Astra-Unceta y Cia SA
| Industry | Arms |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged with STAR |
| Founded | July 17, 1908 |
| Founder |
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| Defunct | May 27, 1997 |
| Headquarters | Guernica, Spain |
| Products |
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Astra Unceta y Cía was a Spanish weapons manufacturer founded on July 17, 1908 under the name of Esperanza y Unceta by Juan Esperanza and Pedro Unceta. First located in the city of Eibar, the stronghold of the Basque arms industry, the company moved in 1913 to Guernica.
Juan Esperanza Salvador (1860–1951) and Pedro Unceta (1854–1934), both from Eibar, founded the company in 1908 under the name P.Unceta y J.Esperanza for the purposes of the “sale of machinery and accessories of all types”. At this stage there was no mention of the sale or manufacture of arms, although both partners were engaged in this field on their own account. In 1908 Juan Esperanza had six full-time staff, and in 1910, ten staff. In 1911 he formed a partnership with Isidro Gaztañaga - Gaztañaga y Esperanza. This new company had between 20 and 30 staff. From 1911 onward patents for firearms began to be issued to P.Unceta y J.Esperanza, concerning improvements to self-loading pistols. In 1913, manufacture of pistols began at their new factory.
In 1912 a new pistol was adopted by the Spanish military, designed by a retired military officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Don Venancio López de Ceballos y Aguirre, Count of Campo-Giro. The new gun was designated the Pistola Campo-Giro de 9mm Modelo 1912, but is generally referred to as the Campo-Giro after its inventor. After an unknown number of Modelo 1912 pistols had been manufactured, the army became aware that an improved version of the pistol that had been developed, and in January 1914 this was adopted as the Pistola Campo-Giro de 9mm Modelo 1913. The Model 1913 was manufactured by Esperanza Y Unceta and the increased orders triggered their move to a new factory in Guernica. During 1914 1,300 pistols were made before production was halted to include new modifications.
The Modelo 1913 was a delayed blowback design, unusual in a gun chambered for a powerful military cartridge. The Campo-Giro used a powerful spring to handle the recoil of the 9mm Largo cartridge, and had a smaller spring beneath the barrel to serve as a shock absorber and delay the opening of the breach. It retained an external hammer and a top ejection port like the Bergmann–Bayard, but had its magazine in the grip instead in front of the trigger guard, thus allowing a much longer barrel to be fitted. The magazine release lever was just behind the oval-shaped trigger guard between it and the front of the frame. The slide was fixed to the frame by a transverse wedge behind the breech that in turn was held in place by the firing pin. The Campo-Giro was over 225mm (9 inches long), weighed over 900 grams (2 pounds) unloaded, and had an 8-round magazine. It produced a greater muzzle velocity from the 9mm Largo round than did the Bergmann–Bayard, due to its 165mm (6 5/8 inch) longer barrel. The pistol was well made and accurate, but difficult to disassemble.
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Wikipedia