(This is a reader-submitted review as part of our gun review contest. See details here.)
By Hoplopfheil
I’m not very keen on practical pistols, which is what leaves me digging up weird old crap and playing with it in the woods. That’s what brought me to the Star Firestar M-43 9mm, imported by Interarms of Alexandria, Virginia more than 20 years ago.
The story of Interarms is really what makes Star Firearms so interesting. The founder of International Armament Corporation, Samuel Cummings, was a real life Lord of War. After serving in World War II, he bought up an enormous quantity of surplus arms from across Europe. In the 1950s he set up Interarmco, and began importing military surplus to the United States. At the same time, he started exporting American firearms to hotspots around the world; notably supplying Armalite AR-10s to Dominican revolutionaries and General Trujillo at the same time, which went over about as well as you’d expect.
Interarms imported a number of high-quality firearms from Europe, including the Mauser HSC, the Walther PP series, various and sundry Luger pistols, and seemingly the entire range of Star pistols like the 9mm 1911 clone Model B, the Megastar, and this:
Star’s Firestar is a weird mechanical hybrid of their classic Model B, and the later Model 28 series of Wondernines they designed to appeal to military contracts. As a result the Firestar is something of a transitional firearm. The action is strictly old school; single action like their 1911 clones. It’s a very heavy, stainless on stainless pistol, made at a time when the Gen 2 GLOCK 19 was an option. At the same time the Firestar is extremely compact for the caliber, cornering the single stack pocket 9mm market 20 years early.
The three models of the Firestar are the M-43, M-40, and M-45, chambered in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP respectively. The M-43 and M-40 are nearly identical in size, and most parts and magazines should be interchangeable between the two. The M-45 is, predictably, chunkier to accommodate the girthy 45 Auto cartridge.
This one is in Star’s “Starvel” nickel finish, which looks tremendous when in good shape. When in bad shape, it looks like chrome paint chipping off of a plastic bumper. Everything else on the Firestar is quality. Most of the gun is satin nickel, except for the flats on the slide which are more polished and have a brushed look to them. The checkering on the front and backstrap, the front of the trigger guard, and the controls (slide release, ambi safety, and combat hammer) is sharp and clean.
The only negative from an aesthetic standpoint is the mediocre soft rubber grips. After some fevered internet searching, I found some custom wood grips made by an eBay seller. These are checkered French walnut with a cool Star logo. If you had told me two years ago I would get so obsessed with stainless pistols and wood grips, I would have laughed in your face, and maybe kicked you in the nads. Addiction really sneaks up on a guy.
The Firestar is not a duty pistol. The small size means a small magazine capacity of 7 rounds for the M-43, and 6 rounds for the .40 caliber M-40. Extended 10-rounders are available from Triple K and ProMag, but the Firestar is a concealed carry gun through and through. Reloads could certainly be faster; ejected magazines do not drop free, and in fact only drop a centimeter when empty. This is a side effect of the magazine disconnect, which relies on the magazine impinging on a tab to allow the trigger bar to travel rearwards and trip the hammer.
The whole magazine disconnect assembly is easily removed with a brass punch, but it’s pulling double duty as a stop for the bottom of the mainspring. When the disconnect is removed, the mainspring drops in the housing by about 3/4 of a centimeter. I modified my Firestar in this way, and haven’t had any issues with reliable ignition, it’s just something to be aware of.
With the magazine disconnect removed, pressing the mag release causes the magazines to leap from the bottom of the gun like a 2 dollar bill getting rejected by the vending machine in my office (damn you, PepsiCo, I need a Dew and I don’t have any friggin’ quarters!)
I haven’t bothered with the Triple K magazines, partly because their AMT Backup magazines are shockingly poor, but mostly because they have star shaped witness holes which is tackier than wearing Birkenstocks and tube socks (sorry Dad). And don’t even get me started on the ProMags.
