Norway: Former German pistols used by Norwegian Police after WWII. [4] 
Soviet Union 
Kingdom of Spain 
Spanish Republic 
Francoist Spain 
The Pistole Parabellum or Parabellum-Pistole, commonly known as just the Luger or Luger P08, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1898 to 1949.
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A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm, is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism automatically loads a following round of cartridge into the chamber and prepares it for subsequent firing, but requires the shooter to manually actuate the trigger in order to discharge each shot. Typically, this involves the weapon's action utilizing the excess energy released during the preceding shot to unlock and move the bolt, extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism, and loading a new cartridge into the firing chamber, all without input from the user. To fire again, however, the user must actively release the trigger, and allow it to "reset", before pulling the trigger again to fire off the next round. As a result, each trigger pull only discharges a single round from a semi-automatic weapon, as opposed to a fully automatic weapon, which will shoot continuously as long as the ammunition is replete and the trigger is kept depressed.
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