Found this mint condition Star Firestar in a gun shop in Maine. Asking $275, I got it for $225 plus shipping to Tennessee. These all steel, well made guns were way under rated in my opinion. Going to become my new summer carry gun.
Found A Bargain In Maine
- Thread starter mk70ss
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Found this mint condition Star Firestar in a gun shop in Maine. Asking $275, I got it for $225 plus shipping to Tennessee. These all steel, well made guns were way under rated in my opinion. Going to become my new summer carry gun.
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AJ
US Veteran
Found this mint condition Star Firestar in a gun shop in Maine. Asking $275, I got it for $225 plus shipping to Tennessee. These all steel, well made guns were way under rated in my opinion. Going to become my new summer carry gun.
Lots of folks liked them. I had a Star Model 28 and wish I had kept it!
I bought one of those years ago in .40 cal. Fit my hands BEAUTFULLY. But.....The slide stop/release is (was) made in two pieces. The cross-pin became bowed from firing, which resulted in the magazine follower interaction tab shifting position, which grabbed on the SIDE of the magazine follower. This required POUNDING the magazine out of the gun. I bought a couple of spares and had one welded up by my local gunmaker to reinforce it. No joy. I got rid of it, with full disclosure of course. Works fine I was later told with low power reloads. I expect the 9mm variation was just fine. Maybe the issue was dealt with at some point downs the line. FYI
LVSteve
Member
Found this mint condition Star Firestar in a gun shop in Maine. Asking $275, I got it for $225 plus shipping to Tennessee. These all steel, well made guns were way under rated in my opinion. Going to become my new summer carry gun.
Hope you have better luck with that plan than I did. I found the grip too small for my thin hands and long fingers. Despite weeks of practice in front of a mirror, I couldn't draw from a holster and have the gun settled in my hand, ready to fire, and pointing the same way twice. The Sig 365 gives me the same feeling.
I was gutted, because it shot great at the range using +P ammo with an uprated recoil spring. The all steel construction soaks up recoil really well for such a small gun. The original recoil spring was bad, even 115 gr basic range fodder was tossing the empties into the next zipcode.
Does the safety work properly on your example. Star safeties on the Firestar, Model B, Super B, and BM are renowned for wearing such that the hammer has to be pulled back a touch to engage the safety. I forget if it is part of the hammer that wears or another component.
BTW, if you go and handle a S&W CSX, you will find it almost identical in size to the Firestar, but with a better grip shape, at least for me.
ETA: Great price, how many mags came with it? I have a bunch of Stars, from the 32 ACP Model SI to the Megastar in 45 ACP.
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mckenney99
Member
I bought an M40 .40 S&W Firestar in 1991 when my agency first transitioned over to the .40 S&W semi-auto. I shot the daylights out of the little gun and even qualified with and carried it as a backup/off duty gun until the Glock 27 became available. I also had issues with the slide stop metal being a little soft and getting battered. The recoil springs were too weak and that resulted in the head of the guide rod getting battered and mushrooming, causing issues during disassembly. Interarms eventually provided new recoil springs and a new guide rod and I didn't have any additional issues. I did wind up sending my blued gun off to have it hard chromed due to rusting issues from carrying in an ankle holster and inside the waistband off duty. Overall I really liked the little gun, shot it a bunch and I still own mine.
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My only Star pistol is an old Model S and it is a thoroughly well-made and very accurate gun. I'm not a single action fan or I'd carry it.
Hope you have better luck with that plan than I did. I found the grip too small for my thin hands and long fingers. Despite weeks of practice in front of a mirror, I couldn't draw from a holster and have the gun settled in my hand, ready to fire, and pointing the same way twice. The Sig 365 gives me the same feeling.
I was gutted, because it shot great at the range using +P ammo with an uprated recoil spring. The all steel construction soaks up recoil really well for such a small gun. The original recoil spring was bad, even 115 gr basic range fodder was tossing the empties into the next zipcode.
Does the safety work properly on your example. Star safeties on the Firestar, Model B, Super B, and BM are renowned for wearing such that the hammer has to be pulled back a touch to engage the safety. I forget if it is part of the hammer that wears or another component.
BTW, if you go and handle a S&W CSX, you will find it almost identical in size to the Firestar, but with a better grip shape, at least for me.
ETA: Great price, how many mags came with it? I have a bunch of Stars, from the 32 ACP Model SI to the Megastar in 45 ACP.
The grip fits my hand perfectly, that was one of the things I really liked about it. The safety on mine engages and disengages as it is supposed to, no issues. Gun came with two factory mags, one in Starvel and one blued.
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Ivan the Butcher
Member
I owned about 7 of the Super B military/Police guns in Largo and 2 BK & 3 BKM 9x19's and 3 PD's in 45. They dropped all production for the Fire Star, but after holding one at the LGS, I passed BIG TIME!
Ivan
Ivan
swagmeister
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I had one just like the OP's many years ago. It appeared to be a very well manufactured and quality firearm. It shot and functioned fine for awhile until the firing pin broke. No firing pin for it to be found anywhere. Finally had a machinist make one for me. Found out later that dry firing that particular gun is a big No No and other parts for it were very hard, if not impossible, to find. I dumped it at a pawn shop as soon as the firing pin was fixed.
