Star PD
| Length Overall |
Barrel Length |
Weight |
Caliber |
Action Type |
Magazine capacity |
|
4" |
|
.45 A.C.P. |
Recoil Semi Auto |
6 |
This was one of the origonal compact large caliber
handguns. The design dates back to the late sixties, and reached it's peak
of popularity in the seventies. This was surely the inspiration for general
production of the Colt Officer's model (it had previously been a custom
gunsmith produced model), and the numerous ultra compact guns which most
gunmakers seem to be offering these days. The gun is a real beast to shoot,
as can be expected from the weight, size, and caliber used.
Though some allowances have been made to accomodate
the shorter length, the PD is basically a shortened 1911 style automatic,
even to the extent that it can use standard 1911, and Commander magazines
(though they stick out of the bottom a bit). It has a specially designed
barrel bushing, and is missing one of the locking lugs on the barrel. The
guns retain the toggle link, and the partially unsupported chamber of the
origonal Browning design.
There was a lot of contradictory information out on
the Star, back when it was in production. The main reason for this was the
uneven quallity control at the Star factory. This was particularly the case
with the hardening of the metal. The proccess used by Star was not consistantly
done, and seemed to vary with the day and even the operator who did the
work. What this meant for the consumer was that buying a Star PD, or
any other Star pistol, was a bit of a gamble. If you were fortunate enough
to get one of the properly heat treated examples, what you got was a superb
combat and carry gun at a bargain price. If you were not so lucky, you ended
up with an undependable gun of dubious quallity which would quickly wear
out. This is sad because this was one of the great combat pistol designs
of it's day, and deserved better. To this day, current production guns from
Star have the same problem, as do Llama pistols.