Star Model B - AR15.COM

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Posted: 9/10/2014 1:41:03 PM EDT

Anyone purchase a Star Model B from Century?, The have them listed in excellent condition, put the photo doesn't look that great, hopefully it's just a random picture. Wondering if these were on the Bulgarian contract or the German. I've always wanted one of these to go with my pistol collection. Any help is appreciated.

Posted: 9/10/2014 2:20:46 PM EDT

[#1]

J&G has them listed at good to very good, which seems like a more accurate representation. I ordered a hand select, if it turns out to be in excellent condition that's just a plus. I want this gun to be a shooter to carry on the shoulder rig at the ranch.

Posted: 9/10/2014 3:47:51 PM EDT

[#2]

They're almost certainly from the Bulgarian contract.

ETA: Looking at the ones J&G has, they look like post-WWII commercial pistols.

Posted: 9/10/2014 6:00:22 PM EDT

[#3]

Quote History

Quoted:
They're almost certainly from the Bulgarian contract.

ETA: Looking at the ones J&G has, they look like post-WWII commercial pistols.

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Description of the one I got says dated in the WWII era.
http://www.jgsales.com/star-model-b-semi-auto-pistol,-9mm,-with-2-magazines,-g-vg-condition,-c-r,-used.-p-70981.html

Posted: 9/10/2014 6:07:50 PM EDT

[#4]

Could be wrong...either way it's just gonna be a knockaround pistol.

Posted: 9/10/2014 6:12:16 PM EDT

[#5]

Are these the 9mm luger versions?? I bought one a while back off a private individual, it's in pretty nice shape, and has the East German mark LPN on it, damn good shooting pistols. Finding exra mags can be a bear though. I lucked out last fall and found a unmarked repro mag at a gunshow for mine.

Are the Century ones C&R?? I know the one I bought was...

Posted: 9/10/2014 6:26:09 PM EDT

[#6]

Just ordered one from J&G... Hopefully it will be nice...

Posted: 9/10/2014 6:28:18 PM EDT

[#7]

They're a nice pistol at a great price point.
Personally, I'd rather get an RIA 9mm for not that much more if I wanted a 9mm 1911 pattern pistola.

Posted: 9/10/2014 7:01:27 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:

Description of the one I got says dated in the WWII era.
http://www.jgsales.com/star-model-b-semi-auto-pistol,-9mm,-with-2-magazines,-g-vg-condition,-c-r,-used.-p-70981.html

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Quoted:

Quoted:
They're almost certainly from the Bulgarian contract.

ETA: Looking at the ones J&G has, they look like post-WWII commercial pistols.

Description of the one I got says dated in the WWII era.
http://www.jgsales.com/star-model-b-semi-auto-pistol,-9mm,-with-2-magazines,-g-vg-condition,-c-r,-used.-p-70981.html

Some of them may be, but some of them are definitely post-war. Notice that some of them have a different shaped frame at the toe of the grip? The WWII-era Star B's have a grip style that looks exactly like a M1911. Post-war pistols had that odd lip at the bottom added.

On the left side of the frame you should see a shield with an X in it, and a letter next to that. What's the letter? Star Bs can all be easily dated. Anything after P and anything with a number after it is post-war.

Posted: 9/10/2014 7:23:47 PM EDT

[#9]

It's C&R, Century doesn't say "WWII" in the description, it's described as follows;

"One of the first commercially available 9mm pistols. Last of an era, very limited quantity in stock! Comes with two 8 rd. mags. Barrel: 5", Overall: 8.25". Condition: Excellent."

I guess I'll have to see when it gets here.

Posted: 9/10/2014 10:24:59 PM EDT

[#10]

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Quoted:
Just ordered one from J&G... Hopefully it will be nice...

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I am curious to see what you get as I was thinking about ordering one also....

Posted: 9/11/2014 7:45:32 AM EDT

[#11]

Now that I think about it, I am beginning to suspect that these pistols, like the large numbers of BHPs that have been showing up lately, are Israeli police surplus. They're well-known to have used Star Bs at some point.

Posted: 9/11/2014 10:12:10 AM EDT

[#12]

I wonder if they are B Supers?

Commercial Star B Super 9mm/P....No hump.

1948 Spanish military Star Super 9mm Largo.....Hump.

Posted: 9/11/2014 10:53:34 AM EDT

[#13]

Could be... the markings would tell. IIRC the Supers have a different serial range as well. Note that even the 9mm Para Super B has a different shaped toe than the WWII contract Model Bs (it's slightly curved).

