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Astra Unceta y Compania SA of Guernica in Spain began in 1907 as Pedro Unceta y Juan Esperanza, Eiba. They moved to Guernica in 1913 and become Esperanza y Unceta. They adopted Astra as their principal trade name in 1914 and they became Unceta y Cia in 1926, Astra-Unceta in 1955 and Astra Gernika in 1994. Astra with Star and Llama made quality firearms in Spain during and after World War I. Bonifacio Echeverria and the ancestry of Star. The Eibar region has been a center of weapons development and manufacture for centuries, with "Spanish Steel" historically being a selling point with its reputation for quality and durability. When firearms came into being, Eibar retained its edge as a weapons manufacturing center. The oldest known ancestor of the Star lineage is José Cruz Echeverria, who made muzzle-loading firearms in the 19th century. His two sons, Julián and Bonifacio, entered the firearms business about 1905. They produced the model 1908 pistol, substantially a Mannlicher Model 1900 in 6.35 mm (.25 ACP) caliber. Around 1910 Julián left the business and Bonifacio expanded and began improving their current offering. The model 1914 was released with much the same mechanism as the 1908, but with further improvements to the ergonomics, Gabilondo Ruby Pistol As is often the case with weapons makers, a government contract secured the success of the company. The firm was a sub-contractor to Gabilondo y Urresti in producing a version of the Gabilondo Ruby pistol for the French military during World War I. Additionally, Bonifacio Echeverria was directly contracted for a version of the 1914 Model pistol. The "Model 1 Militar" was a 7.65 mm (.32) caliber version of the Model 1914 designed for the French military, who referred to them as the Pistolet automatique, type Star. The beginnings of Star as a brand In 1919, Bonifacio formally registered the Star trade name, and all subsequent weapons were marked as such. Note that although some references say that the Basque and Spanish equivalents of Star are also registered (Izarra and Estrella), they seem to have never been marketed as such. The classic era Originally, Bonifaco had planned on producing a still more improved version of the model 1914, initially to meet a French follow-on contract for 50,000 pistols. However, the end of World War I led to the cancellation of the contract, and Echeverria decided that clones of the Colt M1911 were more commercially viable. Development moved rapidly from pistols that looked like Colts to ones that operated on the Browning tilting breech method. The line was rapidly expanded to cover a broad range of pistols in all popular western calibers, as well as the almost uniquely Spanish 9 mm Largo. Additionally, a line of .25 ACP caliber vest pocket pistols were developed, including a series of popular .22 Long Rifle target pistols. These are all straight blowback models. The modern era In 1983 production of the classic models was largely ceased in favor of a new series of pistols taking most of their features from the Charles Petter SACM style of pistols (also seen in the SIG P210 and CZ-75). Namely, these all had inverted slide rails and closed cam path locking. Many also had modular (removable) trigger assemblies. Most were double-action, though some retained the classic style single-action lockwork. The end The 1990s were bad for defense companies all over the world. For the most part, companies in smaller markets either found their niche and flourished, or slowly perished. In Spain alone Star, Astra and CETME met their end. The final years at Star saw a relative flurry of new models, and court challenges over restructuring plans and massive layoffs. Star filed for bankruptcy protection in late 1993 after taking out loans to invest in new CNC machinery. They were indirectly affected by the Asian economic crisis; Spanish banks tried to cover Asian investment losses by more aggressively collecting outstanding debt and renewing loans with less favorable terms for domestic companies. Star and Astra began cooperative investment and discussions of mergers in the mid 90s, but Astra was not in much better shape, so this eventually dragged both companies down. Although rumours abounded that a large foreign company, like Beretta, would snap them up (as they indeed did with Sako) this was not to be. Employees of both companies, through their unions, tried to set up a cooperative to take control of the companies. They planned to upgrade operations again, but also ran into trouble overextending themselves financially, and eventually these organizations also sought protection under bankruptcy laws. On May 27, 1997 both Star and Astra closed their doors, and were placed in the Spanish equivalent of Chapter Seven bankruptcy, under the control of a Basque regional judge. Eventually, an agreement was reached that settled sufficient outstanding debt, and