Star ?

T

tsillik

New member
Ran across a star sm super in 380 has smooth wood grips are these original or were originals plastic or wood checkered? Anything else anybody can tell me about these, good or bad? terry:D
 
Search feature will help. The company is gone, so parts probably increasingly hard to get. Mine shot well, functioned fine. They are made of weak metal so no hot loads.
 
The older Stars are great guns. They are locked breech, and made of steel like all good guns. They have no "weak metal."
The only part prone to breakage is the firing pin. I make those commercially.
 
Look a ways down the page at the paragraph titled Model SM.

http://star-firearms.com/firearms/guns/s/index.shtml

I have several Star pistols, all of them later manufacture. I'll not part with any that I own, and will purchase a few more before I die if I'm lucky.

I'm not able to answer your questions regarding what grips were original to the pistol, but these that this fella makes are sure attractive on an S series Star.

http://grips4u.net/category/pistol-grips/star-echeverria/star-model-sis/
 
Sorry but I can not answer that either. I will say that the first link I posted has a header that you can click to search Star firearms by caliber. When you do there is a warning specific to .38 Super regarding their firearms that you might want to read.
 
My Firestar .45, bought new in the mid-90's, peened its barrel when I ran some +P through it. Also its firing pin block snapped in two.

I have also read a more recent gun magazine review mentioning that Spanish gun metal was not quite up to what other countries produce, so it's not an unknown phenomenon. Soft metal like I said. Be careful with hot loads......
 
I would really like to have one of those Star 380's. My LGS had one. I saw it, liked it, came back the next day, and it was already gone. :(

I do have a Star Super B. It is one of my best handguns out of many. It is a sturdy service pistol with good trigger and sights that will last longer than I will.
 
I have also read a more recent gun magazine review mentioning that Spanish gun metal was not quite up to what other countries produce, so it's not an unknown phenomenon. Soft metal like I said. Be careful with hot loads......
Click to expand...

This was a very well known issue in the middle of the 20th century, think post WWII into the Korean and Vietnam war era. These issues were also not exclusive to Spanish firearms during this period. The issues also seemed to center MOSTLY around pistols and certain double shotguns. Star, Astra, Llama did not have a good reputation at all in the 1970's and 80's. To be fair, this is deserved. I have an Astra Falcon that is not safe to shoot because of poor hardening of the hammer/sear assembly. The trigger was awful, and after disassembly/investigation I saw why when metal was wearing on the sear to the point where it was nearly rounded. I still fired it occasionally, but the last time I did it went full auto on me so now it is nothing but a collectible. This poor reputation carried on into the 90's, even though Star (and Astra as well I believe, but no personal experience) seemed to have resolved their poor quality issues and built some quite capable firearms. I'm not sure that Llama ever produced a firearm that I would want, though.

In short, the Spaniards do have a spotty reputation with firearms quality, but they have produced both treasure and trash. Custom Trap guns from Grulla are world famous now, and many late 20th century Star pistols are beginning to be sought after for their quality and durability. I have been told that the Megastar 45 is the only other pistol in addition to the USP45 capable of handling 45 super bone stock. I cannot verify this as I don't have one. Quality has gotten better. But... you do have to take the time to know a little bit about what you're buying.

OP I have no experience with said firearm you're asking about, so I cannot help you there. Sorry.
 
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I owned only one Star, the lightweight PD in .45acp.
It was plenty ok and I wish I hadn't gotten the urge to trade it for something else.
But this was back in the days of revolvers.
At the time there didn't seem to be any advantage to an auto loader with only one round more.
Oh well, live and learn.
 
The Spanish military used Star firearms exclusively.
You would think they would have known about the "soft steel."
Some heat treatment on these guns was spotty, but problems were not at all normal.
BTW- as a hand engraver, I have engraved quite a few Star pistols. The steel was no different than most guns.
The "soft steel" rumors started with the various "Ruby"-type pistols imported after WW1.
 
Long, long ago right after the Earth's crust cooled, I bought a very nice and neat Star; it was the lightweight, aluminum frame, Star "Starlight". It was 9mm, small with a single stack mag. It got away from like every good gun I ever had.
 
Sorry to hear that Hanshi, those Starlights were dandies. :rolleyes:

You mentioned that tidbit about the Megastar 45 5whiskey, I believe that the Megastar 10mm was once dubbed as the only production 10mm capable of holding up to repeated firing of the full power round that it was chambered for.

