I've been offered an extremely nice Star Model B 9mm for a stupid good price. Before I jump in, what are the pros and cons of these things? I never owned one so have no feel for these things. Note: it's been years since I messed with a 9mm and haven't any ammo or dies anymore, which is another consideration during these troubled times. (.45 ACP, .45 Colt, .38 Spl, etc. etc. I have aplenty, just no 9mm and I really don't want/need a "new" caliber but this Star is awfully tempting.)

The only major problem I have found with Star pistols is that after using them for a while, you start looking for more !

My neighbor offered me a nice one. I said I needed to try it out first. It couldn't get through a magazine full of FMJ without jamming. No thanks. Of course that was a sample of one, so the one you're considering might be completely reliable.

I only use fmj in old military handguns, so for me the only drawback would be lack of spare parts in case something breaks.

/Star's were straight up military grade pistols, so they're well made and robust. But its an old military pistol. So don't expect it to be a match gun with a sweet trigger...it's a rack grade military pistol; no more, no less. Star sold a LOT of them, yet never really bagged the "big" contract.

The design is a simplification of the 1911. They're reliable with FMJ and they shoot rather well. The biggest issue is parts...there are no warehouses full of Star parts.

Since the Model B never saw any major military adoption, parts were always made on an as needed basis. Customers who bought the Star's were all over the globe, but they bought them by the hundreds rather than the thousands. As a result, no nation ever really built up a stockpile of parts.

If the pistol is in good condition and under $300, I personally would buy it.

HAHA damn. So a good friend of mines Dad was a local small town police chief. He got a Star Model B off someone he arrested or something. it was 30+ years ago and I forget the details. Anyway he was sitting in his chair messing with it and trying to unload it but it was hung up and he couldn't get the slide to move. So he's messing with it and BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. TV got shot dead. Put a round right through the tube of the TV with it. He took it out to the shop. Beat it to pieces until he got the rest of the ammo out and melted it down with a torch.

That'll teach it.

My first semiauto pistol was a Star Model B, complete with a military holster and spare magazine. I only shot ball through it and don't remember it ever malfunctioning. It did give a pretty good hammer bite if you didn't grip it just so. Wish I still had it.

I have a B, BM, and S. All first rate. B must have had a trigger job from the armorer, because it is on par with a good 1911.
I think all of mine came in a factory box. Of course I got them 30 years ago.

Yep.
Only two problems with the stars that I see.

Parts, and a proprietary magazine.

Yeah, these days, you'd only buy one as a novelty.