Star Firestar M-43

E

Ed Brunner

New member
I went pawn-shopping today looking for a shotgun or another Makarov and wound up with a Firestar M-43. The blue looks like it has holster rash, but stripped, cleaned, lubed and reassembled it looks very sound, very tight and relatively unfired. It is about the size of a Mak but is bigger, thicker, heavier, single-action and 9x19mm.
For a 9x19mm it is small enough to be interesting. I am anxious to fire it. It looks very well made. Are they accurate?
 
Mine was.It shot to point of aim,and after a trigger job ,was a blast.The finish is disappointing,and the mag capacity is low,but I wouldn't mind another one.Check the firing pin,they are notorious for defect.Incidentally,what was the approximate cost?There is a firm Fuselier,in the Houston area,which does an inexpensive hard chrome.($75?)
Alan
 
Firestars are outstanding little pistols...kind of like an Officer's-sized SA that works. They are reliable, and very accurate in my experience, thanks to the coned barrel and the slide rails on the inside of the frame. Their all-steel construction makes them pretty tough little guns.

The only reason they are not more popular is their high weight for a pistol of that size, especially when compared to the baby Glocks. If it wasn't for polymer, those Firestars would be every bit as popular as they were (briefly) with the SA cocked-and-locked crowd when they came out in the late 80s.
 
The Firestar 43 I had was a good shooter but it got traded, The Firestar + that I own is staying with me.
 
I paid $150 including tax etc. Looking at it more closely I am still highly impressed. In a side profile, it is actually smaller than a Makarov. It is massive steel. The weight wont bother me. I am interested in seeing what the recoil is like. CDNN has magazines for $19.95 including one with a pinky rest. It looks like the firing pin is OK. It appears to have a firing pin safety ala 80 Colt et al.
I think it will be a good gun. Can't wait.
 
Hello, Mr. Brunner. I've owned the Firestar M43 and the .45 version and was disappointed in neither. I wound up trading them off ....just to trade; you know how it is.

I am NOT trying to "rain on the parade," but do keep in mind that Star is now defunct and spare parts are truly becoming a pain to find. Ditto, accessories.

Just a thought for the long term.

Best.
 
My wife bought one when they first came out. Loves it!! Very little recoil and just a joy to shoot. Accurate!!
I did an IDPA match last month with it. What fun!!
Great little gun. Enjoy it.
 
Both my father and grandpa have Firestars in .40, and both of them had extractors that fail 75% of the time. My grandpa ordered a replacement, and found out that there was recall. A few weeks later he got a replacement and it still fails most of the time. I have no experience with any of the others, but I would suggest you stay away from the .40 cal. ones.
 
Wow... That's the first I heard about the .40 problems.
I have heard tons of horror stories about the .45's though.
And everyone loves the original 7 shot .9's.
But the first "plus's" in 9 are intregueing...14 rounds in all...
and the later plus's with 10 rnds are still cool.
Lighter too.
I'll bet you love the 43......
JMO,
Stocky
 
In addition to CDNN, Ajax Grips also sells mags but they cost much more than CDNN. Numrich has spare parts; check their catalog. I like mine but its very heavy.
 
I have never hear anything about extractor problems with the .40's either. I had a 9mm and still have a .40 Firestar. They are great guns. Very accurate and reliable. One word of warning, spare parts, ESPECIALLY firing pins are almost non-existant. I have searched the universe looking for a spare firing pin (I'd buy 3 if I could find them) and extractor. NOBODY(!!!) has spare parts for these guns, so take care of them.
 
My .40 Firestar never failed me once, even with all kinds of hollowpoints. It never failed to feed, fire and extract anything I fed it. Fine little pistol...heavy, but sort of funky. Very dense, for lack of a better word.
 
Finally fired it today. Bummer!! Out of 14 rounds fired, three failures to eject, two failures to extract!!
I pulled the extractor and there was a lot of grunge behind it and a bunch in the hook. Not sure if this is the problem. It is clean now and I will try again tomorrow.
 
I have an M43. It is reliable and accurate. It has more chamber support than a Glock 19 or a Kel-Tek P11. It is very small. It feels good in the hand.


Now the bad part: parts would be hard to get. It is heavy [some owners refer to it as a "pocket anchor"]

These wholesaled for $200 a few years ago. Now on the secondary market they command $250. Not worth it if you don't already have a light carry gun.


The ideal use for one would be where space was limited, but wieght did not matter. Like in a glove box or on a motorcycle.
 
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