STAR C-series 25 ACP

tyr_shadowblade

tyr_shadowblade

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I used to collect 25 ACP peashooters but sold them all off years ago to focus on J-frames instead. Anyhow, when I was a wee lad my Da gave me a tiny chrome plated cap gun called the "cub automatic" which was covered with engraving. Always wanted a pistol like that. The closest I found was the STAR modelo CO with factory engraving, but I'd never actually seen one in 30 years outside of pictures . . . until today.

Fellow posted that a friend had found this in his grandfather's belongings, and apparently it had sat in a box in a drawer for 60 years. There was a little wear on the finish due to carry, and the original grips had deteriorated and fallen to pieces, but it looked in excellent shape otherwise. Everything functioned smoothly, the firing pin was intact, the magazine was there, and it appeared that less than a dozen rounds had ever been fired down the pipe. Paid 300 for the pistol, a carrying case, and 7 rounds of FMJ.

Pistol strips down super easy and has a lot of similarities to the Titan but is clearly a superior design, Frame and slide are steel. Takedown is accomplished by pressing a button then pulling the slide back and up. Interior was very clean, but soaked the springs in RemOil for a bit and cleaned whatever gunk I could find.

Ordered a set of repro grips in bright white and a set of screws that should probably fit. Will load it with my favorite round for this caliber, the Winchester X-panding point.
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Nice saturday night special. Although I would be hesitant to just toss that gun aside after I emptied it.
 
I'd love to see some pix of your gun. I have an odd attraction to little guns like that....
 
I used to shoot one of its siblings.

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When I was a squirt, I'd go to Gabby Hartnett Bowling and rent the gun store's used pistols for target practice. Gabby's main business was bowling but he had a 25 yard basement range, very nice — except when the suits came in with their .357 magnums. I did not like the Star at all, and I hated the P38. But a nice engraved one like yours I would keep and even shoot. And I would try to find mother of pearl grips for it, just to honor Gen. Patton. Do you remember George C. Scott's line from that stupid movie?

Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl-handled pistol.
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I have funny story about that, but it will have to wait until later today.

Sixty minutes later:

The expedition was cancelled and I can continue my tale.

This Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless, Serial Number 118197, was shipped 9 September 1913 to Col. Emmett E. Walker, Asst. Quartermaster General, Texas Rangers, as a one piece order (his personal sidearm). You will note Col. Walker's mother of pearl grips.

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Col. Walker was cashiered and dishonorably discharged in 1916 for selling Texas Ranger rifles and ammunition to Lucio Blanco's anarchist army in the Mexican Revolution. I'm not a big fan of the Rangers, but IMO no one who carries a pearl-handled pistol could be all bad.
 
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Nice looking guns to to be had in this thread. Sadly though I'm just not that big of a fan of the .25 ACP, due to the cost and ballistic performance.
 
Charlie_K said:
Sadly though I'm just not that big of a fan of the .25 ACP, due to the cost and ballistic performance.
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Yeah, there's that. The .32 ACP has roughly twice the velocity and energy of the .25 ACP, which is comparable to the .22 Short. After I sold off my .25s to focus on snubs, I picked up a Taurus IB17 on impulse . . . a 9-shot snub that fired .17M2 rounds . . . and yes, it even had pearl grips. Ended up selling that too. After firing 2 cylinders you needed to clean it or the cylinder would bind halfway through cylinder 3. Very silly revolver, once you think about it, probably even less practical than a .25, but I digress.

Subcaliber pocket pistols fall into an odd category. They suck as home defense guns, but are a lot better than a knife or a bludgeon. Someone once said "Shooting someone with a .25 is like stabbing them with an icepick, but you can do it repeatedly from 10 feet away." Statistically, half the people who get shot with the .25 do die, just not at the scene, they usually walk away from the scene and die an hour later. .25 ACP became obsolete the moment the .22 WMR NAA mini hit the market. Only 80 year old men and teenaged gangbangers carry .25s anymore, but up until the late 1970s they were a very popular backup piece because they were so small. And yeah, lots of one shot stops with these too . . . sometimes either the shooter is very skilled, or the victim is very unlucky. Saw the autopsy report on a 300# biker who died several minutes after being shot with a .25 in the abdominal aorta, so they can and will do the job if need be.

I will try to post pics later.
 
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Tyr, here's a true story about a .25 auto.

I once knew a guy named Al. He wasn't a friend, but a friend of a friend, and in truth he was kind of a jerk. He was one of those black belt instructors at a belt factory, also know as a large chain of karate studio's in the Washington D.C. area. Was some kind of umpteen belt black belt, and very proud of it. He was known to b brag about how he and how buddies would go to bars and 'manage' to get into fights so they could beat up unsuspecting yahoo's. Real prince of a guy!:roll eyes:

But, his real Monday thru Friday job, 9 to 5 was as a government cog downtown in D.C. One of the Department of places. Department of interior, or the department of commerce, or something. Like I said, didn't know the guy very well at all, didn't really want to. Anyways, he'd drive from the suburb of Wheaton Maryland a few miles down to the Silver Spring Maryland and leave his car in the parking garage and hop on the Metro downtown.

