Star Pistols
 

I picked up a Star SS Model in 380acp at a gun show over the weekend. This pistol is virtually in brand new condition and apparently was never fired much and probably spent the bulk on its time in a drawer. Upon getting it home and field stripping it I remembered that these are essentially minature Colt 45 autos and strip the same way.
This got me wondering what it would cost to build a pistol of this quality today? Star went out of business in the 1980s and Spanish pistols at this point aren't big collectors items.
However this pistol shows quality construction and fitting throughout.
Opinions?
Jim

star
 

I have had several star pistols, and they are great guns but parts are a problem. I had the 380 also and made some nice rosewood grips for it so I could ditch the plastic grips.
also had the bks 9mm and bm 9mm, and the star super in full size 9mm and 9mm largo.

Spanish pistols were all over the place in terms of quality. You can have a nice looking jam-o-mattic or a horrible looking but 100% functioning and reliable gun. Or something in between. I wouldn't call that "quality" until you shoot a few thousand rounds through it.

Years ago I owned a star model 28. It was well made, reliable and accurate. I was impressed by the quality. Sadly it was stolen.

I have a Star Model S (one S, not SS, as I recall) in .380. Basically, it's the same gun as a Colt Government .380, maybe a little bigger. Shortly after I got it I over-tightened the right side grip screw and cracked the grip panel, thereupon causing the screw to press upon the firing mechanism and causing the gun to fail to work. Ajax Grips made me a set of GORGEOUS rosewood grips to replace the original black polymer/hard rubber stocks and the pistol went back to functioning perfectly.

I used to shoot it a lot but as my gun collection grew it became more of a safe queen than anything else. However, it was flawless in performance, EXTREMELY accurate at standard combat distances, and was the envy of several of my friends. But I wouldn't part with it - it's just too fine a pistol to not let the grandsons have it!

***GRJ***

I own a Star "Firestar Plus" 13+1 and an M43 both 9mm, 2 of the finest pistols I own. The sildes are interchangeable between the 2.

The Firestar Plus is a one of the most accurate pistols I've shot...

With the parts availability, I semi-retired them and picked up a CZ or ?, the CZs are every bit as nice (maybe better) than the Stars.

I noticed the Spanish pistol manufacturers are very popular in Europe. Companies like Astra, Star and LLama.
I noticed my Star model BM in 9mm luger shoots awesome with the Spanish surplus 9mm FMJ ammo but doesn't like the Russian wolf 9mm ammo. I like the Spanish pistols in 9mm parabellium as there stamped but the 9mm Largo is more interesting to me. Star, Astra and LLama all offered there pistols in 9mm Largo too.

I believe there is a sight on Spanish pistols. Search for Spanish 9mm Largo if your interested in some reading.

My Star PD .45 is nicely made and extremely reliable. I once ran a series of reloads to see how low I could go and still get it to function. At around 2 grains of 700X behind a 185 cast SWC it didn't slap the slide back hard enough to cycle the next round into the chamber. It will work reliably with a Colt 1911 magazine if the mag is held in the weak hand "cup and saucer" style. Hard to find holsters, though, as they didn't produce millions of them.

The CZ' s are top of the line in quality in the imported pistols. The cz 75 is the choice of the Russian special ops.

I have a Star BM and a PD. The PD is rare in that it is one of the very few lightweight compact .45acp pistols with adjustable sights. I had one in Starvel (brushed nickel) that I foolishly let go years ago,
The BM in 9mm fits my hand like it was made for it. It's heavy for it's size, but it is a very nice, reliable gun that cost me $185 brand new, back in the day.

The Star PD was sort of the ringleader in the whole compact .45 single stack arena as well as the Officers model 1911.
My personal favorites however are the Star Firestar series...I have a 9mm, .40 and a .45 acp...also really like the Astra A-70/75 series as well.
Very well thought out, and exceptionally well made. They are all reliable, accurate and a whole lot of fun to shoot and carry!!

