Star SA 9mm: A Classic Single-Action Pistol from Spain

Since the dawn of organized weapons makers and armies, the purchasing governments have demanded a system for assuring that the products live up to their promised specifications. This practice became most organized, and earned the name of "proofing" with the advent of firearms, when armor plates were proof tested to assure their resistance to (proof against) early gunfire. Though 100% of armor in those early days was tested, this rapidly changed to batch testing, which is what we have now with most firearms. A representative sample of each lot of weapons is tested with a proofing cartridge, which has vastly higher pressure than the normal specifications. If the weapon survives a certain number of these, it passes, and all weapons in the lot get the proof mark to certify they meet the government's minimum expectations of function and safety.

The Spanish government set up a proof house in Eibar starting in 1923. From 1927 onward, the proof mark additionally was accompanied by a letter code, indicating the year of proofing. There are 28 letters or letter-combinations, as explained in the chart below. Every 28 years or so (there are inexplicable gaps) they start a new series, by adding a number to the end of the letter codes.

star sa 9mm serial number

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The Spanish government proof house set up 28 letters or letter-combinations that replace years, starting in 1927. There was no proof house in Eibar before 1927. Every 28 years or so (there are inexplicable gaps) they start a new series, by adding a number to the end of the letter codes.

Proof marks are often very shallow, and in obscure places, like far up the trigger guard. You might not notice them unless looking, under bright light, at low angles. All the examples on this page are highlighted in crayon; yours will not be this visible. Also think like the manufacturer. The proofs are placed before assembly. They may be under the stocks, and on small guns, very often are completely or partly under the grip panels. Pull those off (for many guns, like the Firestar, be careful not to move the safety as a plunger can become dislodged and fly away, lost forever when the grips are off) and look if you have no other luck.

First of all, there is simply no such thing as a model SA, or S.A. That is part of the company name, and means "Anonymous Society," (Sociedad Anónima). Kind of like Inc. or Corp. in the US. The right place to find all older Star pistol model numbers is on the butt, as seen in the illustrations below and photo to the right. On the flat plate on the bottom of the gun, just rear of where the magazine is inserted, look for a letter, set of letters or a word. The longer number is your serial number, incidentally.

Just to add more trouble, some pistols will simply be marked "Super," with no letter codes. These are the Super (linkless, quick-takedown lever) versions of a number of models. I know of the Super designation appearing alone on model A and B pistols, but it can be on others as well. Use caliber and other details of the gun to determine your model if this is the case.

Some older pistols will have no model number on the butt. This used to be rare, but is increasingly common as old stocks are cleared out. These are all the year coded, Spanish government issue pistols, like the Model 1922 and Model 1940. Some will clearly be these, as they will carry appropriate crests, or military acceptance stamps. Some will simply need to be identified by looking at photos. Check the model A and B pages for the closest match and read the descriptions.

Another confusion comes up sometimes in caliber markings being confused with weapon names. Patronen '08 is a way of saying "the cartridges that fit in the model 1908 pistol." The Pistol '08 is the Luger, and more recently the cartridge that fits it is called the 9 mm Luger, or Parabellum. Up thru the 50s at least, a number of Stars in 9 mm had the chamber hoods stamped P'08 or something similar. This is just a caliber notation. The German-issued Star Pistols were only made from 1942-44, should have the last three digits of the serial on all major components, and may have German Army and/or Nazi proofmarks. Identification of this weapons continues to be problematic.

Newer pistols have a model name or number, sometimes with a type suffix, clearly on the sides of the gun. Any brand names (e.g. "Firestar Plus") are on the slide and any listed model numbers are on the right side of the frame above the grip panels. Some pistols will have no model number listed. The Megastar, for example, is the Model 50, but is [more or less] invariably sold as the "Model Megastar."

All the modern pistols have model numbers instead of letters, starting with 28. I have no idea what happened to the first 27 or to many of the numbers in between. Some are clearly also just chosen for marketing needs, like the .45 ACP caliber Firestar M45. Some also have other apparent meanings. The Firestar Plus is the M243, where adding 200 to the M43 must mean "super version" or something to the Star engineering department. Similarly, the M105 was an alloy predecessor to the M205 plastic framed Ultrastar. Not obvious what they all mean, but they definitely mean something.

