Star 22 lr

I grabbed this at a pawn shop for a princely sum of $168. Fun plinker! So far Aguila bad, CCI Minimag good. It is some version of a star model F, it is marked FM on the butt. Man, it's a chunky pistol, the barrel is solid to the frame. Nice machining. Tiny screw adjustable rear site. 1911 style controls. FUN!

Yes I would have brought that home too.

Nice gun. The Star FM's were made at the request of Firearms International Corp and imported into the US by the Garcia Corp and were basically modified Model FR's to meet the so called points system needed after the 1968 GCA in order to import and sell the guns in the USA.
Production began in 1972 at S/N 1216451 and continued up to around 1975 with a few completed and shipped as late as 1980. If you want to PM me the serial # I can check the book and let you know when your example was manufactured.

Walter- it's not every day you run into a Star 22lr semi automatic expert. Serial number is 2563720. I am surprised at the fit and finish, and stoutness at that price. I bet with a longer barrel these guns would shoot the lights out. Thanks

The Star FR's that I shot, all had good mechanical accuracy but lacklustre triggers. They are well-made and solid guns.

As to Aguila ammo, I bought 6,000 rounds of standard velocity at Outdoor Limited that are very accurate out of my Hammerli 212, do not chamber well in my Hammerli International and have about 20% failures to fire at first strike in double action from several Korths, about 40% failures to fire from my S&W K-22 in double action. In single action the performance from all revolvers is good, though.

Pap was a trader and in 1971 he came to the house with a Star .22 auto and I shot a carton (500) shells through it. I was impressed and wanted to buy it but had just moved in a new house and didn't have the money. I think you will be very happy with your purchase. Larry

Star pistols are some of my favorites. I need to get back to the range with this one, Star Model F Sport.

My very first handgun was an FRS, bought it at a flea market when I was about 18 years old. Always loved that little gun, wish I still had it.

The Star FM was the last of the 'F' series .22 semiauto pistols.
It's easily spotted by that web in front of the trigger guard on the frame.
The FM is also the only one of the F series of pistols that has a slide lock/hold open. Last shot hold open as well as can be used for simply locking the slide open.
The earlier F pistols lacked that.

The full 'square' bbl profile is a holdover from the previous F models.
Pistols of earlier vintage have their bbls in a round profile from the end of the slide forward.

The bbl is actually a two piece barrel.
The front portion is screwed into the shorter rear breech section. The fit is generally excellent but a close look will usually reveal it.

Star made a Sport model as seen above from CZU . They also made a Target model.
The 'F' models go back to pre-WW2 mfg.

For most all of their production they have had a 'Pat #' roll stamped on the right side of the slide.
That # actually has nothing to do with the Model F or anything about it. It's a Pat from the Model B IIRC. But for some reason Star continued to mark the F slides/guns with that marking.

Star also made an alloy frame 'F' and slightly more compact by length and grip measurements. It was imported into the USA as the Lancer.

I've always liked the Model F and it's variations.
I've had several including Target and Sport models and one Lancer.
I just have two plain Model F pistols now.
Both the short bbl, one with the square profile bbl,,the other the earlier round profile.

FWIW,,when TD the pistol make sure and lift the slide up far enough to clear the top surface of the breech end of the bbl before running the slide off to the front of the pistol. If you don't, the bottom edge of the slide will leave it's signiture in that blued surface of the breech.

Also the recoil spring has a dedicated front and a back end to it.
One end is slightly larger in dia than the other,,just the last couple of coils of the spring itself are wound larger.
That larger dia end is the breech end of the spring and goes in the pistol against the frame.
If you put the spring in backwards,,large end at the muzzle,,when you retract the slide, the slide can jam up just before it comes to full rear position as that larger end runs out of room inside there to move rearward any further.

Star plastic grips have a tendency to shrink when left off of the frame. ,,and even when on the frame!
Butmost often when the panels are off and not held in position by the screws, they will shrink in screw position dimension. Then they won't fit when you go to put them back on.
Some Colt 1911 50's and 60's plastic grips do the same thing.
Keep the grip screws in the same position they come out of.
They don't use bushings like a Colt. They just screw into the thin frame matrl. So there is little thread support and they are fitted to each grip screw hole which are usually a bit dif depth.
Switch them around and you usually end up with one or two that poke threw into the mag well and then the magazine can't be inserted.

Beagleye, your gun # 2563720 is well outside of the published range. Antaris' book shows FM's from # 1216451 in 1972 through 1622425 in 1986.
I think you are reading the patent # on the right side, the serial # is on the left above the trigger.

CZU, I have your guns twin, except mine was missing the spare magazine
2152HG, thanks for the good information

Here is my Model F Sport. I think the Stars are greatly underappreciated.

You're correct, (rookie move), 1227411 is the real number.

I didn't see it mentioned above but there should be a trio of proofs and with this pistol they are probably hidden. They would be under the left grip. With Walters serial numbers listed above and with your serial number that you reported you will probably see one of the codes as P1,Q1,R1 denoting '71,'72,'73.

The books says serial # range 1226526 - 1227425 was a block of numbers used in 1972, as CZU mentions above the proof date code will be pretty definitive.

Learn something new I never heard or seen a Star .22 lr pistol.I really like the size of yours CZU. Congratulations on your Star .22 lr buy beagleye.

A pic of my two Model F pistols



Top one was a $50 pitted, buffed & cold blued rescue operation.
At the time people around me said I paid too much for it! but they must not have realized my motivational illness that drives me to fix such sick puppys.
To top it off it had the initials C.I.D. stippled into the right side of the slide in large letters.
But the bore is perfect and the magazine and grips are orig.
The rest I could easily fix.
A repolish and then a slow rust blue fixed up the cosmetics.
Some of the small parts polished and left
in the white.
The flat and square profile of this and many semi autos makes them easy projects for refinishing.

Sorry CID, but you went away under the the belt grinder as did the unrelated to the Model F Pat date on the slide.
A home-made firing pin gave way to a shop made replacement.
The grips were scruffy, scratched and scraped but orig.
Some careful touch up sanding with 800 & 1000 grit to wipe away the scruff & scratches. Then polishing with simichrome on a loose buffing wheel run very slowly (less than 100rpm) brings back the shine w/o danger of melting or softening the plastic and making more of mess.

Shoots high, so I should go back and mill the somewhat wide frt sight for a blade and will probably simply sweat solder it in place. A small copper or silver round top would do.
Made in 1966 according to the Proof code.
This has the full square bbl profile.
>
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The lower pistol is orig finish.
It has the earlier Round bbl profile. This one made in 1956. C1 proof code.
Came with the extra magazine. It was a good buy as the previous owner said it had a bad bbl and was wildly inaccurate. Wanted to sell it and buy a 'real pistol'.
Seems fine to me. I was happy to oblige

Excellent save on the top pistol 2152hg. Looks great. I really like the earlier round barrel Star 22's. If I came across one of them it would be hard to resist. After reading what you said about the square barrels being two piece, I pulled mine out and looked at it in strong light and sure enough, there was a seam that I had never noticed before.

I'm glad to see that there are other folks that like the Spanish 22 pistols. Here is a Star F that I picked up (along with an Astra Constable) several years ago on GB. They both had a buy it now for $150 ea. This one has a proof code of U denoting 1950.