The rest of the controls work just fine. The magazine release is oblong, and the extra length front to rear makes it very easy to reach. The ambidextrous safety actuates cleanly with a nice click and stays where you put it. The sloping, textured surface and the position of the safety make flicking it off very easy. The large surface of the slide release is just as easy to actuate, which comes in handy as the Firestar has reversed slide rails like a CZ-75 and there’s not a lot of real estate for a powerstroke.
I am a large-handed individual who finds the grip of a GLOCK 19 (if anything) too small, and the Firestar fits my hand perfectly. The grip is exactly as short as I would ever want from a concealed carry pistol. Any shorter and you have to make a no-win decision about where to keep your “extra” finger, any longer and they might feel the need to put some unnecessary finger grooves on it.
Shooting the Firestar is extremely pleasant. The gun is damn heavy; unloaded it weighs more than a fully-loaded GLOCK 19. I have it on my lap as I’m writing this, and I think it’s cutting off the circulation to my lower extremities. The upshot is that recoil is mild for a gun of its size, which makes speed shooting fun and easy. I would love it unconditionally if only I could out shoot a Stormtrooper at 7 yards. What a twist!
The single action trigger is not 1911 style, and I have a hard time with it. For one, it pinches gloves and prevents the trigger from resetting until you pull your finger completely out of the trigger guard. That’s not likely to be a concern in a suburban defensive role, but I wouldn’t carry it camping. Even after spending a few lengthy sessions snappin’ caps while watching Bob’s Burgers, I still can’t predict the break. Careful target shooting slowed to a crawl at the range while I tried to slowly increment pressure to find the break. It was throwing fliers like a kid with a missing cat.
The Firestar has adjustable 3 white dot sights. The rear sight has a generous gap for the front dot, which makes getting your sights on target very fast, but getting your rounds on target a bit harder. Some glow-in-the-dark sight paint would make them a bit easier to pick out. For that matter so would a fresh coat of white, since the M-43’s sights have gone to beige in the last 25 years.
Standing between you and carrying the Firestar is a dearth of available holsters. The only one I could find that is still in production for the Firestar, is a Bianchi 6D with a host of minor problems. For one, it only “kinda” fits the Firestar, as well as several other models of pistol. I really don’t like using a holster that only fits my gun by coincidence. Second, it has a retention strap with a thumb break which I think is unnecessary for an IWB holster. Not only does the thumb break just get in the way, it also doesn’t fit the M-43 properly.
I modified this one by cutting the thumb break off on one side, and sliding the adjustable strap completely out of the other side. This left a big strip of useless Velcro on the inside, so I cut out the stitching and removed that as well. Unfortunately the Velcro was also held on with contact cement, and removing that was a pain in the ass. I also trimmed the leather on the bottom of the holster by about a half inch so it didn’t overlap the muzzle so far. It’s not a great holster and rides slightly high, but it works well enough when modified this way.
I really love my Firestar M-43, and the understated panache of the rest of Star’s lineup has me wanting more. The rest of the Star/Interarms story kind of sucks. Spanish arms companies Astra, CETME, and Star all went bankrupt in the 1990s. Star went out kicking with a torrent of new models before the end, but none of them really caught on and the doors closed on this excellent small arms company in 1997. Samuel Cummings had no one to take over his company, and when he died in 1998 Interarms died with him.
The last years of Star were impressive, though not financially. The Firestar M-43 got a late-life upgrade to the appropriately named M-43 Plus, a double stack version of the same gun. It boasts a chunky GLOCK-like grip width to accommodate a larger magazine, and a lighter alloy frame. More impressive was the Megastar, a big double stack, double action combat pistol chambered in .45 ACP and 10mm. In 1992 it was probably the only 10mm pistol that wouldn’t destroy itself under normal use of full power 10mm loads.
There was also the Ultrastar, their first polymer framed pistol. The Ultrastar honestly looks like a legitimate contender in the modern concealed carry market, and based on my experience with the Firestar I’d take one over a S&W Shield or GLOCK 43 just to be different. If I ever get one, you’ll read about it here.
