So I picked up this old gun (all my nightmare gun stories seem to start like this now) -- it's a nice clean looking 1948 vintage Star Modelo Super, A, (9mm Largo). Only some joker apparently thought he could shoot 9mm Parabellum through it by switching barrels. And for some reason he left the mis-matched 9mm Para barrel installed when he sold it off. So my question is -- who does a good job of reaming the 9X19 out to 9X23? I knocked around the idea of buying a finishing reamer from Brownell's, but they're back-ordered in 9X23 and I'll hopefully only need to do this once in life anyway. This barrel is in Very Good condition, so I need someone who will do a very good job without breaking the bank. Actually -- someone who'd do it for some nice clean .40 S&W cartridges would be just the ticket. If you are, or know, the right guy please let me know. Drop me a private message if you feel it'd be inappropriate to promote your business interests on the open board. And thanks. By the by -- in case anyone is interested -- it appears that attempting to shoot 9X19 through the 9mm Largo guns can cause jams that may bend feed lips and break loaded chamber indicators. That's what I'm seeing with this gun, anyway. Pretty safe bet it was from using the wrong ammo in it.
Begemot
Will definitely look into rental of a 9X23 reamer. Thanks for the tip, irishsteve. Don't want to run a 9X19 reamer to 23 as the taper would leave some extra wiggle room toward the rear of the case. Did look into ctg dimensions and fortunately the slight taper of 9X23 Win will very slightly open the chamber throughout its length, which should give me a very clean job. That'll allow me to run 9mm Largo through it and should give some margin of safety to anyone who might run 9X23 Win through it (I think it's best to consider what the next owner of a gun may do with it). Thanks for the reply.
You may be able to make an even trade for a 9mmLargo bbl. Many people seem to want to make the Model A into a parabellum shooter and look for a barrel in 9mmLuger cal.
Just the fact of ammo being cheaper and more readily available.
You may get some response to that over on the Spanish Handgun Forum,,,
The magazine feed lip length is different on the Largo mags vs the Luger caliber mags.
Aftermarket barrels used to be available in 9mmLuger when a large number of these Model A/9mmLargo pistols became surplus a few years back. The reports of the quality of those barrels varied.
The other option I'd take would be the rental of a reamer as already suggested.
Just the fact of ammo being cheaper and more readily available.
You may get some response to that over on the Spanish Handgun Forum,,,
The magazine feed lip length is different on the Largo mags vs the Luger caliber mags.
Aftermarket barrels used to be available in 9mmLuger when a large number of these Model A/9mmLargo pistols became surplus a few years back. The reports of the quality of those barrels varied.
The other option I'd take would be the rental of a reamer as already suggested.
nOTE that the head diameter of a 9X19is .391 and of the 9X 23 is .392 (both nominal) so running a 9 X 19 reamer 2 mm farther will not compromise the 9X 23 chamber. The 9mm Largo head is .382, so it has already been reamed out for the 9 X 19. Shouldn't be a problem. Clark says he has done this many times.
The 38 Super Auto case at the head is .383 diameter
And PTG supplies reamers factory direct, you don't need Brownell for this, but borrowing one is better if you can. PTG shipped me a 7.62 X 25 reamer next day from stock.
The 38 Super Auto case at the head is .383 diameter
And PTG supplies reamers factory direct, you don't need Brownell for this, but borrowing one is better if you can. PTG shipped me a 7.62 X 25 reamer next day from stock.
Old Steve -- already have a rental reamer on its way, but thanks for the info on use of 9X19 reamers. Didn't have a 9X19 reamer handy. I'd been encountering references to a difference in throat between 2X23 Win and 9X19 anyway. Better to cut the thing to the standard of the much hotter 9X23 Win and shoot 9mm Largo is my thinking. Gun is an A, not a B -- so this will be more of a refurb than a conversion. I had thought of trying to swap the 9X19 barrel for a Largo, but just couldn't bring myself to part with such a nice looking bore for something that may or may not be on par. Besides -- it's an excuse to use a cutting tool -- and -- the 9X19 barrel would have been proofed for a higher pressure, so that's not a bad deal either. Hmmm gotta be some other justification I can dream up. Christmas is on its way. There. That'll do.
I've been tempted by an ongoing ad a certain vendor keeps running in SGN for the Star Modelo Super in 9mm Largo.
Read the fine print though and they are sold as "Gunsmith specials", with something different wrong with each one and not to be fired as is. No returns.
The price is right, even though they charge an extra $15 for C&R dated ones, and I'm letting my C&R FFL expire at the end of this month as I just don't use it that much any more.
Have read in other topics that the steel used in the Stars tends to be soft and inferior, they wear out fast, and parts are nigh on impossible to find. Has that been your experience?
If I could get one up and running with a little judicious tinkering I'd have a go at it - but don't want to get stuck with a major re build on a gun no one makes or stocks parts for any more! Sometimes a "Klunker" like this just needs a good cleaning to make it right... but who knows with these things?
Another thing I want to do is ream out my 9X19mm CZ-52 barrel to .38 super or largo. The Luger round is just pathetically anemic in the old Czech-O-Matic!
Read the fine print though and they are sold as "Gunsmith specials", with something different wrong with each one and not to be fired as is. No returns.
The price is right, even though they charge an extra $15 for C&R dated ones, and I'm letting my C&R FFL expire at the end of this month as I just don't use it that much any more.
Have read in other topics that the steel used in the Stars tends to be soft and inferior, they wear out fast, and parts are nigh on impossible to find. Has that been your experience?
If I could get one up and running with a little judicious tinkering I'd have a go at it - but don't want to get stuck with a major re build on a gun no one makes or stocks parts for any more! Sometimes a "Klunker" like this just needs a good cleaning to make it right... but who knows with these things?
Another thing I want to do is ream out my 9X19mm CZ-52 barrel to .38 super or largo. The Luger round is just pathetically anemic in the old Czech-O-Matic!
Uncle J -- I have to get some 9mm Largo and do some shooting. But I will say that this gun appears to have been constructed of high quality materials. It's a military surplus gun made in 1948 and has clearly seen some use but everything seems to fit and function very well. It seems on par with any other high quality military handgun of its day -- Brownings, Berettas, Colts -- whatever. I can't think of anyplace on the gun that shows enough wear to be worth mentioning. There was some damage, but I'm pretty certain that was from use of 9X19 in it. The outfit I bought it from had a couple of Star Bs, but they had been cruelly buffed down and re-blued. Even so, They looked very functional and by no means constructed of inferior materials. I've seen a number of other Star As and Bs over the years. All of them looked solid. I don't know if the earlier guns differ in quality from the "Supers." I'm really just starting to familiarize myself with them. Personally -- I'd recommend looking for a nice clean looking gun at a gun show rather than picking one up that you know has problems. Not sure about parts availability. Look into parts availability first. Good luck. So far I'm pretty impressed with the Star A.
Remembered after posting on the question of Star durability that I knew a guy in the early 1990s who had a Star in .45 ACP (can't remember that model number -- they only made them for about a year). He'd had it since it was new, as I recall, and had shot it a lot. He was looking for a new barrel for it, as he'd dumped a lot of rounds through his original and felt the gun really needed a replacement. But it still shot okay and was reliable and that was the gun he carried when he went bounty hunting -- picking up bail skips -- whatever you want to call that odd little job. He'd carried and used it so much that he replaced the grips about that time. And he could have easily bought another gun. Just that he couldn't readily find another Star in .45 ACP, and he really preferred that design. So -- that's at least one more vote for the Star as a high quality gun.
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