Many thanks for your informative video. Well done. Early in my 30 year LEO career in Texas, I owned and carried an Astra A-80 in 45 ACP. Later, when I was training to become a Special Agent with US Customs, we were trained on the Sig P-226 in 9mm. By that point, I had let go of the A-80 but was quicker than my classmates to catch on to the innovative P-226 because of my experience with the A-80 which has a very similar design and a virtually identical designed action. However, I think it is fair to say the similarities ended there. My experience was that the A-80 had a far superior trigger and much smoother operating decocking lever. The short barreled yet full sized and all steel pistol was a hefty hand full which I appreciated. I also appreciated that this pistol, at the time, 1980s, was available in 9mm, 38 Super & 45 ACP and that all those chamberings were made in the same gun which was built with a double stacked magazine which resulted in a 11 rounds of 45 ACP! That was very impressive firepower in those days whereas the Sig's 45ACP, the P-220, was only available in a single column magazine at that time. Thus, the Astra was both more innovative in design, operation and chamberings. On the other hand, I was never able to get my own A-80 to operate smoothly with the cheap reloaded 45 ACP rounds I had. I regret I never had the money in those days to better test the pistol and had to sell it. Later still, I was very interested in the A-100 (especially because of the magazine release button move) but during my undercover days, the much more compact 9mm Smith 469 which also had respectable capacity became my choice especially since I could get it at cost back then. When I look back on it, I feel that Astra erred with the innovative A-100 by not allowing further innovation although they focused on a the smaller A-75. I wish they had built the A-100 with a longer barrels, 4.25 & 5 inches, and interchangeable calibers not unlike the Jericho 941 of the same era. They might have been much more competitive as the A-100 was a very solid handgun and a very competitive price point that might have attracted more folks away from Sig Sauer.
Finally someone did a one to one actual comparison. Astra s are not Signs, but you ve made a compelling case that Sig s were the pistols Astra chose to " model" their line of pistols from. From 1911, most existing successful pistols have been derived from 6 or 7 basic designs. Nearly everything that followed was a variation. As for me, I like the idea that Astra chose to model their line of pistols after the Sigs. Might be interesting to compare a Sig P6 steel shooter to an Astra A-80 single stack, or maybe an a-75. Question...would the steel frame hold up better to the sand and grit exposure of a real combat pistol? Hummmmm
