STAR BM 9mm

[papabear]

[Ketchman]

Ooooh Papa Bear very pretty. I have tried to post a pic of mine but I just keep getting an error message. I will try to figure out what I am doing wrong and get it right. I love this gun. And cannot for the life of me figure out why no one picked up the design after Star went under and ran with it.

[Ketchman]

Pape Bear, here is mine. Grips by ketchman.

[Curly1]

Very nice indeed. I think plastic guns with hi cap mags were the growing fad by the time STAR went belly up.

The only plastic gun I have is the Ultrastar and it feels as solid as metal.

[papabear]

Ketchum,
Nice looking Star BM, I like the after market grips, mine came from Gun Grip Guys, they are out of business now. I was having jamming problems, broke it down but didn't see anything wrong but someone suggested using 124gr ammo and since then it hasn't jammed since. I have a few Star pistols I'll post pics of them later.

[Ketchman]

Thanks Pappa Bear. The grips are homemade, the wood is believed to be oak, found it in my fireplace pile. I shoot 115 to 124 grain in this one and it will feed ball ammo in that weight range with zero problems. Have not tried 147's in it. It is very finicky about hollow points, does not like to feed them, even Hornady Critical Defense loads. Must try polishing the feed ramp. But it LOVES the Ruger ARX loads so that is what I carry it with. If you have any issues with the gun being too slick in your hands put a small bit of skateboard tape.on the backstrap and / or fronstrap like I did, you can see it if ya look close, post better pic later and that gun will NOT move in your hand after that but it will not be so rough as to be bothersome.
Curly you are right about the combat tupperware taking over the scene in the late 80's on. But it seems like this design would do well now with the shift towards compact single stack 9's, especially with an alloy frame. This gun feels sooooo solid in the hand, one of the things I love about it. And I have some other Star's too Pappa, will post them too.

[papabear]

Star PD 45acp


I have several 1911 pistols but the Star PD is one of my favorite, and I have a 43' Remington Rand, Colt 70 series, 3 Kimbers, Taurus PT1911, Springfield GI, 2 RIA's, Ballister Molina, and Llama IXA , but the Star PD holds a special place for me.

[papabear]

Star model F .22lr


Llama Model 1 32acp


Llama IXA 45acp


Llama model XV .22lr top, Llama model 11LA .380acp bottom


Astra 2000 Cub .25acp

[Ketchman]

oohh drool. I am envious of that collection. I too have a PD and love it. In fact it is, as Col Cooper coined the term about the PD, "carried often and shot little". I have only a few buffers that came with it. It just rides so nice on ones hip. Did you have yours refinished? I was not aware that they did them in INOX slides with in the white frames.
I had one of the Llama IX's but it was in 9mm. Sweet shooter but I fooloshly traded it. Kinda wish I still had it. My BM and PD are currently my only 1911 style sidearms but more to come.
You have quite a nice group there Papa, how long to find them all? I have seen all of what you have except the model F in .22. Very nice.

[papabear]

Did you have yours refinished? I was not aware that they did them in INOX slides with in the white frames.
I

I got it this way, they produce them with the "starvel finish, the slide and frame has a copper base with a satin electroless nickel plating that they call Staverel.

[Ketchman]

I did a Google search AFTER I posted the last and found that finish was stock although I was not aware of that finish but I think I am gonna have to find one of those. Very nice.

[Ketchman]

My Star PD. Not as nice as Papa Bears but it is mine and I love it.

[Ketchman]

My Firestar .45. This one handles sweet.

[Ketchman]

My Firestar 9mm. Feels better in my hand than almost anything else.

[Ketchman]

How to keep a smooth gripped handgun locked into your hand. A little skateboard tape on the backstrap, and sometimes the frontstrap too, works wonders without tearing up your hand. And peels off fairly easy and does not mess up the guns finish.