Echasa Fast
Echave, Arizmendi y Cia (Echasa) · Pistol · Discontinued · 1963
Also known as: Echasa-Eibar Fast, Eibar Fast, Echasa Model Fast
Overview
The Echasa Fast is a Spanish .32 ACP blowback pocket pistol produced by Echave, Arizmendi y Cia of Eibar in the 1960s. Essentially a single-action interpretation of the Walther PP, it pairs a blued steel slide with an anodized black zamak (zinc-alloy) frame and feeds from a seven-round detachable magazine. One of the last products of the long-running Eibar pocket-pistol trade, it was offered in .22, .25, .32 and .380, in blued and nickel finishes, and was marketed primarily for the American civilian market.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 454 g (16.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 159 mm (6.26") |
| Barrel Length | 76 mm (2.99") |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 7 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 280 m/s (919 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 180 J (133 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 25 m (27 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Zinc Alloy |
| Slide Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Plastic |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .32 ACP · primary — also known as .32 Auto, 7.65mm Browning, 7.65x17mmSR
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Fixed Sights, Concealed Hammer
Production
Production years: c. 1963-1968 (two slide variations)
Exact figures undocumented. Made in two slide variants, identifiable by their differing slides, from the early 1960s through 1968. Produced alongside related Eibar pocket pistols sold under the Basque, Echasa, Dickson Special Agent and Lur-Panzer brand names. The firm ramped up output for the US market ahead of the 1968 Gun Control Act, then folded after the GCA blocked its exports.
Origin
Country of origin: Spain
Discontinued: 1969
Notes
Abbreviated from the maker's trade name Echasa (Echave y Arizmendi S.A.). Built as a single-action copy of the Walther PP rather than the original double-action design, with a concealed hammer. Two slide variations were produced from roughly 1963 through 1968. Distinct from the Echasa GZ, which was a licensed copy of the French MAB Model G. Production was aimed at US export and ended in 1969 when the factory closed, the firm undone by the 1968 US Gun Control Act's import restrictions.
Background
Eibar in the Basque Country was Spain's pocket-pistol capital, and small firms like Echave y Arizmendi churned out inexpensive self-defence automatics under a rotating cast of export brand names. Having spent the post-Civil War years making bicycles and metal furniture, the firm reconstituted itself as ECHASA in 1959 and returned to pistols, building Walther PP-style guns in single action. The Fast is the typical product of that final chapter: a plain, pocketable blowback gun on a cheap anodized zamak frame, built for the American civilian carry market rather than military service. The 1968 US Gun Control Act cut off that market and the Eibar factory closed in 1969, ending more than half a century of gunmaking.