Randy

I have a Star Ultrastar which is a strange amalgam of a largely steel gun encased in polymer. It does go bang every time, though.:D

I'm an admirer of the M28/30 design and I kick myself for not getting a B series when they were cheap.

Before the Colt Defender and the Colt Concealed Carry Officer, the Star PD (so named after Pete Dickey, who suggested the pistol to Star) in .45 ACP was "the only game in town" if you wanted a reliable 1911 type auto with light alloy frame which was substantially smaller than the Colt Commander. And if you got a good one, with good metallurgy, they were quite nice. On the other hand, a bad one would batter itself into oblivion within 1,000 rounds, even with the required buffer change.

The best procedure was to get one, shoot just enough to familiarize and to make sure your chosen ammo (back then you were in "high-tech" projectile land if you had jacketed truncated cone or semi-wadcutter) would function, and then carry it only after that. Semi-wadcutters were not a sure thing in the Star PD, but JTC did fine. On the other hand, there is nothing too much wrong with standard military ball ammo except that it tends to penetrate a little too much for the current standards, none of which were known back at that time.

My own Star PD went away long ago, but it was quite nice, and sometimes I wish I had it back, if for no other reason, the nostalgia. The Star PD regularly accompanied Jeff Cooper when the GM or Commander was too big or too heavy. Col. Cooper even held his up and talked about it in one of his DVDs - I am not sure if it was in the Morris Video or the current one sold through Paladin. Col. Jeff always said to buy two Star PD pistols, one to shoot and one to carry, but he had a bigger budget than I. :)

I had and restored a battered BM. They are good pistols, though sometimes inconsistently heat treated in some areas of the frame and slide, and they can eat firing pins if you dry fire them much. Some used inertia firing pins, others didn't.

I've had a large number of early Star pistols,,it was sort of a collector interest of mine at one time. Maybe more of an accumulation would have described it!

The S Model (380) and the identicle (but in 32acp) SI Model were very popular handguns. Civilian and Military sales over the years.
The Spanish Military bought quite a number of them and were emblem marked in most instances as well as inventory# marked. Same as the A,B and their Model Super varients.

The Model SS , came about in 1968. The second 'S' denotes safety additions to the design.
First was a magazine safety. It still didn't make the points system for USA import.
A firing pin block was added,,it still didn't make the import points grade.
Interarms (USA importer) gave up at that point on getting the gun into the USA. Star didn't want to modify it any further.
Star continued to make the SS (and SIS) as well as the S and SI for sale to other than the USA market. No imports of S, SS, SI,or SIS pistols into the USA between '68 and the mid 80's.

What changed in the mid/late 80's was the 2 things.
The 1986 adjustment to the GCA that once again allowed Military Surplus arms to be imported.
Plus, at Interarms insistance,,Star would put 'target' style grips and a small adj rearsight on the S,SS,SIS, ect.
The latter would now allow import of even the S series pistol as it made enough points,,even w/o the previously added mag safety and firing pin block (SS).

What really set off the US import flood was the fact that the Spanish police had inked a contract for a new pistol with STAR,, The B/M model.
Llama won the contract w/the Spanish Gov't for the M82 pistol.

The Spanish Gov't sold off vast numbers of old service pistols to help pay for the new purchase, Models A, B, Super A&B, Model S, SI.
Star, by contract took thousands in partial 'trade' for the new Model B/m pistols to be supplied by them.
(Star did the same 'trade in & resale' in the 90's when the change from the B/m model to the newer Star Model 28 and 30 series pistols took place within the Spanish Police Services. Most of those Model B/m pistols also ended up on the US market. Some redone,some not.)


The Model A, B and their Super Models easily met USA import point requirements. The S (SS) series still fell short,,so the target grips and small adj rear sight was added to get them into the USA,,an egar customer for the guns.
Most of the S series pistols gotten from PD agencys were to be refinished and remarked before import. Even the serial number removed and remarked w/a new one .
The work to be done by Star.
Police agencys were particularly concerned that their agency markings not be on any gun resold.

