*Field stripping the Star PD *
By serger

30 November 2002

The Star PD is one of the compact .45ACP pistols that started the down sizing trend in effective carry pistols. It has been out of production for at least a decade and a half but there are many people who carry one every day. It is interesting to note they were and are very popular in South Africa because during the Apartheid years the South Africans couldn’t obtain large bore pistols from their usual sources and had to get them else ware. And many Police in the United States carry them as off duty weapons because even though they are not "high capacity" they are effective and concealable.

One of the design elements of the pistol that allowed it to be had with a shortened barrel and slide was a captive recoil spring with an integral plastic buffer to dampen felt recoil. These buffers if fed a steady diet of full power ammunition had a working life of a thousand rounds or so. Another unique feature at the time of introduction was an aluminum frame. The shortened barrel and light frame makes these pistols one to be considered for serious carry. Serious carry I define as having a side arm on your person each and every day.

A draw back to some of the high capacity fans is the magazine only carries 6 rounds. Another trend Star followed with its newer pistols that wasn’t done on the PD is a magazine safety similar to the Browning High Power (P35). I suppose Star is following the lawyer safe dumbing down trend. The magazines for the pistol are becoming harder to find but the Smith & Wesson Model 457 magazines with black followers work well and they have 8 rounds.

To field strip the PD first depress the magazine catch and remove the magazine. Then pull the slide back and visually inspect the barrel to make sure there is no ammunition in the weapon. Continue pulling the slide rearward until you can place the safety into the dismount notch

Next push the slide stop up and out of its notch. It will clear the frame. Remove the slide stop.

With the slide stop removed, hold the slide with one hand and the frame with another. Push the safety down to clear the takedown notch on the slide. You can then remove the slide from the frame.

With the slide removed, lift the recoil spring assembly out of the slide. Take the barrel bushing and rotate it until the locking surface has cleared the slide. These bushings are usually tight and may require diligent wiggling to get them out. With the barrel bushing removed, drop the link on the barrel and slide the barrel out of the slide.

Note the retaining lug on the barrel bushing. The first time I tried to field strip this pistol I finally had to get a flashlight to look and see where the lug was because the barrel bushing to slide fit was so tight I couldn’t tell where the clearance was to remove the bushing. It hasn’t gotten much looser with age.

The pistol is now field stripped.

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Thanks for the read

serger