More Star stuff:
1.) Many have a red tone under the bluing. I hate that. It's also common on older Ruger Blackhawks and I've seen it on Browning and Colt pistols. I had that problem with a Sako Finnbear rifle, too, on the receiver. If you have the gun hard chromed, that's probably the best answer. Star offered a finish called Starvel, an electroless nickel. It looks pretty good. Star made no stainless guns.
2.) Fictional heroine Modesty Blaise (look her up) carried a Star PD .45 when she opted for it instead of her previous Colt.32. I was a big fan of Modesty and like to see which guns fictional heroes carry. The Modesty movies and a TV show were awful, but the books and comics are excellent.
BTW, an off duty South African cop went into a bank years ago and found four thugs with AK-47's holding up the bank. His PD .45 killed all four, as I recall. This isn't an Internet tale. I read about it in the Johannesburg Star.
3.) The handles of many Star models were patterned in large after Remington's .380. This is quite pronounced on their Model S and Super S .380's. The grip feels wonderful.
4.) I called the range that was quoted in Interarms ads, citing a Star having fired something like 93,000 rounds as a rental gun. They said that by then, the gun had fired over 100,000 rounds! This was a Model 30 9mm. A strong, durable gun!
5.) The only Star product I actually fired was a Model B 9mm made about 1980. It was reliable and quite accurate. I had it on loan from Interarms for several months, but returned it. I kind of wish I'd bought it.
A South African army captain used one to kill a number of Cubans in Angola, while earning the Honoris Crux. Star 9mm's were used a lot by South Africa because of the then-ban on small arms exports to that country. Spain evidently ignored the ban. It (Model B Star) was largely replaced by the Z-88, a locally made Beretta M-92F clone.
