Cheaper obscure branded pistols

I've always had a hankering for a Firestar. I just like they way they look.

I've never owned a Llama, but experiences with a couple over the years have given me a very unfavorable opinion. I've only seen and shot the .45's, but on both of the ones I shot there seemed to be something wrong with the angle of the feed ramp or the gap between the barrel and feed ramp. Bullets tended to just mash up against it and polishing didn't fix the problem.
Still, if somebody offered me one for cheap I'd buy it and see if a little kitchen table gunsmithing wouldn't make it reliable. Even if it just shot ball, that would be fine.

FULL METAL JACKET!!

I'll ask again: what personal experience -- direct or indirect -- do you have with the guns being discussed?

The fact that you claim that Tanfoglio guns are not worth considering makes me think you have had very limited personal experience with that line of guns. Perhaps I'm wrong, but you've said nothing to make us think otherwise.

What led you to have your opinions about these guns? Was it anything other than what you've read on the internet?


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The Tanfoglios dominated the race gun circuit in their time, so obviously are good guns.

Some opinions are certainly more valid than others. You've not given us enough info to know whether your opinion is worth a hoot, or not.

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well, it certainly breaks my heart that you don't consider my opinion "worth a hoot".

comments like these are useless here

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as is this one.

I'll ask again: what personal experience -- direct or indirect -- do you have with the guns being discussed?

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i already answered that question on the previous page. i'd list the post number, but really have no reason to make it convenient for you

I rarely ever see used Colts/Sigs/Springfields etc. sell that low so I was wondering what the deal was Thanks for all the info!

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Part of that is the fact that Colts, Sigs, and Springfields tend to sell for substantially more, when new, than the guns cited.

well, it certainly breaks my heart that you don't consider my opinion "worth a hoot".

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That's not what I wrote. I wrote that you had not given us enough information to attach a value to your opinion. You still haven't -- but you're getting there.

i already answered that question on the previous page. i'd list the post number, but really have no reason to make it convenient for you

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I missed that post. Sorry. I saw an earlier post, started working on it, but didn't reply immediately, as I got called away. When I finally replied, you had, too.

What particular problems did you have with these guns? You've told us NOTHING about why you hold them in such low esteem. Now's your chance to educate us all with meaningful information.

I haven't heard much about SPANISH semi-autos being made with soft metal. I have heard about some of their military long guns having that problem. (There were a large number of small guns made between the World Wars in Spain that had a bad reputation -- but most of these were not made by the big-name firms.)

There's a new closet industry that has arisen in Spain, by the way, with small shops are making parts for the Stars and other guns... I was able to get an extractor for a Star .40 from a student in Spain, who needed parts for a CZ. (CZ in Europe won't export to Spain.) We worked an exchange. As far as I can tell, the quality of these parts are good.


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When I was young and poor (just older and poor now) I bought a used, like new Astra A-80 in .45. I shot that thing for about 4 years, feeding it with my RCBS single stage press for thousands of rounds. I dunked myself in a cold river one night in a duck hunting boating mishap, I had the A-80 on my hip; it stayed wet til' the next morning.

It never failed to fire and was extremely reliable with all kinds of ammo. Wish I still had it. It was so reliable, I eventually bought an A-80 in 9mm and it was good too.

You could do a lot worse.

I dunked myself in a cold river one night in a duck hunting boating mishap, I had the A-80 on my hip; it stayed wet til' the next morning.

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Thought you were gonna say it was lost and it was a tragic event.

Well, I love my Argentine military ''Hi Power'', and my Ballester Molinas are some of my favorite .45's.

rellascout said:

A topic of this kind is nothing but opinion. There are no facts involved. For his money none of the guns mentioned are worth owning. YMMV

What "facts" is he supposed to bring to the discussion to prove he does not value any of these guns?

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Some indication that he's actually at least held one of the guns involved. Some indication of what shortcomings he found. Some kind of useful information.

I used to own a very old Star Modelo Super in 9mm Largo. The ergonomics of it were roughly similar to a 1911, but tweaked a bit. No grip safety, no external safety plunger, and a swinging trigger rather than a straight back. When I first bought it it gave me some issues (it was 50+ years old at the time though). Hammer would often end up in the half-cock position rather than full-cock after a shot. Took a metal file to the hammer and made the full cock notch just a smidge deeper and it solved that issue permanently. I also ended up taking a dremel to the mag-disconnect and getting rid of that too (that wasn't a reliability issue - moreso just a preference).

Other than that, it was a good gun.