Looking to purchase my first "real" handgun.  Have .22 pistol, but would like something with a little more ooommph to it.  I really like the looks of the PA-63 Makarov.  Very nice looking pistol.  Also, is the 9mm Star Model B and curio and relic?  Any thoughts on these two pistols greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

vmax84

PA-63, I have one, it came with a ridiculous, 50lb DA trigger. This is fixed with a stock Walther PPK main spring from wolfs or www.makarov.com. it's a piece of cake to install and it makes a world of difference. The other thing with this pistol is felt recoil is high, the little bastard really kicks and it hurts my hand, but it does function fine and is accurate. You can get an uprated recoil spring from makarov.com which helps. For the money you can't beat it.

Star B or Super B? The super B was the improved model using a cam type barrel dropping lug instead of the 1911 style barrel link but I digress.
I have a FEG PA-63 and a Star Super A with a Star Super B on order.
BTW, The Super A differs from the Super B only in caliber, everything is is identical.

Here are my observations of both pistols.
PA-63 is light and compact but has a bit of a kick. It would make an excellent CCW type weapon. Accuracy is good for what it is, a mid-size pocket pistol but of course it does not do well compared to full size pistols.
The full size Star pistols are very nice. Very good designs and high quality manufacture. They have better than expected accuracy and run reliably. The Star B is a full size combat pistol that points and handles well (at least for me)
Neither pistols has ever jammed on me.

One last note about the PA-63, some hollowpoint ammo will not work in the pistol. I tested some wolf 9x18, it would jam in the magazine. I did some measuring and found the wolf hollowpoint is too long. I used a press and pushed the bullet back into the case a very small amount and found everything worked fine then. Just to let you know if you get jams like that don't neccessarily blame the gun right away.
If you have anymore questions feel free to IM me.
Oh yeah, that double action pull on the PA-63 is a bitch but mine did smooth out a bit after a few hundred rounds.
Editted to add:
SOME Star Bs are C&R, SARCO (ask for Fred) has some C&R eligible Super Bs right now, (I think they are 129.00) I ordered mine friday. Of course the PA-63 is not C&R.

Thanks for all the good info.  Went shooting this weekend with a friend who had a .45.  Big big fun!!  I think for now, however, my abilities are more for a smaller handgun, and then work up from there.  I'll be calling Sarco.  Thanks again.

vmax84

My Star hates hollow points too. I like it otherwise and I was shooting great with it this weekend.