So starting in the late 80's,,Interarms began to bring these guns into the USA as 'new' and surplus pistols.
The Model S,I, SS and SI pistols from that time may be anything from original/used condition, to completely rebuilt, refinished new box and manual.
Older S and I models,,and later SS and SIS models all in the group.

Original slide markings were removed on the rebuilt pistols and they were re-roll marked w/a late mfg marking. Re-blued,,some nickel finished (Starvel). Bbls replaced if necessary, solid assembly pins would often be replaced upon reassembly w/ rollpins,,one way to tell.
Replacement bbls are usually boldly marked '.380cal' on the hood,,but most anything is possible out of the assembly-line rebuilding process.

New serial numbers were stamped on the refinished pistols,,the new numbers were confusing as they were all in the Model SS production range,,even if the guns were an S or SI.

Late production and refinished guns will will have the simplistic Star slide legend of a '8 point Star', followed by 'STAR Eibar/Spain'.
Gov't demanded auto pistol (re)proof marks should be on the pistol somewhere. Late guns are often proof marked under the left grip. The proof mark will give the yr/of/proof.

A number of Model S pistols w/the Spanish AirForce emblem on them got into the USA in the early going w/o any mods to make the point system. Maybe someone listed them as Model A or B pistols and they just slid thru. At any rate, they are favored amoung Star collectors.
War-time pistols are always a good find, they started making the S around 1940.
Foreign contracts,,Portuguese and Chilean Navy, a small contract to Jordan, 1200+ to the W.German Police LPN-marked,,are also a decent find.

Neat little guns. Pick up an extra magazine if you see one at a show. They're still around in the Interarms packaging but getting harder to find.

Nothing left but a couple of Model F (22LR) pistols now.
A Model SI (32) proofed in '49 was a favorite for quite a while as well as a little 25acp Model CO.

2152hq:
Thanks for the excellent writup on these Star pistols. There's a lot of information in your writup that I certainly wasn't aware of.
I bought a Star Model F in 22lr at a flea market years ago that had been well used and abused(pitting) to some degree. However; I put over 20,000 rounds thru it over the years with very few feeding/ejection failures and no breakages whatsoever.
I gave the pistol to my son-in-law for used in training the grandchildren and last I heard it was still going strong.
Jim

In the 90's I had a Fire Star in 40 S&W and I really liked it and it was accurate and a great shooting pistol. I later sold it to fund a 1911 build I was doing.

The only Star I ever owned was a model PS, 45 acp, full size like a 1911, but it had an extractor on the exterior of the slide, a pivoting trigger(unlike colt's sliding trigger) and no grip safety. It had fixed sights , was blued and looked and disassembled like a 1911. It was marked PS, was brand new and had a magazine disconnect safety feature. Can't find much written about the model PS though. Excellent fit , finish and would feed all ammo reguardless of nose shape. Would outshoot my friends Colt Gold Cup, which caused him a lot of resentment for the expensive Colt. I even took first place in a 45 acp only shooting match. Still have the trophy but the gun was stolen in a break in. Would love to get it back, that was a darn good gun!
Gary

I have owned three STAR pistols. My .40 Firestar was not so great, I had a huge amount of trouble with the slide stop distorting under use and jamming up the gun. My two military STAR pistols functioned very well indeed. I only got rid of them because I bought more modern pistols in .38 Super.

As others have mentioned, Stars can be hit or miss and as 2152HG explained, a lot of the ones that came into the US in the 80's and 90's were poorly rebuilt & refinished by a cash starved company and dumped on the market. They are the ones that you really need to watch out for. But with a little knowledge and a little luck you can find good examples. Here's a couple of nice ones.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf822fd6a.jpg

I have a few in 9mm Largo. The Ammo was cheap.

Is 9mm Largo ammo still widely sold here? I think it's also called 9mm Bayard.