Conclusion
The Firestar represents an interesting enigma. On one hand, it’s not a combat pistol. The capacity is too limited, and the controls too slow (especially ejecting spent magazines). But on the other hand, the Firestar shoots well. The weight keeps it controllable, and the uncomplicated single action trigger is capable of combat accuracy if you can learn to stop anticipating the break.
On still another hand, that weight and that single action manual of arms make it a less than stellar carry pistol. And on yet a fourth hand, the Firestar’s small size makes it a carrying contender after all.
Specifications: Star Firestar M-43
Caliber: 9x19mm
Capacity: 7+1
Barrel Length: 3″
Overall Length: 6.5″
Height: 4.6″
Width: 1.1″
Weight: 30oz
Price: About $350 (approximate Gunbroker price for one in good shape)
Ratings (Out of Five Stars):
Style, Fit & Finish: * * * *
Star’s electroless nickel “Starvel” finish is drop-dead gorgeous when new, but when it starts to go it looks like hammered fecal matter. Nice proportions and quality machining make the Firestar look good even with those meh rubber grips.
Accuracy: * * *
Mechanically accurate maybe, but the trigger break is too vague. The sights are too coarse as well, so accuracy will come down to the shooter.
Ergonomics (Carry): * *
Dimensionally the Firestar is very similar to a Smith & Wesson Shield, but for the all-important width. The horizontal beefiness makes concealment unusually uncomfortable for such a small gun, and the ambidextrous safety stabs at thee from anywhere you tuck it. And it weighs about as much as a gold brick.
Ergonomics (Shooting): * * *
The Firestar is hand-filling and barely seems to recoil. Large handed shooters will feel the ambidextrous safety biting into the web of their hand with a high grip, and the mushy trigger discourages accurate shooting.
Reliability: * * * * *
My Firestar has literally never malfunctioned. I don’t mean “almost never,” I mean literally not even once. It always shoots, it always cycles, it always ejects. Through several hundred rounds of hollow-points, cheap ammo, and even steel cased Tula.
Customize This: –
No rail means no add-ons, and the Firestar’s EOL status means no good holsters. Aftermarket magazines are of questionable quality, and the only source of custom grips is one guy on eBay.
Overall: * * *
Compared to the modern polymer single stack, the Firestar just doesn’t compete. It’s too fat, too heavy, and it has a manual safety and a single action trigger. In the early 90s, though, it was ahead of its time, and today fills a niche as a good-looking and affordable curio. The size and weight allow it to fill an unexpected role: a great handgun to introduce novice shooters to centerfire shooting. The Ultrastar, Star’s successor to the Firestar, looks like it might come a bit closer to stacking up, but that’ll be a story for another day.
There’s no such thing as a missing cat. They’ve just found better deals and moved on.
I had an older buddy, since deceased, who bought the .40 cal version of this gun. He was getting to the point where fighting was not an option and he had never owned a gun. I advised him to buy a revolver and offered to help him shop.
He went by himself to a gun store and the cheapest, new pistol they had was the Star. He loaded it but never fired it. It stayed in his bedroom, unfired, til he passed.
I bought a Star Firestar .40 S&W. It is definitely the worst Star I’ve ever owned. I have a PD and had a 30M, (stolen), both of which are reliable and accurate. The Firestar ain’t. Though it is a great paperweight!
t is a common misconception that “PD” stands for “Police Department,” however, “PD” is actually the initials for Pete Dicky who submitted the idea for the Star PD to Star Bonafacia, in Spain.
Interesting! Since writing this, I’ve read about several people having issues with the .40 cal version. I wonder if it just wasn’t “ready” for the high pressure cartridge.
I read on http://star-firearms.com/ (amazing resource) that the M-40 had a redesign to possibly fix issues with the gun. I wonder if you had an early version?
Since I wrote this, I actually tracked down that Ultrastar I’ve always wanted, and it too has been reliable. Fantastic gun, I bet it would have been huge if it wasn’t for the AWB.
