STAR Super Model Pistol in 9mm Largo came home today

[bruce drake]

Stopped by my local gunshop and did my first C&R Purchase with them (actually using my 03FFL license versus doing a standard ATF Check) on a 1953 made Star Super 9mm Largo pistol. Bore is in good shape considering most Spanish 9mm Largo at the time of its military use and up until the late 90's was corrosive in nature. I've been shooting 9mm Largo and 38 Super pistols for a while and its nice to add this pistol to the collection. Think of it as a 9mm 1911 with a Browning Hi-Power style barrel linkage and magazine safety with a pivoting trigger. It even has a loaded chamber indicator and great looking wood grips. Not bad for a 69 year old pistol... Now I need to take some photos to add to this thread.

Bruce

[Der Gebirgsjager]

An excellent pistol. Well built, reliable, and accurate. Are you reloading 9 Largo?

[bruce drake]

yeah, I've been using 38ACP load data for a Spanish Destroyer carbine for several years. Finally moved over to the pistol.

[nekshot]

good find for yourself, but rather wish it was in my closet. I always thought one of those would be fun.

[rintinglen]

169952169953
I got mine for a painless 900 bucks when they had the on sale back in 1993 I like the feel of mine a tiny bit better than I do the feel of the true 1911s. Mine doesn't get shot often due to the difficulty in retrieving brass from the indoor range where much of my of funsies shooting is done. whoops I meant 90 ninety, 100 minus 10 dollars. Not 900

[Virginia John]

I have been looking at these for a long time and really want to pull the trigger myself. Good luck and straight shooting.

[bruce drake]

900? Ouch. Mine was 265 out the door.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Yeah, $900 is pretty steep! I had an FFL when I acquired mine, and they were in the $250 range. I eventually ended up with 4 of them, 2 in 9 Largo which are called the Super A model, and 2 in 9 Luger known as Super Bs. I have to agree with rintinglen that they feel just a bit better in the hand than does the 1911. Better yet, my personal favorite, is the Model B which was an earlier model that had the 1911's swinging link barrel arrangement. About the corrosive/non-corrosive ammo issue, I'm thinking that they may have made some NC well before the '90s, but either way handloading is the way to go because the original stuff is getting scarce. For a couple of years CCI Blazer made aluminum cased JHPs that were great--but now long discontinued. So for anything other than FMJ you've got to roll your own.
169977169978169980

[cainttype]

I set up dozens of friends with these Supers when they were first surplused heavily for $100-$120 OTD, depending on grade "Very Good" to "Excellent".
They were as good a deal as I've ever encountered in bulk quantities.

The Star autos are well made firearms. They sometimes suffered from poor reputations of other Spanish-made offerings, but anyone that was familiar with them knew better.
I've always viewed the Supers as a firearm John Browning would have been very proud of... A 1911-style platform with the "improvements" later incorporated in the High Power (and other post-1911 JB designs).

Star offered other very interesting designs through the years.
In a modern military-type high-cap 9MM, the 30MI should be compared with the best of anything available. It is a unique handgun that should not be passed over by people interested in the type, although it is a hefty piece of tooling.

Congrats on your new toy.

[Petrol & Powder]

I have a Super B in 9mm Luger and I'm very impressed with it. It required a little work at first to correct some minor issues but it is very accurate and functions perfectly. Mine was made in the 1970's but I've seen/handled older ones that were just as good, if not better than mine. It may be one of the best low cost 9mm pistols on the market.

[cainttype]

The only problem that I've encountered occasionally was with the extractors. They can be a little too sharp on the bottom corner, biting into brass casings and causing jams when attempting to strip a round from the magazine while chambering. I think it's a non-issue when steel casing are used, though.
A little deburring/polishing of the bottom leading edge point of the extractor claw remedies the galling associated with softer brass casings.

I've seen this issue a half-dozen times (maybe 5%-10% of firearms purchased by friends). Removing that sharp leading edge point has cured the problem in every case.

[Drm50]

I had both the Star and Destroyer carbine a few years back. I thinned the rims of 38 Super cases
and they worked fine. Tried several bullets. Shot 122 gr cast RN in the carbine. Was a deadly
one shot killer on barn pigeons. Traded them both, still have some carbine magazines.

[GONRA]

GONRA remembers SARCO sold brand new spare barrels for these.
Gotta couple for spares for my Stars just for the hell of it.
Lottsa NON CORROSIVE Spanish Surplus 9mm Largo ammo was (is?) available too...