Any body know anything about these guns m40 in particular

Had a Star 40 S&W back in the late 80's. Well built, heavy, all steel and barked like a BIG dog in 40 S&W! Don't remember anything bad about it and don't remember why I sold it, but I buy and sell too many! I do remember it was a pretty nice pistol.

The Stars seem to be well built. My local 'smith doesn't like them much and, IIRC, he thinks the steel was too soft. Parts are hard to find or getting that way.

People have talked about "soft" Spanish pistols for a couple generations. Yet you can find all sorts of former military STAR's that are just fine. They were never built as competition pistols, but your average STAR is metallurgically superior to GI 1911's, and no one has ever complained horribly about those. The M40 is a VERY tough all steel pistol, and they straight up work.

I'm down to just a few Stars, all the older models. My first 1911-type pistol was a model PS 45ACP, which I still own and occasionally shoot. Also have one of the F-Series 22s which no longer sees much action. A couple of PDs - the ultimate EDC CCO - round out the list. I like these pistols and miss their passing.

My most recent find is a Modelo Super in 9x19 which I bought on impulse at a good price, thinking about rechambering to 38 Super or 9x23 Largo. Haven't made that change and now doubt I will.

The Stars actually represent an improvement on the 1911, in concept. Elimination of the grip safety, thumb safety cams hammer out of engagement with sear, pivoting trigger with a pretty good pull right out of the box, easily removable magazine safeties in the later S models, slimmer slide and frame profile than the 1911s in the Model Bs - perfectly suited to the 38 Super and 9x23 Win cartridges.

IMHO a remake with modern steels and CNC manufacturing techniques of the Model B in both or either of the cartridges mentioned would be a winner I would sign up for. A few redesign tweaks - the mainspring and hammer mechanism, 1911 type rebounding firing pin and retention system, Commander type hammer, and return of the linkless barrel design of the BHP 1935 and used in the Star Modelo Super - would improve ease of takedown and eliminate parts that can cause problems over the long haul.

Are they worth $150 with 2 mags

Star, along with Astra, was the cream of Spanish pistols. Like most manufacturers, their quality improved steadily with advances in production. I still have a Star Model F .22 pistol, made in the 30's and recently owned an Astra 45 Colt DA Revolver similar to the S&W N Frames. Both are excellent, accurate examples of their respective type. I'll pick up a Star PD when the stars line up.

About the only reasons to avoid these guns are obvious defects or parts availability, which varies by model

Depends on condition. If it's functional and in good and/or repairable condition, chambered in a cartridge you want - definitely worth it.

My shooting buddy had a commander sized Star 1911. He had a rack of 8" steel plates setup at 75 yds and he was connecting well over 50% of his shots, close to 75% as I recall. Never seen any bobbles with feeding or ejection. I can't say if that's typical of Star pistols, but if it is I wouldn't hesitate to pick one up.

If it functions. What else could you get for 150 bucks these days.

Buy it or tell me where it's at. I currently have an m40 and an m9. No issues at all.

I would think so.

I had a Firestar back before Kahr came along. No, it does not have "soft steel". Mine never showed any signs of wear, and I shot it a lot and with hot loads too. It was very accurate and easy to shoot. I didn't care for the feel of the safety, and had it worked over a little by a 'smith. Still didn't have that feel of a 1911 safety or even a modern BHP. Trigger nothing to write home about (but then, neither is that on the BHP out of the box). Pretty darn good compact pistol for its time though, and for $150 (if it's working), worth picking up to play with or as a beater. I have heard that parts may be hard to find, though.

I've got one of these guys, a star bm in 9mm. Kind of like a mini 1911.
It's got a square cutout on the top left side of frame. Took a while to figure out star did that intentionally as a stress release as 1911's
tend to crack in that spot.
I have fired all kinds of ammo in it with no issues.
This one is kind of neat as it's serialized to the factory box.
I have a super B i inherited a few years ago that isn't half bad as a shooter either.
I think some of that stuff on spanish guns is popo.
Try the cetme, which was designed by germans for the spanish when they were a little bit in trouble after WWII.
And it's sucessor the hk91 or G3.
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/667482169

as to parts, i have never had anything break. But i did through another forum get a hold of a guy in spain, that had a lot of parts, and bought a new guide rod and spring.

I'd agree. Those I've had functioned fine. The 1911 types did pinch me a bit.

My last Star was many years ago and was a 1911 copy in 38 Super never had a malfunction with this pistol.

In the mid 90's I had a little stainless hi-cap Firestar Plus all steel 9mm pistol, it was one tough little customer that never failed to operate correctly, I specifically remember firing 147 gr XTP's at 1000 fps with that little pistol, dont remember who to or why I sold mine either.

I wonder about your statement of improved quality. I have two Astra's of the tubular slide design, a model 600 and a model 3000. Metallurgical and machining wise, they are without peer. As in, the machine work, fit and finish would rival the finest of the commercial Luger's ever made. All the tubular slide that Astra made share that same level of finish. They were even slow rust blued. Too bad it was such a goofy design. I mean, they're very accurate and reliable, so they've got it where they need it. But triggers are really stiff, and recoil is pretty darned harsh for a 9mm...my LW .45 Commander has less recoil than these blow back 9mm's. Still, interesting pistols, and exceptionally well made.

As remarked in an earlier post, Star and Astra were truly the cream of Spanish pistols. Head and shoulders above Llama, in my opinion.

Early military Llama's were very good, especially the .45's...Those are a real find when you find them; great quality, retro coolness! Their later commercial stuff wasn't all that great; quality was rather hit & miss. Their mini-1911 .22's were really cool when you found one that worked. They did finish on a high note with the M82 which I believe is still in service with the Spanish military; it's a very high quality pistol based on the Beretta 92 series.

Thanks for your helpful clarification, GG. I based my disdain for Llamas exclusively on my personal experience with Llama's commercial line of pistols. I appreciate your insights.

A gunwriter friend of mine told me the last batches of their 1911’s were very good, but I couldn’t tell you which ones are the good ones and which were the bad ones. He reviewed several for American Handgunner and he said he shot the snot out of them and they just ran like a scalded dog. Seems they were getting their quality problems worked out, probably with the addition/investment in CNC, but their sales never turned around and they went under.

Still have an Astra 9, its heavy and don't carry it, but never had issues with it.

One of the best carry guns that ever was is the Star PD, caliber .45 ACP.

No longer in production, it had an alloy frame, well designed safety, decent sights and was uber reliable.

The PD was an awesome pistol, and responsible for Colt creating the Officer's ACP. The STAR PD was flat, light, ergonomic, decent sights for the era, reliable, and shot straight. The only chink in it's armor was the LW frame. They went as light as they dared, and it's not a high round count gun; eventually the frame will crack. But it was one heck of a pistol back in the day.

At the same time, Astra had the A80, an all steel, hi-cap .45 ACP Sig 220 knock off, and it was very good quality. I remember when it first came out, there were a lot of our county sheriff's carrying it because there was nothing even close in .45 ACP.

The Spanish company's were innovators for sure...they just sucked at sales and marketing.

I always liked the PD.

My PD was a decent gun but fragile. Sold it.