Be aware that many Spanish pistols do not have inertial firing pins. If the hammer is down, the firing pin is resting on or very near the primer of the CTG. in the chamber! If the gun is dropped, even with safety on, it may fire!
I used a Star Model B 9mm for a time. I basically liked it, but noted that the underside of the slide had some scratch marks, as if someone had used a nail to see if the slide was too soft. Pretty unsettling... (This gun was on loan from the importer; was not a used one.)
If I didn't need the money more for other guns, I'd cheerfully buy a Star Model BM, a Model B or BS, and a M-30. Add a Super S in .380. Had GCA '68 not banned importation based on size, I'd love a smaller .380 Star. And I like the Astra .25 imported by Colt.
I called the shooting range cited in an Intearms ad for the Star M-30. That rental gun had fired well over 100,000 rounds when I talked to them, with only minor parts replacement. The range spokesman told me that Star guns did well by them, and rental guns usually get a pounding, compared to those in private use. The importer also gave excellent customer service, according to them. The M-30 looks more like a SIG, but is based on the CZ -75.
I was surprised and interested to see that thriller author Peter O'Donnell (who is British) had his fictional heroine Modesty Blaise trade her Colt .32 for a Star PD .45 in later books. (She preferred a S&W M-57 .41 Magnum for longer range use.) Also was very proficient with unarmed combat and in use of the yawara stick, one of which she carried disguised as a purse handle that snapped free for use as a weapon. I think that the author read US gun magazines. His firearms knowledge was well above that of most thriller writers. He certainly did more research than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did! And maybe more than Ian Fleming. Anyway, the guns in those books were well chosen, and I was pleased to see the choice of the Star, although it might be a trifle large to carry, for a woman of about five feet seven and maybe 117 pounds.
I think Modesty would have been better served by a Star .380 in one of the smaller models banned here after GCA '68, like the Model DS, if memory serves. It'd hide better on her slim frame.
I do think that Star and Astra guns are usually well made, although the firing pin issue and the occasional parts hardness factors trouble me. I certainly like Star having dispensed with the grip safety in Colt copies, which also differed in other regards. I have read that the trigger and safety designs were also superior to those used by Colt. But build quality is as important as design quality!
A very well known US gun and hunting writer told me that he had a chance to visit Llama and had bought one of their copies of an S&W revolver. I think it was the Comanche model. Similar to the S&W M-19. He felt that it was very well made, a pleasant surprise. It did need re-timing, but that was also a very serious problem with Colt and S&W guns then, too. Sloppy QC! Astra's equivalent revolver has also gotten generally good reviews, as did their smaller (J-frame equivalent) item. (Model Cadix.)
The Spaniards made some very nice highly decorated guns, many gold -Damascened and engraved. One chrome-plated Star 9mm was used in a Pedro Amoldovar-directed movie. It was brandished in a bar, not a good idea. But the owner was not a good man, either. The woman who killed him later hid the gun in her TV before she fell in love with the judge investigating her case. I wish I could recall the name of that film. I'd like to rent it again. Sound familiar to anyone? It's in Castilian Spanish, of course. I think it may be available with English subtitles. Well worth a look.