I bought a Star model 31P in .40 S&W when I turned 21. .40 was the hot new thing then and I paid $500 for it-probably too much. It was a great pistol that also never malfunctioned except that it broke the extractor once. I wrote to now-defunct Interarms and they sent a replacement extractor. I believe it was for a 9mm. It would not function with any ammo so I took it to a gunsmith. He said he worked on the new extractor all day trying to get it to eject. Afterward it was again a very reliable pistol. But I sold it and replaced it with an XDs when I got my CWP. I’ve researched these pistols a lot over the years and it’s the only .40 I’ve ever seen of this model. According to this:
http://star-firearms.com/firearms/guns/283031/index.shtml
31P’s chambered in .40 are so rare it’s just a rumor. That’s just too unique.I couldn’t even buy a spare mag.
Stars are substantive, and apparently you share my experience, they just plain work.
I’ve got 2 30Ms right now. I shoot one, and if something ever breaks, I’ll move to the other until I can fab a replacement part. Though, I’m pretty sure by now, nothing will break before I achieve some ridiculous round count. The only problem I’ve had is the (only available) aftermarket mags are so poorly designed, that you have to remove about 4 hundredths from the flanks to get the thing to come out of the gun without needing a screwdriver to pry. Knowing that they’re easily fixable.
Thanks for reminding me to grab an M43, next time a clean one pops up on Armslist.
I would love a box fresh 30M or 31P, but they’re just a touch out of my price range.
My experience as well. I have a Mod 30M and it is a perfectly competent full size 9mm pistol.
For those who aren’t familiar, if you handle one you’ll note a bit of similarity to a S&W 5900, a bit of SIG and a little bit of Beretta in the design along with some pretty unique little features (like you can detail strip it with no tools – the takedown pin and firing pin can be used as punches to disassemble the rest of the gun).
I like my Star a lot and, for what it cost, it’s probably the best bang for the buck in my safe.
Agreed completely, bang for the buck winner, hands down. At least that I own.
Supposedly 5900 series mags will work, with some tiny modification. I have yet to try this, so don’t my word for it. Gun show in a coupla weeks, if I don’t find Model 30M mags, maybe I’ll give it a go.
LOL weren’t we discussing Stars like two days ago?
I really want one of the Model A’s from the Spanish Air Force there’s one up on gunbroker now, but $495 is a bit steep for that gun.
There’s another one that’s $300 but doesn’t have the Air Force stamp…. dammit I need to stop looking at gunbroker.
If it were up to me we’d be discussing Stars on a daily basis.
Me too. Don’t worry guys, TTAG has reviewed the 30M – it was just a while ago. Peabody, set the wayback machine…
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/03/benjamin-t-shotzberger/gun-review-star-mod30-m/
Egads, that was 5 years ago. I didn’t link it before because I thought it was more recent than that. Oh well….
16V, that article was one of the reasons I bought a Firestar in the first place. The other thing being a reference on the site hipowersandhandguns which had a great article on Stars.
http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/StarPistols.htm
Hoplopfheil, Thanks for the link, haven’t seen that one before. I would love to add a 31 to the collection, but they are rare (compared to 30s anyway) and they are priced accordingly. Maybe someday I find someone who doesn’t know what it is and get a deal.
The real find would be one of the Colt-Hartfords, but I won’t let it become my white whale…
http://star-firearms.com/firearms/guns/283031/index.shtml
Never even met anyone who has one, let alone seen one in the wild.
At first, you say its a stainless gun, then you state that it is nickel-plated. I think you made a mistake on the stainless part.
Was wondering about that also.
For only 3 or 4 bills, I’d buy one.
Seems like a good option for a glove box/center console gun. One which has some heft to it, so you aren’t worried about ruining it and you can womp folks with it.
Side note: “…made at a time when the Gen 2 GLOCK 19 was an option.”
If I had my druthers, the Gen 5 Glocks would be on Gen 2 frames.
Finger grooves only work for the one guy they used as a hand model.
And even that guy doesn’t really like them.
Finger groves are like condoms, you deal with them, but no one likes actually them.
So.e might classify this as a Saturday night special although it’s more robust than a cheap Raven.