ETA: This is what a wartime Bulgarian contract pistol looks like:

Note the flat toe area. This is a Ñ code pistol - 1943. The Bulgarian contract guns are also recognizable by the different Star marking on the slide - they say "Star SA Continuadora de B. Echevarra Eibar Espana" where non-Bulgarian contract pistols will show "Star B. Echevarra Eibar-Espana SA"

Posted: 9/11/2014 12:22:57 PM EDT

[#14]

Here is a pic of the ones they claim they are selling. Looks pre-Super to me. No lanyard ring either.

I don't know, I really like the vintage Stars but given the $299.00 - $310.00 price depending on who you get them from and then throw in shipping and transfer (if you don't have a C&R or live in CA or some other retarded state) I don't know if they are such a "deal" or not.

Posted: 9/11/2014 1:04:21 PM EDT

[#15]

I don't think it's terribly out of line. I don't think they're any kind of steal, but it's fair for a nice vintage Star. IIRC, all the military contract Star Bs have lanyard rings, which would make these certainly commercial pistols. When they were made should be easily determined by the letter code on the frames.

The ones J&G is showing are a mix of that older style and the later style that seems to be more common to the Modelo Supers. It's entirely possible the lot they got contains some of both, but it's odd they aren't listing them separately.

Posted: 9/11/2014 2:29:24 PM EDT

[#16]

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Quoted:
I don't think it's terribly out of line. I don't think they're any kind of steal, but it's fair for a nice vintage Star. IIRC, all the military contract Star Bs have lanyard rings, which would make these certainly commercial pistols. When they were made should be easily determined by the letter code on the frames.

The ones J&G is showing are a mix of that older style and the later style that seems to be more common to the Modelo Supers. It's entirely possible the lot they got contains some of both, but it's odd they aren't listing them separately.

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J&G is listing the C&R eligible and non-eligible ones separately, and the C&R ones are $50 more.

Still at $320 including shipping I couldn't find one cheaper at retail here, especially given sales tax here (8.25%) is more than what J&G charged me for shipping. Maybe not a fantastic deal, but not stupid expensive either, and there probably won't be a lot more of these coming in any time soon.

Posted: 9/11/2014 4:10:17 PM EDT

[#17]

The LPN marked Star model B I have is a X proof, which makes it a 1952 gun, it has the hump on the front of the grip, and no lanyard ring, but it is drilled on the back strap for a ring.... It's all numbers matching and has no import marks.

Posted: 9/11/2014 9:12:31 PM EDT

[#18]

The PW Arms import stamps are not too bad.....kinda.....sorta. The ones I have seen of the latest batch have been horrible billboards. I picked up a couple of what I think were the Bulgarian contract Russian refurbs from AIM a while back. Import mark was small and under the front end of the slide. The latest are better priced but the import mark just kills it for me, especially since I have a couple. If it is the only one you plan to get for a collection I recommend waiting and looking for one with a discrete import mark instead.

Posted: 9/11/2014 9:16:57 PM EDT

[#19]

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Quoted:
The PW Arms import stamps are not too bad.....kinda.....sorta. The ones I have seen of the latest batch have been horrible billboards. I picked up a couple of what I think were the Bulgarian contract Russian refurbs from AIM a while back. Import mark was small and under the front end of the slide. The latest are better priced but the import mark just kills it for me, especially since I have a couple. If it is the only one you plan to get for a collection I recommend waiting and looking for one with a discrete import mark instead.

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Yep, AIM is where my Bulgarian contract pistol came from as well. I'm not a fan of the import mark, but oh well.

The Bulgarian pistols were refurbed by the Bulgarians, though, No Soviets involved there.

Posted: 9/11/2014 9:51:21 PM EDT

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:

Yep, AIM is where my Bulgarian contract pistol came from as well. I'm not a fan of the import mark, but oh well.

The Bulgarian pistols were refurbed by the Bulgarians, though, No Soviets involved there.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
The PW Arms import stamps are not too bad.....kinda.....sorta. The ones I have seen of the latest batch have been horrible billboards. I picked up a couple of what I think were the Bulgarian contract Russian refurbs from AIM a while back. Import mark was small and under the front end of the slide. The latest are better priced but the import mark just kills it for me, especially since I have a couple. If it is the only one you plan to get for a collection I recommend waiting and looking for one with a discrete import mark instead.