Well one day he and some other commuters get off the train, take the elevator down to the lower level of the packing garage, the elevator doors open and they step out, and right in front of them is a skinny little inner city teenage crack head with a gun. Witnesses describe it as a little shiny auto. At that time in the 1980's, D.C. was having a real crack epidemic and the the Raven .25 was one of the most popular guns on the street. Cheap and available as Bic lighters.

The little crackhead tells everyone to toss their wallets down and walk away. Al, umpteen degree black belt decides to play Bruce Lee and tries some martial arts thing, and there's a shot. Witnesses described it as like a firecracker. Al, Mid 30's strong young guy and karate black belt goes to his knees clutching his chest, then collapses face down on the cement floor, and his last words uttered was "Oh shite" then dies right there. He left behind a young wife and little daughter, and the police report said he died from a single .25 bullet to chest.

A .25 is no joke like some people think, and like any other gun, will kill ya if it hit the right spot. Little crack head ran off never to be found.
 
If you guys keep this up, I'm going to be inquiring about whether or not there are any of those cruddy zinc-made Saturday Night Specials that are reliable.
 
Charlie_K said:
If you guys keep this up, I'm going to be inquiring about whether or not there are any of those cruddy zinc-made Saturday Night Specials that are reliable.
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The Raven was extremely reliable . . . but it was also bulky, heavy, and unsafe to carry with a round chambered.
The "Titan" (aka "Targa" GT27, Hermano, and a couple other brands depending on importer or lack thereof) was also extremely reliable, thinner, lighter, and safer to carry than the Raven. Sort of like a no-frills Jetfire with it's cutout slide and external hammer. Most were made from a variety of parts imported by EIG, FIE, Excam, Heritage, and a few lesser known companies in Florida after the GCA '68 banned import of pistols and frames. Most had imported steel slides installed on USA cast zinc frames. At least one importer cast zinc slides, but they were too thin to be durable (unlike the Raven which was built like a tank). At least a half dozen versions of this gun, with 2 styles of firing pin and 3 styles of magazine, none of which interchange. But they are reliable and surprisingly accurate. I carried a Titan in my boot for a few years, and the damned thing was more accurate than my Colt Officer 45. Sold it when I realized the half cock setting for the hammer was not entirely safe . . . would sometimes want to drop from half cock unexpectedly, which could've been bad. Safe to carry with the hammer down, but it was a lot harder to cock that way.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
The Raven was extremely reliable . . . but it was also bulky, heavy, and unsafe to carry with a round chambered.
The "Titan" (aka "Targa" GT27, Hermano, and a couple other brands depending on importer or lack thereof) was also extremely reliable, thinner, lighter, and safer to carry than the Raven. Sort of like a no-frills Jetfire with it's cutout slide and external hammer. Most were made from a variety of parts imported by EIG, FIE, Excam, Heritage, and a few lesser known companies in Florida after the GCA '68 banned import of pistols and frames. Most had imported steel slides installed on USA cast zinc frames. At least one importer cast zinc slides, but they were too thin to be durable (unlike the Raven which was built like a tank). At least a half dozen versions of this gun, with 2 styles of firing pin and 3 styles of magazine, none of which interchange. But they are reliable and surprisingly accurate. I carried a Titan in my boot for a few years, and the damned thing was more accurate than my Colt Officer 45. Sold it when I realized the half cock setting for the hammer was not entirely safe . . . would sometimes want to drop from half cock unexpectedly, which could've been bad. Safe to carry with the hammer down, but it was a lot harder to cock that way.
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Do you mean what's referred to as the FIE Titan?
 
About 10 years ago, before my father passed away, he gave me a Tanfoglio Giuseppe, made in Italy, GT 27, .25 cal. (why not GT25?) Black w/chrome slide. Kinda cheaper looking white plastic grips. I tried to find some different grips for it but gave up after awhile and I wasn't looking for pearl. Neat little thing. I've never shot it. I took it to a gunsmith and had him check it out and clean/lube it.

I call her Jane. As it, plain Jane.
 
Ah, if that was a Tangfolio with no import stamp you lucked out and got a steel framed one. They are very good pistols, best of the "Saturday night specials" anyway.
 
No such luck. EXCAM - HIALEAH, FLA
whenever me and luck are brought up --- I always say that with my kinda luck, I could fall into a barrel full of boobies and come out sucking my thumb...
 
Kootaga13 said:
No such luck. EXCAM - HIALEAH, FLA
whenever me and luck are brought up --- I always say that with my kinda luck, I could fall into a barrel full of boobies and come out sucking my thumb...
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For those of us without regular access to boobies, that would probably be our natural reaction from the sensory overload.
 
Just make sure the springs are oiled and it should run fine, zinc frame or not. Very reliable pistols that are fun to shoot . . . and unlike a Jennings you don't need to clean 'em every other mag.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
Just make sure the springs are oiled and it should run fine, zinc frame or not. Very reliable pistols that are fun to shoot . . . and unlike a Jennings you don't need to clean 'em every other mag.
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Is that during the break in period, or all the time?
 
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