allowed some of the machinery and the intellectual property to be resurrected in two new companies. Much machinery was also sold at auction to pay debtors. Apparently all unassembled or unsold barrels and frames were destroyed by government order when the company closed. Unregistered parts were retained and purchased by a custom smithing operation known as Ipar Guns. Star and Astra combined into one company under the ASTAR name, with a new factory, which manufactures a range of new firearms with distribution in Spain and some South American countries. Astra was one of the oldest and most widely recognized of Spanish firearms manufacturers. Unfortunately the factory doors were sealed by foreclosure in 1998, and all inventory, including the factory collection was released for sale in 1999 After the end of WW I the Spanish government looked to replace their Model 1912 service pistol. Astra submitted their Model 400 and, after trials ending in 1921, it was adopted as the Model 1921 Army service pistol. This very successful pistol was sold to several other countries and remained in production until 1941 in a variety of calibers. A more compact pistol, the Astra Model 300, was intended for Navy and Air Force use. The Astra 400 service pistol was progressively developed after WW II and the Company scaled the dimensions down, first with the Model 3000 of 1948. That pistol had the same internal hammer operating system as the Model 400 and it was chambered in both .32 ACP and .380 ACP. The Model 4000 is essentially similar to the Model 3000, except that it sported an external hammer, a rounded Colt Commander type with a lightening hole. The grip safety was eliminated. Introduced in 1956, the Model 4000 was made to compete with other compact blowback autos, such as the Walther PP, Mauser HSc and the Beretta M1934. In most dimensions it was larger, but still not bulky. It was offered in .380 ACP, .32 ACP and .22 LR with magazine capacities of 6, 7 and 10 rounds, respectively. Specifications: Model: 4000 Falcon Caliber: .380 ACP Magazine Capacity: Six rounds, single-column Barrel Length: 3.9" Trigger: Single-action only, approximately 7 lbs. Safeties: Manual thumb lever, half-cock hammer notch, magazine disconnect Grips: Checkered brown or black plastic Length: 6.5" Height: 4.4" Width: 1.0" widest part of frame, 1.45" across safety lever Weight: 23 oz. Years of Production: 1956 - 1983 Country of origin: Spain The 4000 was the final version of the famous line of Astra "Tube Slide" pistols and it was a straight blowback design. The preponderance of production was for European customers. It is said that only several hundred made it to the U.S., making it fairly rare in the US. The reason this pistol to the US in larger quantity was mostly due to the GCA-1968 law and its inane points system that was foisted onto any imported small handguns. Apparently, the pistol itself was large enough as produced, but Astra did not add a thumb rest left grip panel and a fully adjustable rear sight, which were necessary for sufficient points to grant importation. Importation of Astra 4000 pistols into the U.S. ceased after 1968. The Astra 4000 has a rather heavy recoil spring and a pair of knurled/lugged locking collars that allow it to be field-stripped. This makes the pistol more difficult to take apart than most other designs, most notably the Walther PP family and the Soviet Makarov. In the hand, the Falcon feels nicely rounded, with a shallow oval profile. The grip angle is more vertical than most. The rear of the butt is rounded to reduce snagging and printing under clothing. Two screws attach each brown or black plastic grip panel to the grip frame. The safety is a left frame mounted, rotating, manual thumb lever. You push it forward to fire, rotate it to the rear for safe. There is also a half-cock hammer notch and a magazine disconnect safety that prevents firing the pistol with the magazine removed, even though a cartridge may still be in the chamber. The magazine release is a coil spring powered button. It is located on the bottom rear of the left grip panel, rather than the usual location near the base of the trigger guard. The trigger blade, serrated safety lever and hammer were all left in the white on the sample pistol upon which this article is based, while the balance of the pistol is hot-blued with a decent level of polish. The single action trigger pull is very stiff, at over seven pounds, although it feels clean.with little recoil. There is no slide hold-open after firing the last round. Hammer-bite may surprise you if you have big hands, considering that its rounded shape. However, the hammer does overhang the rear tang just a bit when cocked. (Ref. ‘Pistols of the world’ by Hogg and Weeks p249, Dictionary of guns and gunmakers p43 by John Walter, http://guns.wikia.com/wiki/Astra , https://www.chuckhawks.com/astra_4000.html )

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