They Ain't Star...

[DanielChamberlain]

So, while in Spain, I discovered the police departments don't use Spanish pistols. They use H&K. Evidently the Star brand didn't cut it.

[Gila]

[bullsi1911]

Didn’t Star go out of business in the mid 90s?

[breamfisher]

1997, per Wikipedia

[DanielChamberlain]

No wonder.

[Gene L]

I've got a Star BM 9 and its an excellent pistol. It was a former Spanish police pistol. Looks like a 1911.

[Bigslug]

Didn’t Star go out of business in the mid 90s?

I was working the LGS scene from '92 forward through that period, and we were selling the little Firestar 9, .40, and .45's imported by Interarms hand over fist. NICE guns - single action only, reversed CZ-75-style slide rails, all-steel, basically Colt Officer's Model size single stacks. I don't remember what we were selling them for at the time, but it was regarded as a steal. We weren't quite stacking them to the rafters while the waiting periods went through, but damn near.

My perception is that the introduction of the Glock 26 and 27 in 1994 was what singlehandedly killed off Star. Smaller, lighter, and held more bullets - the Firestar went from being the pistol we couldn't get enough of to the pistol we almost had to give away to clear space. I don't recall exactly when it was that Interarms folded up their tent, but that would not have helped matters.

[bullsi1911]

I really wanted the 45 Firestar. It was the darling of the gun press for a while.

[Gene L]

Glock put a number of pistol vendors out of businesses. I well remember when they were introduced. There was a lot of negative gun mag press, Glock was a marketing genius. Glock knocked S&W out the door for LEAs and have maintained their No 1 status. Smith had gotten a little slack in manufacturing. At least I think it did. I haven't bought a modern S&W to compare so they may be even better than it was. Glock to the gun market is like Japanese to autos. I think the competition is good for us.