Some of the modern pistols also use variant designators. These are much simpler, though. Basically M (Military) means steel, and usually the longer of the two, and P (Police) means shorter. K continues to mean alloy-framed. These are used on the 28/30/31 series, and are always used but not all variants exist.. There is no "base" Model 30, and no M30MK or M30P. Sometimes, these are not used at all, so the model number for the Firestar Plus has no K suffix, to designate that it is alloy framed.

If trying to interpret your gun, or figure this out generally, my working theory is that suffixes are generally for variants, and not to be universal descriptors. Compare to the S&W number scheme for 3rd generation pistols; each part of the 4 digit code meant the caliber, frame size, frame material, and action. Star pistols appear to be a model then variation. So the M243 is always alloy framed, so no need to have a "K" suffix to say anything about the alloy frame as that's standard.

The main U.S. importers of new, commercial sale Stars were the Garcia Corp. in Washington, D.C. and Interarms of Alexandria, Virginia. Lately, a few others have started importing used surplus guns, most notably Century Arms; these guns will carry a stamp reading "C.I.A. ST. ALB VI.," often in odd places. Magnum Research has always been an importer, as their primary product line is actually made in Israel. They have, over the years, imported other things as they come up, but usually do not advertise under their own name in any way. These will have the "MRI MNPLS MN" stamping, usually on the bottom of the dust cover.

Especially because of the large number of Star pistols imported as surplus, import marks are almost always of no value when trying to identify the gun. If you are trying to buy one, they can be useful, as many people will post the gun for sale as being made by Interarms, and so on.

ENRIQUE LUCIANO, 31, of Hartford, is charged by criminal complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The complaint alleges that, on June 4, 2018, Luciano pulled out a gun and pointed it at plainclothes Hartford Police detectives investigating drug activity on Cabot Street. After the detectives identified themselves as police officers, Luciano fled and discarded the firearm. Luciano was apprehended and the firearm, a loaded 9mm Taurus PT 908 with an obliterated serial number, was recovered. In August 2017, Luciano was convicted in state court of possession of narcotics. Luciano is currently detained in state custody.

The Star BM is a compact, single-action, locked-breech, 9 mm semi-auto pistol that accepts an eight-round single-stack magazine. These pistols have blued finishes ranging from polished to matte. The left side of the slide is stamped "STAR EIBAR ESPAÑA" with an eight-point star. The right side is marked "CAL. 9 m/m NATO". The original serial number is located on the right side of the frame above the trigger guard with the number 92 stamped into the left side of the trigger guard and the initials BM stamped into the base of the grip frame. Unfortunately, the importation data and a new serial number have been roughly tapped into the right sides of the slide and frame. It would have been nice if these markings could have been added more subtly so as to preserve the original appearance.

The US-based gunsmith Timothy F. La France, the principal of LaFrance Specialties (formerly of San Diego, California) used the Star BM pistol as a basis to manufacture a sub-compact custom pistol called the NOVA 6-Pack, basically a Star BM shortened to pocket-size; the NOVA 6-Pack was manufactured only under custom order in a very small number of samples, and was, at one time, the smallest 9mm handgun in the world.

I have a Remington Mosin Nagant rifle built in late 1917. Serial in high 500 000s. I believe it was sporterized at the factory. I say this because the rifle never was cut for the Arshin site. It has only v notch and square notch rear site, two way flip up.It also has turned down bolt handle that is long and angled to rear. It is not a Bent Bannerman style, or a cut and welded fake sniper rifle. Bolt serial matches the rest of the gun and has a Remington proof mark at base of bolt handle.Stock is modified factory stock with possible Buffalo horn forend.How can I get an expert to examine my rifle or at least look at some pictures to see if it has some value?Thanks in advance. Randy

Just baught a 22 cal Nagant rifle. Hadn't done my research on the gun so it was a guess to what it was worth. I'm pretty sure it was imported as it had a car tush that said Mo in a rectangle and a D in a circle. Serial number is AB05879 built in 1954. Anybody got any ideas?

I have a 1916 M 91 Finnish Army Rifle in excellent condition all matching serial numbers and has the KMK button intact( I have been told they were removed for some reason by the Russians). It has the original strap and one collector said it had a few rare features. I am in Canada but have uploaded images to a Gun collector site in the states and was told I could sell it there for over a thousand. Here in Canada the most I was offered was $500. It was purchased from the grandson of the original owner/soldier who immigrated to the US after the war at a yard sale in Maine. 2ff7e9595c