The one Star that I had was a Model B. Someone had scratched on the underside of the slide with a nail, maybe checking for hardness. :eek:

It shot well and fed reliably. It was in 9X19mm, so no ammo problem.

The South African military used some Star 9mms, due to the UN embargo then in effect. I don't know if the Spanish ignored the embargo, or if it was somehow circumvented. One was used by a captain commanding an armored car that had fought a fierce battle against Cuban troops in Angola. Finally out of ammo for his main gun and the machineguns, the captain used his Star 9mm to kill several Cubans who crawled onto his vehicle. He was rescued by reinforcements, and received the Honoris Crux (Cross of Honor)

An off-duty South African cop carrying a Star PD .45 entered a bank being held up by four Africans armed with AK-47's. A fight ensued and the cop killed all four, I think. I don't recall if he was wounded. This is not an Internet rumor. A friend there sent me clippings from the, Johannesburg Star, describing the event.

Beretta was also sending M-92F pistols, officially or otherwise, and the South Africans began manufacturing a good copy of the 92F. I'm not sure if it's still made, as the Z-88. The police still use some. I suspect they retired the Star guns after the embargo ended, with the end of apartheid.

Readers of the excellent Modesty Blaise books by Peter O'Donnell will recall that Modesty replaced her beloved Colt .32 with a Star PD for her usual carry gun. She also used a S&W .41 Magnum at times. I think the British author got a lot of his gun knowledge from reading the US magazine, Guns & Ammo. That's probably where he read about the Star PD .45. It wasn't widely known among average English-speakers then.

The grip for the Model S .380 was copied from that on the Remington Model 51, an especially comfortable one. Star may even have improved it. The guns feel terrific in the hand.

Interarms ran an ad about how well a Model 30S 9mm had held up at a US commercial firing range. I called the range and they confirmed that the gun in question (and other Stars) had exceeded 100,000 rounds in that heavy-use environment. They also said that Interarms gave excellent and quick service if needed.

I think the Star M-30S is a very good full size 9mm, but wouldn't shoot the heck out of one, as parts and service are now gone. The CZ-75B is a better choice, and a little lighter to carry. The M-30 was basically a Spanish version of the CZ. It was probably Star's best pistol, and the earlier M-28 competed in the US trials that resulted in our adopting the Beretta M-92.

Star made a very nice little .380, but GCA '68 banned its importation here. The Iver Johnson brand made a copy of it in the USA. I don't know how many were made. I'm guessing that the Iver Johnson had more reliable metallurgy.

Speer used to sell the 9mm Largo in their Blazer line. Don't know if
they still do or not.

As others have already said, Star handguns can be hit or miss. I had a Firestar that worked well enough and a Ultrastar that was a total piece of junk. I wouldn’t rely on one until I’ve put at least a thousand trouble free rounds through it.

Pound for pound one of the best star pistols ever produced was the model BKM in 9 mm parabellum. Small, lightweight, concealable and exceedingly dependable. And they can still be found reasonably priced from time to time.

I have a DK Starfire in .380 that I've owned for years. It's the granddaddy of The Colt, FIE Pony and the more recent SIG .380 pistols. It still serves me well as a CCW, whenever needed and is still one of the most accurate pistols I own. I've owned many Star pistols over the years and can't find fault with them.

Here's a quick shot of the Star SS in 380 I picked up last weekend.
And yes the grip is similiar to the Remington 51s I own.
Jim
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...tolsbox003.jpg

"...The one Star that I had was a Model B. Someone had scratched on the underside of the slide with a nail, maybe checking for hardness. "

It was very common in the Spanish gun trades both small and large makers to make use of assembly numbers on the components as they made their way thru the mfg process.

