Star 9mm - junk or quality?

M

Mozart

Inactive
I stopped in at my local dealer today just to brouse (which I love to do) and saw a gun I am unfamiliar with - a Star 9mm. It's priced the same as a kel-tec @ $245. Is there any quality in this brand or is it junk?
 
A buddy of mine bought a Star Firestar Plus a couple of years ago, and I really like it.
Too heavy for me to carry,so, I have a KelTec P-11 and a P-32 and they are more comfortable.

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And if you hear from my Louise, won't you tell her I love her so?
 
Hello. I've had good luck with Star handguns and currently own a Star Model B in 9mm. This all steel 5" bbl single-action autopistol is reliable and reasonably accurate. I also liked the FireStars although they were heavy little bricks. My gun was very reliable. For the money, I think the Star line of handguns are good performers. One caveat: If you get one of the older guns, do not dry fire without a snapcap or empty case in the chamber or you make break the firing pin. The older guns' firing pins have a notch in them and a vertical pin under the rear sight blade keeps it in place. I'm told that when the tip of the pin does not encounter a primer, it allows the pin to move foreward enough that the vertical retaining pin is struck by the rear edge of the firiing pin notch and that this leads to breakage. Be aware that these pistols currently have no importer and spare parts could be a problem as time goes by. Best.
 
Thanks for the info! Do any of you know what might be the country of origen?

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"We know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. My concern is that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." Abraham Lincoln
 
Mozart,

Star firearms, pistols and subguns, are/were produced by Star Bonifacio Echeverria S.A. at Eibar, Spain. For generations there has been (was? I don't know the current status) a large complex of arms manufacturing in that immediate area.

Regards,
RR

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---The Second Amendment ensures the rest of the Bill of Rights---
 
I've had two Stars -- a steel .40 (heavy as hell), and the Firestar Plus 9mm mentioned by someone else in this message string.

I really like them both, and found the Firestar Plus to be a better concealed carry weapon than my Kel-Tec P-11.

That's because I've very good with the Firestar Plus, but only middlin' fair with the P-11. In fact I've won a local [small] IDPA match with the Star Firestar Plus, with best overall time -- and by a good margin -- but never came in higher than 3rd or 4th [in my class] with the Kel-Tec. The Kel-Tec is now in the gun safe. Its still a good gun, but I like the Star Firestar Plus a lot more.

The Firestar Plus is about 10 ozs heavier than the Kel-Tec, but similarly sized. That's a small price to pay for a gun that is easy to shoot and accurate, too.

I gave my .40 to my son, and he's thinking about trading it in on another gun. I'm gonna swap him something else to get it back. I like that gun.

If you can stand the weight (I'm assuming you've found a steel one), you'll be very pleased. And gunsmiths can do marvelous things with the Star single-action triggers.
 
Friend has a 9mm Firestar that I've handled. Extremely accurate, stiff controls, heavy, well-finished, reliable, seems like a 'buy'.

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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
I have a Star Md#43 Firestar in 9mm. Great little gun and IMHO a good little shooter.
Seems well built and to me seems a little on the heavy side for its size. But overall I would say it was a good piece.
Star Arms I believe was bought out by LLama and I belive they joined forces or were bought out by someone else. I believe they could be involved with the company that has the Firestorm on the market,but I'm not to sure about that.
If you like the gun go for it :)
Happy Shooting :)

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We preserve our freedoms by using four boxes: soap,ballot,jury, and cartridge.
Anonymous
 
I have owned two of the 9mm Firestar pistols with the starvel finish. Both were very reliable and machined well. Very compact and concealable. The only bad thing is they are heavy pistols. I like them and would suggest it to anyone looking for a compact pistol.
 
I had a Star MegaStar in 45 ACP weighing 48 + ounces. Accurate and reliable and shipped with (2) 12-round hi-cap mags. They are well engineered and parts are still around for them.

They are great guns but heavy. Great for the collection.



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The Seattle SharpShooter - TFL/GT/UGW/PCT/KTOG
 
Mozart,
I've recently considered trading my firestar for a p-11. Decided not to trade 'cause it's such a great pistol...fun to shoot, reliable, cycles everything that I feed it. It's just heavy to carry in the summertime. My advice is to buy both; the Keltec for summertime carry and the Star when you can wear more clothing. You can't beat two great pistols for 5 bones! :)
 
Star also made a good service size wondernine auto. I think it was a 30M and the previous version was a 29M. I don't have any docs with me so this is from memory. They were strong and very reliable, steel frame if I remember correctly.
 
I had a Star M40 (.40 cal) in steel and I agree with the above posts. It's extremely heavy! The recoil was pretty brutal. Nice and compact, but still pretty heavy.

I sold it because it developed a hairline fracture in the slide (leading from the extractor retention pin).
 
Had to jump in...I had a FireStar Plus in 9mm. It was a great shooter, except that it fired with the thumb safety up or down. I got rid of it shortly after at a considerable loss($). Mike
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mozart:
I stopped in at my local dealer today just to brouse (which I love to do) and saw a gun I am unfamiliar with - a Star 9mm. It's priced the same as a kel-tec @ $245. Is there any quality in this brand or is it junk?[/quote]

Is this the full sized Star or the compact Firestar? Is it blued or the satin finish?
I had a blued Firestar 9mm. This is a well built little gun, but as others said, heavy.
I sold mine to my sister when I bought the Kahr MK9. This was for 3 reasons:
1) The Firestar isn't "+P" rated.
2) I don't care for magazine safties.
3) I wanted a DAO Stainless Steel carry weapon.

If I bought another Firestar, I would get the satin finish.

This gun was very popular about 10 years ago...got several good write ups in the gun magazines.
 
I have a Starvel Firestar +
With 13 round magazines it's about the same size as the Glock 26.
I added some Trijicon Night sites and the gun is a great carry gun.
The PLUS version is an alloy frame and is lighter in weight than the original single stack gun.
Mine has fed reliably every type of round I've tried from CorBon to ball.
Since the frame is alloy I don't shoot much high pressure +P rounds through it. Since they are no longer in production I tend to carry it with a standard pressure silvertip round.
I had a nice trigger job done on the gun and it breaks nioce and crisp.
I even have a second one NEw in the box that I MIGHT be convinced to part with, it's blue and has a 13 round magazine. I have been saving it as spare parts gun.

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Buddy of mine carries a Firestar in .40 S&W. As others have said, it's a heavy gun but it works well.

Magazines (at least in our area) seem to be a bit pricey, according to him. NIB magazines are $30-35. These are seven or eight round magazines (can't remember which).

Despite the price, I would advise you to stick with factory magazines. At the 1999 pocket gun match at Ontelaunee Rod & Gun, we were in the same squad as two gentlemen with Star 9mm handguns. Both experienced numerous misfeeds -- and the reason was aftermarket USA eight round magazines.

HTH,

Justin

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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
 
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