Debugging Star Model B - Magazine latch-in height

[Longarm9]

Hello all,

I'm working on debugging my Star Model B's stoppage problems, based on the excellent work of Keg Island Research, as blogged about here:
http://www.kegisland.com/star-b-debugging-project.html

He recommends lowering the mag latch-in height of the star to help prevent stoppages, and I think he's absolutely right about that. I've noticed that the top round in the mag tends to bump the curved underside of the fixed ejector, encouraging the rounds to jump forward, which is the cause of much grief with these pistols. I believe that lowering the height at which the mag sits when latched would help for this reason, and the reason the KI cites on their blog, that it will hit the feed ramp lower and further back. Unfortunately, he doesn't specify how exactly he adjusted this, only that he did.

My question is, what is the best way to achieve this? The most obvious solution that occurred to me was to remove the mag catch and file the top edge so that the mag sits about 1-2mm lower (KI recommends having the top of the feed lips sit 1.2mm above the frame rails when latched in). However, this would of course not prevent the mag from bumping upward, it would only permit it to sit lower. I feel that for best reliability, I would need to somehow prevent the mag from riding up to its original too-high position, even for a moment.

The ideal situation would be to machine a new part that sits lower somehow and relieve the frame to accommodate it, but I really don't have the expertise or the equipment to be manufacturing new parts. I also considered making some sort of spacer for either the mags or the bottom of the frame that would prevent them being inserted too far.

What do you guys think? What's the best solution for this? Any helpful responses much appreciated.

Cheers!

Longarm

 

[bush1]

I've been considering getting one of these more for collecting than useing it as a regular shooter but was wondering about the reliability. A few Vancouver dealers have some but haven't seen any locally around here so I'll just hold off for now.
Any comments from owners of these?

 

[marshall]

I have sold a few of these with no problem, other one of the first one ,the mag disconnector had to be tuned up, the hammer would not drop with a mag in it.
I find they are very good for the price.

 

[Longarm9]

They are very accurate, well made pistols. Unfortunately, when the Soviets captured them, they applied their Soviet weapons manufacturing logic to them and assumed they were made in the same way as Mosins and Tokarevs and the like, with looser tolerances and interchangeable parts. When they stripped them down and threw all the parts randomly into various buckets and then reassembled them after cleaning, the result was that some of the pistols now have issues like jamming, safeties not engaging with the hammer at full #### unless you pull back on the hammer a bit, etc.

Another issue that contributes to the jamming problems is that the pistol was originally designed for 9mm Largo, which is about 3mm longer than 9mm Luger, and was designed for steel cased ammo, which conspires to create more jams.

Mine is a jam-o-matic, although when it does fire, it puts the rounds in a nice tight group. I'm currently working on fixing the issue, hence this thread.

Right now, the best solution I've come up with is to file down the mag catch, then build a little blocker at the bottom of the mag well out of JB Weld metal putty, to prevent over insertion of the magazines. We'll see how it goes.'

If someone has a better suggestion, please share!