Boy, am I fickle or what ?

[DenStinett]

Well, I sold my "Old Beater" Ruger P85 already
Yeah, I've only had it for a few weeks
Well it's because I found the Pistol I was originally searching for
I found a 1995 (Stavel finished), Star M243, Firestar Plus:


It came to me with two, 18Rd MecGar Mags, and an OEM Star 13Rd Magazine I've ordered for it too
49 + 1 Rounds of 9mm at my command
The M243 weighs in at 1.4 lbs empty and 2.2 lbs loaded with 19Rds of Federal 147gr HSHPs
Reach is: 2.570" with a 0.120" Take-up
The Trigger breaks at a constant and quite smooth 4.0 lbs
Overtravel is quite nice at just 0.040", with a 0.110" Reset and a 0.070" follow-up Take-up

The M243 is real similar to the CZ 2075 RAMI B in most dimensions, but the M243 is almost 6 ozs lighter empty, than an empty 2075
But the RAMI does carry one more Round in its stock HiCap Mag and is a DA/SA rather than the Firestar Plus being SAO
Also, the Firestar Plus is only 0.6 ozs heavier (empty) than an empty Glock 26 and carries 3 more Rounds in its stock Magazine, than a stock G26 Mag
PLUS .... I HATE Glocks

All in all, the Star M243, Firestar Plus, is a very nice little Pistol

[DenStinett]

Interesting thing about these MecGar, 18Rd Magazines
They are actually MG-P226-9, an 18Rd SIG P226 Mag with a Grip Spacer / Adaptor:

[sqlbullet]

Interesting.

That means that beretta 92 mags could be made to work as well.  That was a pleasant suprise for me when I picked up my Arex Zero1S.  I quick hold 30 seconds of file work and a Beretta mag works perfectly in it.

[DenStinett]

Interesting.

That means that beretta 92 mags could be made to work as well.  That was a pleasant suprise for me when I picked up my Arex Zero1S.  I quick hold 30 seconds of file work and a Beretta mag works perfectly in it.

Yeah, that IS interesting
Here's a close-up of the Mag Lock Cut in these Mags:


As they sit, the SIG Followers do not hold the Star Slide open on empty
So I ordered a few OEM Star M243 Followers to swap them out
Hopefully, they'll do the job

[DenStinett]

So I heard back from MecGar regarding these Magazines
And as we suspected:
"We don't offer any magazines for Star pistols and don't advertise they will work with them. We don't offer any spacers of any type"
These Magazines come from; Joe's Pawn
https://www.joespawnshop.net/Star-Firestar-Plus-9mm-NEW-18rd-Extended-Magazine-S381.htm?categoryId=-1
Someone there must mill the Spacer and mod the Magazine so they will "work" in the M243
I did hear back from them too
They didn't admit, nor deny they're making / modding these Mags
"If you're not happy with them, return them and we'll refund your money"

[DenStinett]

Well, after I installed a modified Star Follower, and a bit of Spring work, I got these SIG Mags to run and function 100%
Holds 18 Rounds, Feed and Slide hold-back, all works GREAT !

[sparkyv]

Good work. It's always a rewarding feeling of pride in successfully fixing/modifying machines and tools.

[DenStinett]

Noticed I posted the wrong side of the Magazine to show the Mag Catch Slot they made:



Here's the Firestar Plus with its Hogue HandAll Grip Sleeve:

[Kenk]

Nice, I like it!

[DenStinett]

Thanks Kenk
Was thinking a Matte Black Finish for the Slide is in order (?)
Love that DuoTone look

[Kenk]

That would be way sharp

Ken

[DenStinett]

That would be way sharp

Ken

[DenStinett]

Thinking I'll drop it by Black Ice on Monday   http://blackicecoatings.com/
Looking to have the Hammer, Mag Base, Mag Release, Mag Tube(s), Slide, Slide Lock, Thumb Safeties and Trigger Matte Blacked
Hoping it'll come-out looking like these:

[Kenk]

Way nice!