star firestar 45

[countryboy12v]

hey yall. im new here.
im am lookin at a star firestar 45. it has L2, which i know from internet searchin that shows it was built in 1992. it also has a crest with a knights head and a burstin bomb with no number/letter inside. the pistol has been taken very good care of. i know the owner personally.
i am fairly new to the pistol world but not the firearm world.
any info, comments, opionion is greatly appriciated.
Thanks,
Keith

[lee n. field]

http://www.star-firearms.com/firearm...ar/index.shtml

[lee n. field]

i am fairly new to the pistol world but not the firearm world.

There are a couple recent threads on Star handguns. Here, and here.

I picked up a 9mm Firestar last year. Based on that, I'd grab a .45 if it came available.

[Andy Taylor]

Those were decent guns for the pricepoint. Very well built. The problem these days comes if anything ever does break, parts are almost non existant. I wouldn't mind having one in my collection.

[Walt Sherrill]

The problem with parts may be less of a problem than it once was. Bill DeShivs recently posted a name and website where most Star parts can be found. That was a great thing for those with Stars.

I've had several Model Bs, a Star Firestar, and 3-4 Firestar Plus . (The little Firestar Plus remains my favorite; unlike the older Stars, they had double-stack alloy frames.)

Here's part of Bill's posting. The link doesn't work, but maybe Bill can give us an updated URL or other reference.

There is a gentleman named Jorge, in Spain, who acquired most of the Star factory's parts. He sells them as a hobby.
He can be found here: http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdis...&s=&daysprune=

There's also a guy here in the US, but I've misplaced his name, who bought Interarms's inventory from them, when STAR folded.

[railroader]

Walt I think the guy you are referring to about buying out the star parts is at M&M gunsmithing in Alexandria Va. He use to be a gunsmith for interarms before they went under. I bought firestar parts from him in the past but he probably is pretty much cleaned out by now. Mark

[phatspeed7x]

I've been doing some more research on these guns, and finding service, and parts to be hard to find. I still love my Star Ultra Star in 9mm I just got. It will be a safe queen, and see limited shooting. But to say I have one is the second type of cool that I like. Plus it's in my favorite cal.... 9mm

I would pick it up just to say you own a Star firearm. But that's just me.

[Walt Sherrill]

RE: M&M Gunsmithing. If M&M is the place, here's a link. Certainly worth a call if something breaks, until we learn Jorge's name and contact info.

http://www.mmgunsmithing.com/

[Nordeste]

You might try Iparguns for spare parts too. It's a small business run by ex-Star employees. I'm certain that they keep a stock of spare parts, though I presume that they won't be cheap, and that you have to add international shipment expenses (perhaps taxes at the US Customs, too?).

http://www.iparguns.com/cas/index.htm

I wouldn't expect them to speak English, though it's likely that they have someone at hand to translate in case you decide to contact them. Alternatively, I have no problem to send them an e-mail in case anyone wants something from them.

[larryf1952]

I was instantly interested in the Firestars when they were introduced in the early '90's. I bought 2 of them, in .40 and .45. They have been great little shooters. Nothing has ever broken on them, but because of the scarcity of parts, I don't shoot them much anymore. The .45 is exceptionally accurate for a gun with such a short barrel.

Because they are all steel, they are a little heavy for their size. But, I find this to be an advantage in that their weight helps to tame the recoil of the .40 and .45 rounds in a small package. The rear sight is held fast by a Torx screw that sometimes has a tendency to loosen up. This happened with my .40 early on, and the screw came out. I bought a couple of extras back then, just in case I lost it. The guns came with a Torx bit, so if your seller has the box, check to see if the bit is also included. I've also heard that the firing pins can be a bit fragile, and I've heard reports that they have broken when dry fired. I've never had a problem in that regard, but, I don't dry fire my guns.

All in all, the Firestars are some of the most enjoyable, fun guns that I've ever bought. I have a number of other guns I'd sell before I sold the Firestars. Here's a couple of pics of my guns...

The .40...



The .45...

[HisSoldier]

Yes, I have a .40 and it's a surprisingly good gun, accurate and built very robustly. I want a .45, and will be looking for one.

[khegglie]

I really wish these could be brought back by some manufacturer,

[Master Blaster 2]

Mine has the Stravel (hard chrome) finish. Great reliable gun however heavy by today standards. Built like a tank.

