Astra 900 German Contract

[Absolut]

Having purchased an estate of various handguns, in there was an Astra C96 copy. Never having had my hands upon one of those before I identified it as being a Model 900. Researching it I learnt to my surprise that there was a German WWII contract for these pistols - tough to identify since no German acceptance stamps are to be found on those, they can only be identified based on the serial numbers. And trying to find out more on this I found a post by Jan C Still on lugerforums, where he specifically listed the serial ranges of the German contract Astra 900 pistols as follows:

The factory serial numbers are: 2955 to29600, 29649 to29650, 29655 to29660, 29667 to 29675 and 32788 to 33774. The total quantity delivered to the Germans was 1,050. (Axis Pistols page 120; Astra Pistols page 241)

Source: https://www.lugerforums.com/threads/astra-900-german-army.437/post-437

Comparing this then with the pistol that I had bought I learnt that mine is actually from the very last block and among those being one of the last 100 ever made. Not having any literature on those I had wondered whether someone can tell me if the stock serial inside the stock is factory original (it matches the pistol)? The pistol itself is also matching numbers, only took off one grip to find the last three digits on the inside, as well as the pistol serial again on the frame under the handguard.
The pistol is extremely nice with a near perfect finish, except for some very small rust pittings at the muzzle. But I think it would anyway be a tough one to upgrade.

 

[ugafx4]

Very VERY nice Astra, these are exceedingly difficult to locate. On page 122 of Axis pistols, Still says "These holster-stocks were numbered to the gun inside the lid." He shows a matching stock example serial number 33325. He also shows a second example with matching stock 33046 though the actual serial number can not be seen. The photo in Axis pistols is not the clearest so I really can not make out the font style, but your example and the book example are oriented the same and in the same location. I am not able to make a call on the authenticity of the numbers, but I am not seeing any red flags personally. Perhaps you can find better photos of 33325 to compare to. They reference an Astra book that I think a friend of mine has. I will try and pull information out of that for you as well. I doubt there is very much more written about these due to their rarity.

 

[Absolut]

Found two more serials on the coupling part of the stock, thought I should add those..