I doubt that. Star’s have been issued to military and police alike.
i would say this is measured step up from a raven/lorcin, it made from steel, not just plastic and zinc, not to meantion that it has mechanical reliability.
Israeli army and police thought highly enough of the Firestar to issue them. I own several in all 3 calibers and all are extremely durable. The only caveat to this is that the .40 caliber frames were reported to crack sometimes although I havn’t experienced this. Not surprising since Star used the exact same frame size on the 40s as on the 9mms.
In fact the top end of the two calibers will interchange on each other’s frames and the magazines are identical as well.
Don’t want to be a gun snob, but when I saw the price, that clinched the no-deal.
$350 for something made of solid steel which isn’t a jam-o-matic…
What is your standard to consider the price unreasonable?
Folks Who Are Looking at Firestar for Concealed Carry: Wonderful gun, but too heavy and should not be carried in Condition 1 by anyone who is not a regular shooter and versed in its operation. I am a Glock fan anfd have several m odels in various calibers that I would trust implicitly. However, the price of these pistols is 2x the price of another pistol I have several issues of and that is the Kahr line of 9mm, compact sgl. stack pistols. I have had their full steels pistols in 9 and 45 and consider them to be exceptional, but expensive .($750.00 )Since they went to polymer on some of their pistols, I gave them a try. Viola! Small, sgl. stack, 9mm, no safeties to worry about and a good trigger, once you’re used to it. All for $260.00 Try ’em out. Now you’re talkin’ concealed carry.
My dad has a Star in .380. It’s been perfectly reliable and decently accurate. I would have a problem carrying that gun.
Man, I love Bob’s Burgers!
Have you seen the episode of Archer where he get’s a brain injury and becomes Bob?
I used to patronize a gunsmith who used to work for underarms. He had his shop in an old Interarms storage shed on Union Street. He was out of business when the firing pin on my Yugo Mauser broke and I haven’t be able to find a replacement for a reasonable cost. He would have done it cheap.
If you haven’t figured it out Interarms was an Agency connected business.
He was at one time employed by the CIA, sold guns worldwide for decades. I thought his ‘side work’ was pretty well common knowledge by now, but like you (apparently) I find the odd minutae far more interesting than the main story, so I guess normal people may not be aware.
Well THAT was interesting…especially the phrase “hammered fecal matter”. I’ve dealt with lots of bad nickel plating(only 1 old gun) over the years. Peeling thick nickel sucks. Great review and background on Interarms too.
Dan had to censor me a few times… 🙂
Excellent review, but no representative target pic? “Capable of combat accuracy” is a pretty vague measure, it would be nice to see an actual example of the gun’s accuracy.
Apparently that only counts if you put it in a ransom rest, and I don’t have one of those. Or the inclination to use one.
I got an M-40 when they first came out and carried it in a series of raggedy ass cheap holsters. Recoil was pretty fierce with some on the .40 self-defense loads, but it worked a lot better than the Officer’s Model 1911…
Michael B
Me, too. Starvel still looks great on it. The M-40 is a snappy little thing but fun to shoot at self defense distances. Never a single issue with it but dang, it was heavy to carry compared to the PPK I alternated with at the time. And yet I barely notice the G22 I carry now.
I’ve fired many rounds through a firestar M40 (.40S&W). Nice little gun. Heavy and was a bit snappy in the 40 caliber, but a solid and reliable pistol. Mags were unobtainium at the time though. It was around 1999. The specimen I shot was brand new – not a scratch on it – in the stainless/nickel finish.
“….digging up weird old crap and playing with it in the woods.”
RE: the cemetery cleaning crew in “Shawshank”. “Horse apples”
Great review. I would love to find a Star in .380 to add to my collection. On a side note, has Promag EVER made a product that worked? Their products suck!
I had the exact pistol, starvel finish, couple of spare mags. Carried for years, being a southpaw, I even installed the left hand mag release (changed it back, to damned used to middle finger release). I bought it based on my experience with my 30M, worked great, even liked the safety (I shot a series 70 Colt Gov’t a lot).
