Star Megastar: Spain's Massive 10mm Autopistol (ad-free)
Added 2022-09-19 12:00:07 +0000 UTCIn the late 1980s, the Spanish gunmaker Star decided to join the new hot trend of 10mm semiauto pistols. The cartridge was getting a lot of press, and Star saw this as an opportunity too ride the wave and also the get a pistol on the market that would attract IPSC competitors. Unlike some companies adapting existing .45ACP designs to 10mm, Star decided to start from scratch to build a pistol that was massive and durable; able to handle the power of the cartridge without any worries.
Star engineer Eduardo Zamacola (who had previously designed the M38/30/31 series for Star) had the first prototypes ready in 1990, in both 10mm Auto and .45 ACP. The design took cues from the Petter designs of France and SIG, with full-length internal slide rails and a removable modular fire control system. It offer 12 round capacity in .45 and 14 rounds in 10mm.
The pistol was quite massive and heavy (1.4kg / 3.1 lb), and failed to sell well from the start. The 10mm craze and flared out rather quickly - it remains a niche cartridge to this day, despite periodic releases of new 10mm pistols (the SIG 320 in 10mm being the most recent). What really killed the Megastar, though, was the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban in the US. This prohibited new magazines holding more than 10 rounds, and the whole point of the bulk of the Megastar was to allow larger double-stack magazines. With those no longer available, there was really not much reason to get a Megastar instead of something like a 1911. In total, just 978 were made in 10mm and 5,424 in .45ACP, with production ending in 1995.
Comments
As noted, the .38 Super also has “high pressure”. In fact, its SAMMI max pressure is 36,500 psi. It has been chambered in 1911-type models for almost 100 years, so by far the most common .45 ACP model seemed to have few issues with going to a “high pressure” cartridge back when Herbert Hoover was President.
2022-09-21 18:12:54 +0000 UTCThe comparison that's important is 10mm vs .45 ACP (not 9mm) because .45 ACP guns were being directly converted to 10mm without consideration for the increased pressure and the guns suffered for it.
Michael Baggott
2022-09-21 17:52:36 +0000 UTCAgree, I have three of them and the only issue is getting parts for them. I take them to CCW classes I help with and loan them to people that don't have decent weapons. They all rave about them.
Paul Ingraham
2022-09-21 17:09:26 +0000 UTCI love the Star BM, for a long time it was the only 9mm I thought was worth owning
JacksonCZ
2022-09-21 16:56:45 +0000 UTCLooks just like the new sig
2022-09-20 00:21:05 +0000 UTCCertainly looks like the Star 10mm pistol was engineered to last and survive the battering that Colt's Delta was getting, so after the Assault Weapons ban died, why didn't Star continue with this pistol? I have several of the Star BM pistols and enjoy them so their quality is fine, just getting parts now is the problem. I assume if I was to find one of these MegaStar 10mm pistols I would have the same problem....no parts.
Paul Ingraham
2022-09-19 16:49:24 +0000 UTCVery cool, thanks
Mrgunsngear
2022-09-19 16:33:00 +0000 UTCIt looks like if you asked CZ to make a SIG pistol.
z c
2022-09-19 16:25:35 +0000 UTCGlock's approach was similar. The G20 was a scaled up G17, built for 10mm from the ground up, with the G21 in .45 coming later. Question: but for the 10mm, does the .40 ever gain traction? Or does the 9mm continue to be refined by designers like Lee Jurras to the point where its perceived deficiencies compared to the .45 ACP are eliminated?
ViejoLobo
2022-09-19 15:29:23 +0000 UTCDoes the megastar in 45 have a fully supported barrel where it would be possible to shoot 45 super with a higher rate recoil spring? The extra weight would help out with the extra recoil.
David K. Jernigan
2022-09-19 15:00:26 +0000 UTCThe 38 super auto is also up there in the pressure spec. Perhaps because it is a significantly larger cartridge that was optimized for 180 and 200 grain bullets at a higher velocity than 9mm with its standard bullets rather than something significantly lighter so there is a much more significant amount of force driving the slide rearward. The whole mass x velocity squared thing.
David K. Jernigan
2022-09-19 14:56:50 +0000 UTCYou should do a history of Interarms. It was a real shame when they closed up. There was a great gun shop just down the street in an old ferry station building that was super cool and it closed when the City of ALexandria realized its aspirations to fully yuppify/touristify the waterfront. They drove the boat club out as well... :(
Jeff Price
2022-09-19 13:59:21 +0000 UTCI’m always a little surprised when people focus on the “horribly high pressures” of the 10 mm. The 9 mm Para is over 120 years old, and its SAAMI max pressure is 35,000 psi, compared to the 37,500 psi of the 10 mm. Why is the 10 mm considered to have such high pressures when it’s barely above the most commonly used pistol cartridge in the world that is 120 years old?
2022-09-19 13:44:33 +0000 UTCWell, they were inexpensive before this video.
Ryan D Thorne
2022-09-19 12:19:59 +0000 UTC
