In my 20 or so years collecting I only came across an Astra 600 once, and I passed on it because the guy was way too proud of it and would not budge on the price, primarily because of the German markings.
I regret that now. This model has serious history!
When I was hot and heavy into Curio and Relic collecting fifteen or so years back I had several different flavors of Makarov, including a true East German PM (with original DDR markings) a Polish P-64, A Hungarian FEG PA-63 and a very rare Bulgarian PPK clone.
As with all Eastern Block C&R Military pistols, the double action trigger on Mak’s were atrociously bad, somewhere between 15 and 25 pounds. This was a purposeful design however to keep peasant conscripts from shooting their own dicks off.
Other than that, they were a real pleasure to shoot with a caliber I would describe as a “.380 ACP on growth hormones”.
I had a C&R License (FFL 03) for around twenty years off and on back in the “golden era” when you could find plenty of German and Yugo Mausers, Lee- Enfields, Mosin-Nagants, Swiss K-31’s and Norinco and Russian SKS’s all for very reasonable prices.
It was a great way to learn about firearms, improve your gusnmithing skill-set (I taught myself how to repair Mausers this way) and amass a nice “collection” of very usable military weaponry including pistols and revolvers.
One of the many perks of having a C&R License is you get the weapon delivered directly to your home without the need of a Gun Dealer as a middleman. I cannot tell you the excitement of seeing the Big Brown Truck of Joy come rumbling up the road!
“The M95 proved itself one of the finest battle rifles of the First World War. It weighed around a pound less than its equally lengthy peers and was slim and almost delicate by comparison. The soldiers who carried it appreciated its light weight but the Allied soldiers facing the M95 in the icy Alps and trenches took note of its high rate of fire compared to their turn-bolt action guns. The M95 was capable of 30–35 rounds a minute while turn-bolt actions were generally limited to 15–20 shots a minute. The simplicity of the straight-pull’s forward-backward bolt operation certainly made it easier to master than a turn-bolt action, which requires twice the number of motions to cycle. In addition, the upward motion to lift a cock-on-opening bolt handle — for example the Lebel, Berthier, M1903 Springfield, Carcano — is physically more difficult and more disruptive to the aim. The British SMLE, which cocked on the forward stroke like the Mannlicher, was the M95’s closest rival in speed of operation.”
For the doubters out there my kids when they were 12 years old could hit 5 gallon buckets with open sights at three hundred yards with every flavor of SKS: Norinco, Russian and Yugo.
That’s minute of man accurate packaged in a tough, dependable rifle.
The Tactical Hermit 
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