The gun was plenty accurate, reliable, and could be concealed rather well. Was heavy and a peave was the magazine would not always lock slide back when empty. But this was over two decades ago, not a hell of a lot of small 9mms to choose from, tried that Detonics 9mm hand mashing, crap.
I actually enjoyed shooting the Firestar, that weight really helped. Time marches on, but even with the flaws I wish I would have kept the Firestar.
I had a Star CO (.25) for awhile, in a land far far away.
Ran fine.
http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/StarCO/SCO01/115StarCOLM.jpg
Beauteous! Thanks for sharing!
Y, it was my EDC since the only other thing I had was a S&W 19 4″ SS. A cannon but heavy.
I picked up a used 9mm star ” firestar ” a couple of years ago for 250.00 and was able find a couple of extra clips for it on Ebay ! I find that it makes a good trade off gun as i usually carry a 1911 officers mod. clone, as my c.c.w. . It’s never failed to work in any way and it is beyond dependable as far as i’m concerned, plus a lot cheaper to shoot then my .45. I have had several offers to buy it, and my only answer has been that it’s not for sale, or trade at any price. I consider it one of the better deals that i have made in the last 20 – 30 years.
I love my 9mm firestar. It has been trouble free until I used it for my CCW test. I was using +P rounds just to make sure I was comfortable with them to be used for CC. The +P broke off the corner of the extractor and I had to fire the rest of the course single shot style dumping each round and recycling. It was a good learning experience. Don’t use +P. I sent it to be repaired and there have been no other issues. No stove pipes or ftf with any ammo. Just stay away from the jot stuff and you will be fine
Probably not be the ammo. Early Firestars (up to a certain serial number) had issues with extractor breakage. I’ve fired factory +P and my own hot reloads in my M43s with no issues.
I know this is an older article, but I thought you’d like to know that there IS a quality holster made for the Firestar: http://sideguardholsters.com/gunmodels/Firestar-holsters.htm This guy has an M40 and uses it as his buck for the holster. I have one and it is perfect for my M43. Nice article BTW. Agree with all of your conclusions.
Dang, that looks sick!
I’ll probably never carry the Firestar again, but if I do I’ll get one of those.
An error in the article states that the Firestars were stainless steel pistols. Actually the non-blue Firestars had a proprietary electroless NICKEL finish which Star termed STARVEL.
Love my Firestars! I lost track of the number of complete pistols and parts kits I have now in all three calibers.
Did you know that the top mechanicals of a 9mm Firestar will swap onto a .40 frame and vice versa? The magazines of the two calibers are identical as well.
Stainless, not stainless steel.
There’s more than a few sentences about the nickel finish in there.
You know nothing Jon Snow.
I’ll happily listen to people talk about the gun and it’s functionality. But when it comes to subjective qualities and reliability, it’s tough to trust one or even several people. They have different opinions and priorities than me. And while they can tell me how reliable their gun is, they can’t tell me the same for the one on the shelf I’m thinking about buying.
I just picked up a blue, M-43, 9mm, Firestar. It was as new, being stored in a dresser drawer for the last 25 yrs. Factory 7 rd magazine, and a factory 8 rd extended. I love this pistol. I had a starvel 9 back 25 yrs ago. It was a great pistol then, and is now. Wolff has replacement springs. It will reside in my desk drawer.
WHY not shoot it, being ALL metal and NOT plastic they are a pleasure to shoot and if YOU are up to it , they are very accurate pistols to shoot. Sitting in you drawer does neither YOU nor the pistol any good!
I am up to it, young fella. Take another hit on that bong. I doubt you know anything about accurate pistols.
Well, this “young fellow” is just shy of 80 years old and after serving for 30 years on Active Duty with the U.S. Marine Corps has fired about every type of weapon both U.S. and foreign made during the past century! My first highly accurate weapons was a BAR, which I could shoot quite accurately at 1000 yards and at one time won the yearly Base BAR competition at Camp Pendleton! Of course as YOU state, I know nothing about guns!