The most common system was to use Roman Numeral figures. The figures were easily placed onto the hidden surfaces of parts either by simply scratching them in w/an awl. Many times the Numerals are punched in somewhat crudely with a single bladed chisel being used to make all the bars and uprights of the Is,Vs & Xs.
No real sequence was usually followed and it's unusual to find Numerals using anything but those 3 figures. They might not even be in proper Roman Numeral reading order.
They were just a quick, simple way to assembly number parts to a common tray or box as it went thru production.
The #'d trays were then reused,so it's assembly number was reassigned to another gun,but by that time the first one was completed and off of the line.
Roman Numerals were easy to make and could be read/figued out by anyone handling the parts,,even the most uneducated of laborers involved in the mfgr.

I've had a number of Star pistols over the years. 2 Super B in 9mm Largo, a BM and a BKM as well as 2 PD's. All functioned without a problem. My only complaint about the PD models was they wouldn't use a 1911 mag or I would still be using them. Ivan

So, you're saying that three X's scratched in the slide means number 30 to some assembler? I was afraid that some armorer in the Middle East was checking parts for hardness and wondered if this gun had passed. I probably should have called the importer and asked what was up.

Thanks for posting this. It may help someone here.

Here's my IJ Pony. I think Colt had ideas about it too, but that never materialized. I've never shot mine; missing the rear sight leaf.

I think these thumb-rest grips were required for importation after GCA 68 here?

Let us know how it works and shoots. I'm curious. For one thing, Star triggers are usually better than on say, the Beretta M-34. My Beretta .380 was very reliable, but the very heavy trigger made good shooting hard. Still, the thing would group a magazine full of bullets in groups that I could cover with my hand at 25 yds., shooting "offhand."

I wonder if a Star Model S or Super S would do as well?

Wether the worker(s) knew it meant '30' or not is debatable,,but yes it is the use of Roman Numeral figures as assembly numbers on the pistol.
Easy to mark, easy to read and most anyone regardless of age or education can look at them and match the the parts up.

Somewhere on the frame of that pistol,,if it was matching,,would have been XXX scratched or quickly punched into the metal. The single flat edge of a small chisel used to make all the marks generally if punched in.
The marks were placed in an area hidden when the the gun was finished & assembled.
The frames,, often down in the recoil spring cut or on the top flat of the frame next to the disconnector.
A few of the small parts sometimes show the matching assembly mark too, disconnector, hammer, trigger, grip safety (on the Llama's)...most of the small parts the marks are simply scratched on.

You can find these Roman Numeral assembly marks on Star, Llama, Astra and many of the other smaller volume makers as well. It was apparently a customary way of marking for the Spanish makers. I can't think of any other Country's gun makers that used the system as widely as they did.
The same type of Roman Numeral matching characters show upon pistol grips made in Mexico and the South West USA. Again usually very simply applied with quick chisel marks duplicated on each panel to match them up. I'd guess the Spanish heritage of the maker(s) or those that learned from them is involved,,but again, just my guess.

The assembly mark was re-used in production as only so many pistols were in the mfg'r/assembly process at one time.
There is no sequence or order to the numerals. One may have XXX, the next serial #'d piece may have IV,,or XXI,,or whatever.
It was what ever was marked on the master tray or box used to hold all the parts from one gun all the way through the mfg'r process.

Star Pistols
 

I have a beautifully blued Model S with the original box. It has the target grips and adjustable rear sight. Fits my hand perfectly and is VERY accurate. However, it prints 6 inches above POA at 7 yards due to the high rear sight. Have not been able to find a source of a fixed rear sight which should cure the POI problem.

Can anyone direct me to Star parts or provide dimensions of an original fixed sight? Angles, width etc of the sight slot??

dd in MA

Star Largo 9mm
 

Went into new LGS last week to pick up gun he was transferring
in for me. I had told him on previous trip to call me on S&Ws
or older trade ins. He had Star to show me. He was down in the
jaws when I told him it wasn't 9mm Luger. It was in nice shape.
He has $249.95 on it, but is Largo.
I past I took 38 Super, set up and thinned rim, from front and
loaded them with Super dies. Worked fine in several pistols and
a Spanish Destroyer Carbine.