FIRESTARS.........

C

citizen

New member
Sometimes I'm truly stupid.......
But anyway, I'm anxious for feedback on Starfires. Considering a .45; somehow acquired a .40 ported already. May VERY SOON list one or either of these as carry pieces.Anyone experienced or at least familiar with these? Advice for factory loads? I'm listenin'.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER
Better to have it and not need it; than need it and not have it
 
Hello. Had good luck with both the 9mm and .45 FireStars. Both are heavy little brutes and the forty-five is a bit larger, but both were reliable and reasonably accurate. The 9mm's sights were not "on" for me, but not too bad, but with the forty-five, POA = POI.
Fit and finish seemed fine and I suffered no parts breakage or excessive wear after several thousand rounds through both. I mention that these are no longer imported to my knowledge, so future spare magazines or parts might get to be a problem.

Best.
 
I used to have a Firestar .45. It was extremely compact. Almost identical in size to my glock 27. The 40 and 9mm version was even smaller. Like Steohen said, they're heavy for their size. The .45 weighed as much as a full size 1911. Mine was very good in the reliability department when I used ammo it liked. Accuracy was pretty good also. I finally traded it in on the glock 27 cause I got tired of carrying around alll that weight. Also, when I had it, good holsters for it were nearly impossible to find. There seems to be much more available for them now. Same goes with magazines. A couple of the after market mag manufacturers make mags for them.

Good luck.
 
I had one of the original 9mm's when they first came out. Mine was very poor in the reliability department and that was the general consensus at the time. I imagine that they've become much better in the last 10 years or so, as the above posts attest, but I would definitely avoid a used one. Like the others have said, they're too d*mn heavy for their size but that bothers some people less than me.
 
I had a Firestar M40 (Starvel finish, .40S&W). Beautiful fireaarm. Like everyone else said, a heavy piece of equipment. The recoil was quite brutal on the .40 but I've heard that the 9mm and .45 are a little easier on the hands. IIRC, the slide was extremly diffuclult to cycle due to the heavy recoil spring, the shallow grips on the back of the slide didn't help either. (or maybe I'm just a weakling :o)

Mine developed a hairline fracture from the extractor retention pin hole to the breech face. So I sold it . (The guy knew about the fracture). I wanted something SA/DA anyway, so I bought a USP9C the same day.
 
I have both the .40 M40 (Starvel finish), heavy, and a 9mm Firestar Plus (alloy frame, not nearly so heavy.)

Both are excellent guns, and the Firestar Plus is my concealed carry weapon, when I carry.

Accurate, good triggers, very reliable.

(I have a number of quality handguns, and the Stars are right in there with the best of them.) Shame the .40 is so damned heavy.

The joke at my local range is, "if you miss the bad guy, just drop the gun on his foot -- he'll be out of action for a while."
 
I've had four of them and wish I had the two I sold back. They are very well designed, a breeze to disasssemble and very solid. And yes I wouldn't want to get hit with an empty one. They were really a bargain at one time but their price is climbing quickly from what I see.

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"In my opinion, anyone pushing through anti-gun legislation is a bloody traitor and should be sent up for treason" N.H. Stuart
 
I like the Firestar. It is a good gun - and my first civilian owned .45 auto.
It was reliable... sturdy... accuracy wasn't all that great, but useable. Like a Ruger.
Trigger - mine was worked on so it was clean and crisp. Sights - your generic 3 Dots.

The .40 version is smaller. And an interesting lesson in torque. Especially if you used very hot loads like the Cor-Bon or Triton 135 grain loads...
 
I have the Firestar 9mm. Great little gun.But as the others said a bit on the heavy side.
Never had a problem with it. ;) I wish I had bought the SS version I could have had that for only $10.00 more. :)

Happy Shooting :)

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We preserve our freedoms by using four boxes: soap,ballot,jury, and cartridge.
Anonymous
 
citizen, I am seeing two totally different guns here. The Firestar in the header that everyone is referring to and the Starfire that you mention in the text part of the post. When I say TOTALLY different I mean TOTALLY different. Please clarify.
 
You're right, Jeff. My mistake. The guns ARE FIRESTARS. By Star; of Spain. Like in PD.Gratefully, everyone understood my error.BTW, I'm not familiar with the difference. Is there such a "starfire?"

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NRA LIFE MEMBER
Better to have it and not need it; than need it and not have it
 
I have a Firestar M45 which I carried daily for about two years until I realized I had begun shooting my 1911 better. The Firestar is a fine defensive pistol albeit heavy, loosely fitted and possessing, IMHO, poorly designed safety levers which are, for me, difficult to set to SAFE as the flat bottom sits right on top of the grip panel. All that being said, it is one of the pistols in my safe that I will not sell.

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If you're not a little upset with the way the world is going, you're not paying attention.
 
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