Star Model B. What cha think??

A

A pause for the COZ

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Got to tell ya, I kind of like this thing. I picked one up about a week or so ago.
I think it was $229 or $239 not exactly sure I ordered a Tokarev at the same time. Saved on the shipping and transfer fee's.

I like my 1911 and had been contemplating a 1911 in 9mm.
I saw this while shopping for the Tokarev.

So far GOOD CHOICE!!! Mechanically it is perfect and the bore is like new.
Trigger is better than I expected. Nice and crisp, Not quite the same as a real 1911 since it is pinned. but not bad at all.
I also like that you can remove the slide simply by depressing the lever on the right side. Similar to a Bersa 380.
Shoots factory ammo great, Noticed my Lead 147gr hand loads had a issue.
Feeding was fine but the chamber is a little tighter than my other 9mm's
I shoot them big and fat in my others. .358 wont fly in this gun. So will have to re adjust for this one.

Pretty fun!!!
The Tokarev is in the photo too.

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Sure would be. Or maybe one of the Chinese 9mm Barrel, Lug and spring kits.
They seem kinda pricey though.
But never know what will be found at a show with money in hand.
 
Plenty of parts on Ebay.
At these prices though, I dont worry too much about it. Of all the the stuff I have purchased over the years. If I get a stinker I am still way ahead of the game.
After parting it out, might be ahead.
 
Being a fan of Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction, I've always wanted to get a Star Model B, nickel plate it and get a set of pearl grips made. :D

Someday...

I hate the fact that I live near Robar.
 
Coz, i have a large collection of Star pistols and the large frame's are real shooters. After you get totally hooked on the B Super you might look for a good A in 9mm Largo and a BM in 9mm P. Most of these pistols have soldiered on with various militaries and had hard use as a result but keep on shooting.
 
Great pick up! I got a Star Super B and it is awesome. My FiL liked it so much that he bought one for himself. They are both accurate and reliable.

I also have a Tokerov and also like it. Mine is a Chinese 9mm. I think it is a Model 213.

Military surplus and other imported service weapons are some of the best deals out there, imho.
 
I've got the Model A in 9mm Largo, and it's a great shooter. I did have to replace the recoil spring plug, which I got from Apexgunparts.com. They are sturdy firearms for sure!
 
The only bad thing with a Star Super Model B is it only comes with two mags but if you watch Ebay you can find them in the $22-$32 range. Model A mags will work but you have to bend the mag floor plate ear just a bit to make them work. I sure like mine.
 
After shooting a bunch of factory ammo out of this thing. I finally got around to making a load just for this gun. My standard 9mm load I shoot wont chamber in this gun.
I decided to go with a completely different bullet profile. That way I know what I have in hand just by looking in the box.
Went with a NEI 120 gr tc. Standard lubed ahead of 3.8 gr of Green Dot.
These feed and chamber great and they shoot pretty good.

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Noticed my Lead 147gr hand loads had a issue.
Feeding was fine but the chamber is a little tighter than my other 9mm's
I shoot them big and fat in my others. .358 wont fly in this gun. So will have to re adjust for this one.
Click to expand...

You don't mention what diameter the 147s are, but if they're on the fat side, I'm fairly certain that a bullet caster out there somewhere casts them in .354" or .355". Ditto the 158s.

I'm always mildly surprised when I hear that 158gr. projectiles work well out of a 9mm. For some reason, I had it in my mind that 145 - 147 gr. was about the heaviest projectile that would stabilize well in a 9mm. The .38 Super stabilizes them well with a 1:16" twist, and I suspect higher obtainable velocities have to do with it. The B-Model 9mms appear to have had a 1:10" twist, so I guess the 60% faster twist makes all things come right at the lower velocities.

I like the looks of the Model B, and would expect one to shoot well, if in good repair. As I remarked earlier, this may be the best used gun bargain on the market, today.
 
yea I can get the 147's to shoot fine. just need to adjust the load, seat them a little deeper and size them down to .356 or so.
If I did not have another mold available. I would have done that.
But having two completely different bullets profiles for easy identification was the deciding factor.
 
I like these for historic value...

You may have stumbled onto the best 9mm buy on the market.
Click to expand...

Eh, not so much. It's an old (not bad, just old) steel 8 round pistol, heavy, low comparative capacity, with hard-to-find parts. I have several of them and while I like them, they are not a bargain in todays market when you can get modern high capacity reliable offerings from EAA, Zastava, or Taurus for around the same price range +/-.
 
I guess I can agree with that to a certain extent. I have a couple of low priced 9's.
Taurus and a Canik. They are ok, they are what they are. But I dont find my self getting excited about them. mostly they are tools.

I buy these things. The Star B, Tokarev tt33, And a Beretta 92s. On the surplus market. Mainly because the price is some what reasonable. Quality at least on the ones I have purchased has been good. And they are interesting items.
Makes for fun collecting.

If they were not there, I would have to wait till I could afford a high end gun as a upgrade. That would be boring having to wait so long between fixes.
But throw out a bunch of cheapish, interesting, fun guns, With a little bit of a history hook to them. As evidenced by my actions. I may buy a few.:rolleyes:

The next area would be the high end history market. Not ready to play in that end of the pool yet. But would sure like too.
Pretty sure I would get taken to the cleaners. Know just enough to get taken.
" You paid how much for the 1903 Springfield? Really.. You know if it only had the issued sight cover instead of that replacement cover. It would be worth what you paid. As is its worth 1/2."

On this end of the pool I can make a mistake and not loose too much.
 
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I really like my Star pistols for what they are: a 80 year old design that was executed in steel so well that untold thousands are still being regularly shot and many carried in this country alone. Star produced pistols for a large number of countries the majority of which seem to have immigrated to the US or Israel and then to the US. It would be cool to be able to follow some of these pistols through it's use for all of these years. I have one Star model S hat has the " shooting policeman" logo stamped on it when it entered Nazi Germany ( order of 500 mine is only known example) and then disappeared into obscurity. Another has an issue number of 00004. My biggest pleasure is shooting the pistols ---from the .25 to .45 and loving it.
 
Star made some great pistols, too bad they closed in 1995?

Parts for the B are plentiful, mostly due to how many they made over the years...
It was also Cali-Compliant for decades, not sure how it sits now...
Hollywood loved 'em, as it was a 9mm 1911-lookalike which shot flash rounds and cycled...
whereas .45acp-chamberings wouldn't...

If you do get a Star, get two of the same, one for parts...they're inexpensive enough to do so ;)
Beaters are Plentiful...grab a slightly rusty one for a parts source and you are set!!
 
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