[Walt Sherrill]

The Starvel finish is electroless nickel, not hard chrome. Not as durable as hard chrome, but pretty darned durable. The nickel coating is thinner and harder than a nickel finish applied through the normal nickel plating process.

Anyone reading who is interested in detail, the history, or possible parts sources, should go to the following website:

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

[Master Blaster 2]

Have had mine since new... so a while. The nickle has never worn. Modern guns have replaced it for my carry guns.

Countryboy. They are heavy and prefer FMJ ammo.

[mkk41]

I've carried and fired my 2 M43 9mm Firestars quite a bit , even with +P without any parts breakage. Parts are good steel and fairly robust. Can't see any weak parts in these guns. Never heard of any common parts breakage.

[Walt Sherrill]

The only shortage of parts I've ever heard about with these guns was the extractor for the .40 version of the M43. There was a serious shortage of .40 extractors a few years back, and I had talked with several folks on these types of forum who had to retire their .40s because of the shortage.

I've had 9mm and .40 versions of that model, several (3 or 4, don't remember which) of the Firestar Plus (my favorite), and the Model B, and they've all been reliable and durable. The model 43 is heavier than lead, but the 243 (Firestar Plus) has an alloy frame -- and is noticeably ligther.

All of the triggers can be improved greatly, and they're not bad to start with.

[hodaka]

Accurate but heavy. If the .45 had a grip safety I would still have mine. The safety slipped off too easily when carried.

[lee n. field]

I've carried and fired my 2 M43 9mm Firestars quite a bit , even with +P without any parts breakage. Parts are good steel and fairly robust. Can't see any weak parts in these guns. Never heard of any common parts breakage.

I have read (Interwebz hearsay) that there was a short stretch early in production with firing pins prone to breakage. Can't find the reference right now, sorry.

[larryf1952]

The only shortage of parts I've ever heard about with these guns was the extractor for the .40 version of the M43. There was a serious shortage of .40 extractors a few years back, and I had talked with several folks on these types of forum who had to retire their .40s because of the shortage.

The only problem that I encountered with my Firestars was, in fact, the extractor on my M40. It would not extract the case about every 3rd or 4th shot. I noticed this problem very soon after I purchased the gun. I sent it back to Interarms, and they replaced the Starvel extractor with a blued one, which is still in the gun. It cured the extraction problem.

[bdhuntr]

I bought a Star Firestar M-45 (blued) when they first hit the market. I had a pistolsmith work the trigger to smooth it out and reduce the weight. It shoots 230 grain bullets so-so, but it absolutely loves 185 grain Silvertips. It's a litttle on the heavy side for such a small .45, but you can shoot it all day long without a hitch.

[Mosin44az]

I had an M45 for a few years also. Very fun to shoot, very accurate, fed and fired reliably. Like some above I kind of wish someone could buy the rights and start building them again.

But with better metal quality next time! The parts, slide and frame are all made of fairly soft metal compared to top quality. I broke the slide stop and the firing pin block just shooting the thing, and also peened the slide shooting just 50 rounds or so of +P. DON'T SHOOT +P AMMO IN THESE!

Also, as noted above, these guns are orphans now, and spare parts will start to disappear. I would not buy this gun to rely on it for defense for that reason alone. As a toy, fine, it will be fun.

[Skans]

I have a Megastar .45 - built like a tank - hard to imagine anything breaking on it.

[khegglie]

The Megastar was built to take 10mm power ammo I believe. That was one great looking gun!

[Bill DeShivs]

Star had it's niche in the gun market. They made 1911-style guns-some much smaller and lighter than true 1911s. BM, BKM, PD, DK, etc.
Then, someone at the factory decided they needed to make "modern" guns, and the Firestars, Ultrastars, and Megastars were born. This was a big marketing mistake-not that they aren't good guns. The "modern" Stars removed the marketing niche. They are bulkier and heavier than the 1911-style guns, but have basically the same operating system.
Today, the DK series has been resurrected in the SIG P238 and Colt .380 autos. No one has ever built a gun that is really comparable to the BKM 9mm-if they did they could sell all they could make. The PD was the original ultra compact .45. Had Star concentrated on these guns, they probably would still be in business today.