Yep, AIM is where my Bulgarian contract pistol came from as well. I'm not a fan of the import mark, but oh well.

The Bulgarian pistols were refurbed by the Bulgarians, though, No Soviets involved there.

I missed that, just assumed the Russians did it.

Posted: 9/11/2014 10:02:18 PM EDT

[#21]

Wideners has them too. Got the email this afternoon/eve

Posted: 9/12/2014 4:32:46 PM EDT

[#22]

There have been many B's humped with fake Nazi markings. Research the specific pistol you are wanting to buy.

Posted: 9/12/2014 10:06:16 PM EDT

[#23]

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Quoted:
Wideners has them too. Got the email this afternoon/eve

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I did not get the email and I don't see them listed on the website? Never mind the ones they have in stock are not C&Rs.

Thanks

Posted: 9/13/2014 2:19:46 AM EDT

[#24]

Just got mine from Century (1945 proof mark).

Still working on more pics (including inside the bore). So far I'd say the excellent condition is pretty accurate, although I haven't taken it out to the range yet. I've only done a basic field strip and 20-30 minute cleaning, but I feel the condition is better than what you see in Century's ad picture.

The wood grips are going to need some reconditioning and I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to get out some of the darkish looking stains (see the safety) but I'm not at all disappointed right now.

Posted: 9/13/2014 2:25:27 AM EDT

[#25]

Sorry about the picture links. I've been reading the forums for a couple years but only now got around to creating an account, so yeah I'm a nüb here.

Time to work on getting to 50 posts so the pics will magically appear ...

Posted: 9/13/2014 2:31:42 PM EDT

[#26]

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Quoted:
Sorry about the picture links. I've been reading the forums for a couple years but only now got around to creating an account, so yeah I'm a nüb here.

Time to work on getting to 50 posts so the pics will magically appear ...

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Thanks for the post, info and pics. I feel better about my order. It's been over a week since I ordered, how long did it take to receive your Star.

Thanks Matt

Posted: 9/13/2014 4:33:41 PM EDT

[#27]

Looks pretty good to me.

Posted: 9/13/2014 4:34:21 PM EDT

[#28]

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Looks pretty good to me.

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Me too.

Posted: 9/13/2014 4:52:05 PM EDT

[#29]

Quote History

Quoted:

Thanks for the post, info and pics. I feel better about my order. It's been over a week since I ordered, how long did it take to receive your Star.

Thanks Matt

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Quoted:

Quoted:
Sorry about the picture links. I've been reading the forums for a couple years but only now got around to creating an account, so yeah I'm a nüb here.

Time to work on getting to 50 posts so the pics will magically appear ...

Thanks for the post, info and pics. I feel better about my order. It's been over a week since I ordered, how long did it take to receive your Star.

Thanks Matt

Absolutely.

Looks like I only needed 5 posts .. not 50 … on the forums for my pictures to show up (instead of only the links).

Anyway, it took CAI about 4-5 business days to process my order, after which I got a "Bill of Lading" e-mailed to me. Shipping was pretty fast after that point .. maybe 2 days. I think it was approximately a week-and-a-half from the time I ordered to the time it arrived.

I'm really happy with what I ended up getting, especially for the price ($300+s/h) and the age (almost 70 years old) of the firearm.

One note:

When I first started to field strip the pistol, I really had to pry the magazine out and the slide was really stiff. When I say I had to pry the magazine out … I mean I thought I was pulling so hard I was going to bend or break something.

Be sure to get in to the magazine release spring (inside the magwell) with some Hoppes and then lubricate it generously. I alternated between a couple shots of CLP and then just working that mag release button a few dozen times … rinse and repeat maybe 5 times. I also cleaned the rails and lubricated well.

Now an empty mag drops free with no problems and the slide is smooth like butter.

My guess is that these things have been in storage for a few decades ...

Posted: 9/19/2014 7:36:00 PM EDT

[#30]

Did anyone get a C&R Star B pistol from J&G sales? I am curious to see what they look like.

Posted: 9/24/2014 5:27:45 PM EDT

[#31]

Received my Model B today from CAI. It dates to 1933 and is in very good condition. It wasn't globed all up with oil. It looked like someone cleaned and oiled it to shoot. It's got the usual holster wear marks. The barrel is very good condition. I'll post a pic in a bit. Overall I'm very satisfied in it's condition, I'll shoot it Saturday and see how it runs.

Matt