I don't own one of those either, (or any other production pistol of that era chambered in 10mm), so likewise can not verify that.

Both versions of the Megastar are on my list and have been for a good spell.
 
"The Spanish military used Star firearms exclusively."

True for recent years, but for many years the Spanish service pistol was the Astra Model 400, and generally they gave good service, although some made by other makers during the (Spanish) Civil War were of poor quality.

Jim
 
The SM was released with plastic or checkered wood grips, other Star models of the period received plain wood grips so it is possible your smooth wood grips are correct. The SM (and Super) are great little pistols and very accurate.
 
I've heard a lot of good stuff about Star pistols over the years, but I'd never owned one until recently when I bought a nice BM (9mm). About the size of a Colt Commander it looks a lot like a 1911, but has a different lockwork.

I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but it looks and feels well made. It came with these wood grips, but there was a set of checkered black plastic ones in the box that I believe were the originals.



 
I have many Star pistols, all very high quality, as are Astra and to a lesser degree Llama. That said I love the Llamas because they are still the closest thing to a 2/3 sized 1911, same lockwork shrunk down, the only exceptions are the separate detent housing (Which is arguably better than what a 1911 has) and the external extractor. All my Spanish weapons function perfectly
 
Bill DeShivs said:
The Spanish military used Star firearms exclusively.
You would think they would have known about the "soft steel."
Some heat treatment on these guns was spotty, but problems were not at all normal.
BTW- as a hand engraver, I have engraved quite a few Star pistols. The steel was no different than most guns.
The "soft steel" rumors started with the various "Ruby"-type pistols imported after WW1.
Click to expand...
I've heard that too- at one point, Eibar was like Khyber Pass, lots of guns made in tiny cottage workshops, and quality was spotty at best.

But this doesn't apply to Star or Astra, those tended to be well made, comparable in quality to other big manufacturers. I own a Modelo B Super and a 30 MI, and I'd venture to say these are both excellent in fit and finish, and seem to be holding up very well. The Super appears to have a case-hardened hammer.
 
I've got a bunch of Stars...
Firestar Plus M243 9mm (Starvel)
Two Firestar M45 (one Starvel, one Cerakote)
Ultrastar M205 9mm (blued)
Ultrastar M205 .40S&W (blued)
Megastar 45 (Blued)

Previously owned
Firestar M43 9mm (grip was just too tiny, traded for the M243)
Star M30P 9mm (my first semi-auto, sold during hard times in the 90's)

Steel's good with those Number Model Stars.
Only hard things to find are .40 mags for the Ultrastar
(tons of 9mm mags around, still made by Triple K)
and 14-rd mags for the Megastar 45, 10-rds are easy.
Parts are thru SARCO and other places like Jack First.
Springs thru J&P and WOLFF.
Firing Pins from Bill DeShivs on this very forum!! :)


Eventually I'll find another M30/31, as I've still got two mags left for one.
& a Megastar 10 in Starvel is a Must-Have...
and then hopefully one day I'll run across a M243 frame and a M40 slide,
to make my very own Frankengun M240...
which uses S&W .40 double-stack mags...
no surprise as every other Star Number series does use S&W mags...
only ones that don't are the Megastar and the Ultrastar .40...
and that's only until I figure out what base mag the .40 used ;)

We think the Megastar used Caspian/Para-Ord 14-rd .45acp double-stack mags
with a proprietary mag catch hole, but haven't gotten to testing either
of those mags yet...availability has been spotty lately with the closure of Para-Ord.
Given time, it's a question that will be solved.
 
My "collection" of star and Llama pistols includes about ninety pistols some of great significance related to WW II. I shoot all of them although I must admit some receive much more attention than others, my favorites being the DK Star pistols. Over the years I have collected many spare parts by purchasing parts kits and individual pieces which I have shared with other posters wanting to keep their pistol running.
The other day I had a bunch of my 1911 pistols on our private range, the two pistols that shot the tightest groups were a Colt from 1943 and a Star model P both leaving one hole groups at seven yards. The old pistols are still capable of holding their own in this plastic world.
Those who belittle Star's are usually not content with any maker and have never owned that which they comment on. without factual data I discount their comments totally.
 
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