POTD: Ill-Fated Spanish Pistol – The Ecia Model 1930
Sam.S 06.11.24
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Javier Esperanza, who had left Pedro Unceta’s Astra in 1925, introduced to the market a series of double-acting semi-automatic pistols called Ecia Model 1930. In order to rival Astra’s guns, which included pistols chambered in .25 ACP, .32 ACP/.380ACP and 9mm Largo calibers, Ecia offered improved grip angle and magazine capacity that was one round more than Astras. However, it produced only about 100-150 total pieces of its three frame sizes; therefore the Ecia was not able to displace the Spanish military’s favorite pistol—already adopted by them as early as 1921 for a number of reasons including its high price tag. Some innovative designs that were ahead of their time such as an integrated trigger safety and a port on the slide showing whether or not the chamber was loaded were also added.
“This is an extremely rare example of an early double action only Astra design semi-automatic pocket pistol. This early is serial number “7”, and it has the very unique features. These were manufactured by the Esperanze y Compia of Guernica, Spain, and is so marked on top of the slide. There have several interesting features: the first being that it is double action only with no exposed hammer. Second, it has a small viewing port on the left side of the slide that acts as a chamber indicator as you can see the back end of the cartridge case when it is loaded, and three it has the Astra trigger safety or what is called today a safety within the trigger similar to what is used in Glock pistols today. “
Lot 705: Spanish Semi-Automatic Pistol 7.65 mm auto – Rare “Prototype” Model 1930 EICA Double Action Semi-Automatic Pistol with Astra Trigger Safety. (n.d.-q). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/64/705/spanish-semiautomatic-pistol-765-mm-auto.
