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.
