I just bought my first pistol

[Fuzzy]

I just bought my first pistol. It's a Star Modelo B 'Super'. I mainly a hunter so all my firearms up till now have been bolt rifles and shotguns. I'm going to be doing some hunting near the Mexican border and with all the stories of drug runners, I thought it might be wise to carry a pistol. Better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.

Anyway I bought it off of a friend. He bought two (they gave him a discount if he bought more than one) so I offered to buy one. He sold it to me for what he paid for it, about $140 which I figure isn't too bad.

He sold me this one because the bore was 'a little dark'. The other one has a slight extraction problem but he figured that he could fix that. Well, I took this one home and ran some Hoppe's and a brush though the barrel and low and behold, it came out like a mirror. I can't wait to tell him. I put a box of that Winchester 'value' stuff that I've only seen at Walmart. You know 100 round for like $11. It shot great. With virtually no handgun experience I was able to hit the chicken silhouette at 50 yards about 2-3 times per clip (8 rnd clip).

I do have a question. The thing was very dirty. It was dirty when he bought it and then he ran a few hundred rounds through it trying to decide which one he liked. When I got it I ran that 100 rounds through it and it failed to extract once. I field stripped it and cleaned it the best I could but there is still a little gunk under the extractor and I was wondering what the best way is to clean that out. Do I need to disassemble it further or can I get it out some other way? If I need to disassemble it further, how do I do that and how do I get it back together?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

[Zundfolge]

If it was packed in grease or cosmoline type stuff (like many milsurp guns are) its a good idea to field strip it and soak it in mineral spirits for a few hours (or overnight if you have a safe place to leave it ... don't want the dogs to try to drink it :p).

When I bought a Makarov a while back it was packed in cosmoline and after soaking overnight in mineral spirits that got the gunk outta all the nooks and crannies. If it has wood grips on it I'd not soak them though (and if they are plastic, I'd rub some mineral spirits on the inside of one to make sure the plastic isn't easily eaten before soaking).

After soaking I'd recommend a full cleaning (I scrubbed everything I could get to with an old tooth brush). Then clean it like you would after a day at the range, lube it all up and it should be like new.

Auto pistols have to be clean to function properly ... cleaner then a bolt action rifle or a revolver.

Sounds like you got a nice one though, most of the Star owners I know rave about their little Spanish guns :)

[Hard Ball]

You made a good buy. The Star Modelo B 'Super' is an excellent pistol, well made, accurate and reliable with good ammunition. You might try a tooth brush or a Q tip soaked in solvent to clean under the extractor hook.
Also, several firms who often advertise in "Shotgun News" sell spare parts ans spare magazines very cheaply,
If you are carrying it for self defense have a round in the chamber and carry cocked and locked. Good shooting!

[Fuzzy]

I'll try soaking it in mineral spirits over the weekend. So far I'm very happy with it, it was definitally worth the money.

The only thing that I don't like about it are the grips, does anyone know where I can pick some up? It's very 1911ish, could I get some 1911 grips to work?

Thanks,

[Blackhawk]

Congratulations, Fuzzy! :D

Zundfolge is right.