The Astra Model 900 is one of many Spanish copies of the German Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistol. It shares the same caliber, magazine capacity, and holster type and is generally very similar to the German handgun.
History
The Spanish gunmaker Astra-Unceta y Cia began producing a copy of the Mauser C.96 in 1927 that was externally similar to the C96 (including the presence of a detachable shoulder stock/holster) but with non-interlocking internal parts. It was produced until 1941, with a production hiatus in 1937 and 1938, and a final batch assembled from spare parts in 1951.
The Spanish copies of the C96 were generally intended for export to China, but after the commencement of the Sino-Japanese war, the remaining Astra 900s were used in the Spanish Civil War, and numbers were also sold to Germany in the period 1940–1943.
Design
The Basque-manufactured Astra-Unceta y Cia SA Astra 901 is a compact machine pistol, with a magazine capacity of 10 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridges, which is a considerably smaller capacity than is standard for a machine pistol. The next model, the Astra 902, was provided with a fixed magazine of 20 cartridges and a lengthened barrel, and Astra 903 had a removable magazine instead of the usual fixed one. Astra later added a mechanism to slow the rate of fire and make the gun more manageable (to an extent) when being fired on full-auto or burst modes, calling this the Model 904.
The Model 904 is comparable to the German Mauser M712 'Schnellfeuer' Broomhandle pistols, having a detachable magazine, automatic fire capabilities, and general appearance.
The Astra Model 904 was produced in a 9mm Largo variant, the Astra Model 904E, which was identical to the Model 904 in all other respects.
