Sorry that I can not give you any horror stories. I've been shooting 9x23 Winchester through my Star Super A for a couple of years. I haven't had any problems at all. YMMV.
I reload, and I make my own 9x23 Winchester out of once fired 223 brass. Just trim it to length, and swage the crimps in the primer pocket. Then reload as you normally would. I only use small rifle primers. I get the brass for less than 2 cents a case ($115 for 2500 cases). Since the brass was designed to hold the 60,000 CUP of the 223, I'm not worried at all that the case won't hold.
Here is a copy of a post I wrote last September on the Surplus Rifle Forum:
FWIW.
I have been shooting the 9x23 Winchester 124 grain in my Star Modelo Super A for about a year and a half, I have had no problems whatsoever with it. No damage to the pistol at all. YMMV, I am not suggesting you do so. This is just for information. I accept no liability for what you do. I am not a gunsmith, engineer or in any way an expert.
The 9x23 cartridge was designed to contain all that pressure in the brass, it is supposedly the strongest centerfire handgun brass made. You can hang the head off an unramped barrel, no problem. The Star Super A easily handles the 38 Super, IMHO. All this stuff about don't shoot Super through it is bogus. They were making the pistol all the way up to 1983, you think they didn't allow for 38 Super in all that time? I have copies of an article from gun digest from back in the 80's called "Our Spanish Cousins". In it the author says that the 38 Super is the cartridge to use if you can't get 9mm Largo. He even lists reloading data in the article. Since the 9x23 Winchester was developed to let guys who shot 38 Super use a more powerful round in an unmodified pistol, I figure I'm good to go.
Now to the 9x23 Winchester:
From a few posts of mine on a thread at The High Road from March and April of 2008:
The thread is at
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=346913
My post follows:
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From the people selling the Star Modelo Super A in 9x23 Largo, Sarco Inc:
Ballistic Comparison
38 Super: Muzzle Vel.= 1200 pps / Muzzle Energy = 368 ft. lbs.
9mm Largo (9x23mm): Muzzle Vel.= 1280 pps / Muzzle Energy = 420 ft. lbs.
I have no worries at all in firing a 9x23 Winchester in my Star Modelo Super A. The 9x23 is rated at 50,000 CUP. The Super A's have been tested at 60 and 70,000 CUP with no problems. People have been firing 38 Super in these guns for years. The pistol is built like a tank. Just my opinion, YMMV, I have fired the 9x23 Winchester in my Star Super A I just bought from Sarco, no blow-ups, no problems.
WARNING! DO NOT attempt to fire these rounds in the older handguns chambered for the 9x23 Largo, most of the early pistols won't handle it.
I also have converted a Tokarev to fire the 9x23 Winchester. No problems there either.
I know I'm going to get dumped on, but there you are.
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I keep on running into comments like this as I do my research:
ROBERT W. XXXXXX
Posted on Wednesday, July 24, 2002 - 2:45 am:
IS THERE ANY WAY TO FIND OUT FOR 100% SURE IF A PISTOL IS A 9MM LARGO VS. A 38 SUPER, WHEN WE BOUGHT MINE IT WAS SOLD AS A 38 SUPER AND WE HAVE FIRED OVER 2,500 ROUNDS OF SUPER AMMO IN IT AND HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS AT ALL, I RELIZE THAT THIS DOESN'T MEAN SOMETHING COULDN'T GO WRONG, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO KNOW FOR SURE WHAT IT IS. ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT, ALSO, CAN I GET PARTS FOR MY SUPER? ARE THEY INTERCHANGABLE WITH OTHER STAR MODELS?
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I got into shooting 9x23 Winchester through my Star Super A due to a series of posts by Clark, who posts here (see below). I then researched his statements, and decided that he was correct.
John Ricco designed the 9x23 so that competitors using the 38 Super could make major power factor using their unmodified 38 Super guns. The brass is the strongest centerfire handgun cartridge made. The web can sit out over an unsupported barrel and never bulge under that 50,000 CUP pressure. The brass is what is holding the pressure. The web is twice the thickness of the 38 Super.
Edit: The 1982 edition of Gun Digest had an article by Wm H. Smith, where he reviewed the Llama and Star pistols. He used 38 Super in these pistols with no problems with 38 Super power levels. He even stated that the 38 Super was the best substitute for 9mm Largo for American shooters. This was on page 200.
Here is the post by Clark:
From
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthrea...t=tokarev+9x23
It is Post #21
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.
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I also have converted a Star Super B.
That pistol frame with long enough magazine for 9mm Largo, but is chambered for 9x19.
I converted one for 9x23mm and have been shooting it with
158 gr LSWC, 10 gr LONGSHOT, 1.129"
In contrast, Hodgdon in 2002 showed for maximum load for 357 magnum:
158 gr HNDY XTP JHP, 8.4 gr LONGSHOT, 1.580" 1394 fps, 43,200 c.u.p.
To deal with heavy recoil, I reamed out the recoil spring coweling of the Star slide from .431" to .4375", to use a spring from Wolff gunsmith pak #14 with OD = .433". More can be reamed out and a still better spring can be used, the guide rod must be reduced in diameter.
From
http://www.burnscustom.com/showarticle. ... AreWe.php3
You might want to read the whole article:
Fully supported barrels are not needed with 9x23 Win. brass. The primer is the weak link in hot loads. Small rifle primers are recommended just for that reason but certainly not mandatory.
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9x23mm_Winchester
The main advantage of 9x23mm Winchester is a much strengthened case that does away with the semi-rimmed case design of the .38 Super. The case is not necked down like the .357 SIG, 9x25mm Super Auto G and 9x25mm Dillon, thus allowing greater magazine capacity and better feeding. The strengthened case allowed the much higher internal pressures to be used than would be safe with .38 Super. The 9x23mm Winchester could operate in the 40,000 CUP while .38 Super maxed out around 30,000 CUP.
Just my thoughts on the matter, I know will get slammed, but there you go.
EDIT: I just looked back at that article in the 1982 Gun Digest. The author states that he was using hot +P 38 Super loads
Also from the article:
For the American shooter. the most reasonable substitute for the 9mm Largo is the 38 Super Auto. This cartridge is among the most powerful of pistol cartridges. In comparison with the shorter 9mm Luger it uses a bullet that is 4 grains heavier at a higher velocity (130 gn @ 1280FPS vs a 124 gn at 1100 FPS for the Luger). The difference gives the 38 Super a muzzle energy of 475 ft-pounds which is 136 ft-pounds over the Luger and a 140 ft-pound advantage over the 45 Auto.
And:
Even though both pistols were made some 50 years ago, there were no mechanical failures considering that they digested loads ranging from the hot Remington +P ammunition which exceeds the 9mm Largo's ballistics by a considerable margin, to reduced velocity loads without any problems proved that they are not the worthless pieces of Spanish junk some think them to be.
Note that he is reviewing the Star A, not the newer Star Super A.