Star BM 9mm review

I don't think Star, Astra, and Llama made any "bad" guns, at least I haven't seen one. The poor reputation for Spanish handguns was mainly a result of those made during the period between WWI and the Spanish Civil War as many small Spanish sweatshops were making them cheaply for export at that time.
 
Nice !
I always liked Star pistols. My first 45 acp was a Star model PS, loved it...accurate, no pesky grip safety, good extractor and trigger.
Stolen in 1995 and I still miss it...never came across another Star PS so I replaced it with an AMT Hardballer....the first stainless steel 1911.
Gary
 
I’ve had my Star BM for many decades. If you don’t own one yet you should. I enjoy mine. It came in a clear plastic case with a extra mag and cleaning rod and owners manual.

I have star and Astra pistols in the safe growing roots. At that time I purchased a ton of cheap largo ammo the enjoy the ones that shoot largo ammo.
 
I found one on Friday at the pawn shop. It goes well with my B Super. Both have 3.5 pound triggers and shoot very well. I’ll take these over a lot of plastic guns made today.
 

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My LGS has a few of these in stock. I checked them out and they seem to be well built and a heck of a deal at $225.

Must Resist...
 
I broke down today and one came home with me. Could not resist...

Great piece for $200. May have to stockpile a few of these at this price.
 
Thanks for the extensive write-ups, guys, I have been equivocating about buying one of these little gems. I have had several Stars in the past, and let them all go in trades. These seem like great deals.

Best Regards, Les
 
I ordered one with 3 mags. Less than $300 all in. Great shooting and well made firearm. I like the wood grips. Makes it resemble a Combat Commander for far less dinero!
 
I finally had the time to take mine to the range for a workout. Fantastic shooter! Good trigger, decent accuracy and a real *****cat to shoot due to the weight. I had one jam on a Remington HP towards the end of the session , so it may have been getting a bit dirty.

I did replace the recoil spring as well, prior to shooting.

BB57- Where are you getting the Walnut grips?
 
Well, as usual, you guys are a bad influence on me. Or good, depending on one's perspective. I received an email from Centerfire Systems on Tuesday advising that the Star BMs were back in stock. So I equivocated until this evening, and just ordered one. They are $199.99. Extra magazines $22.99 each. Free shipping on the gun. I ordered a couple of extra magazines, I was afraid that if I waited to see if I would like the gun (which comes with one magazine) that they would have sold out of the mags. All told, with shipping on the mags, and a "signature fee", and "credit card fee"......$268. that's Hi-Point territory.

Not too happy about the mutilation that CAI is doing when they put on the new "serial number", and wish the Spanish had just left on their unit markings, but for the price, can't complain too much!! (I have a bunch of imported guns which are marked much less obtrusively).

Just to sweeten the pot, a friend recently gave me 900 rds of 9mm that he wanted to get rid of because it had gotten "too old"!! So I'll have plenty of range fodder. Plus I reload, and have a few thousand rounds laying around anyway.

Edit: I really want to thanks the above posters for their fantastic reviews. In fact, just seeing such extensive reviews is an indication of the value of these imports. In a world of plastic guns (and I own a few myself) it is refreshing to see steel guns, which somehow seem more reassuring to me. So thanks to all the reviewers above!!!

I'll let you guys know haow things work out when it comes in!!

Best Regards, Les
 
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les.b said:
Well, as usual, you guys are a bad influence on me. Or good, depending on one's perspective. I received an email from Centerfire Systems on Tuesday advising that the Star BMs were back in stock. So I equivocated until this evening, and just ordered one. They are $199.99. Extra magazines $22.99 each. Free shipping on the gun. I ordered a couple of extra magazines, I was afraid that if I waited to see if I would like the gun (which comes with one magazine) that they would have sold out of the mags. All told, with shipping on the mags, and a "signature fee", and "credit card fee"......$268. that's Hi-Point territory.

Not too happy about the mutilation that CAI is doing when they put on the new "serial number", and wish the Spanish had just left on their unit markings, but for the price, can't complain too much!! (I have a bunch of imported guns which are marked much less obtrusively).

Just to sweeten the pot, a friend recently gave me 900 rds of 9mm that he wanted to get rid of because it had gotten "too old"!! So I'll have plenty of range fodder. Plus I reload, and have a few thousand rounds laying around anyway.

I'll let you guys know haow things work out when it comes in!!

Best Regards, Les
Click to expand...

Way to go! Drink the Kool Aid!

Make sure you give it a close inspection. If the condition is not up to snuff, send it back and make them send you another. My LGS had two and I took the one that was in noticeably better condition.
 
Jimmyjones said:
Nice. Most of the ones I've seen around here are real beaters.

I have 3 Stars, 2 Firestar M43, blued and Starvel, and a Firestar Plus, I got them in the 90's when they were still in business, and importing. They're in the safe now, parts are hard to find if I break something.

I'd like to find a descent BM.
Click to expand...

I'd forgotten about this thread.

2 weeks ago I stopped by my LGS, they had a BM, in great shape. 1374xxx, 1976 vintage in the original cigar box with Spanish Manual and cleaning rod, the shop had picked up a spare mag for it and included it. Mine for $250.

He had ordered 2 extra mags, told me he had one more, so I took it. "Who are you going to sell it to, these things are rare."

Stopped by last week, they had 2 more BMs, one mag, plastic box. Who turned on the faucet?
 
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les.b said:
By the way.... Here's a shooting impressions review that seems pretty straightforward....

Surplus Star Model BM 9mm Single Stack Spanish Pistol Review

But I ordered before I saw this....

Best Regards, Les
Click to expand...
Les, something I noticed in the video, that makes me cringe:

don't dry fire it without a snap cap. Stars are pretty infamous for snapping firing pins that way. Yes, I know it's a function check, but if you do it, at least use your thumb to control the hammer.
 
Vic_vega9 said:
They are now $150 at classic firearms
Click to expand...
Now why ya wanna go and do a thing like telling us that? :o:o:o


BTW, they also have the extra magazines for $20. And even with $20 shipped, that comes out to $190 ($189.90, to be exact).

I considered going additional $20 for handpick best of 10, but passed on that. The ones at $149 are described as "fair", but they did a video with 6 pistols, and 5 looked great. I'll take my chances; I already have one with a great armory refinish (you can see where they blued over some scratches, so it's definitely refinished), this one will be the budget version. I know, they're already 'budget', but this will be extra-budget :D
 
BB57 said:
it appears a crest of some sort has been milled off in front of the number.
Click to expand...

The crests that were milled away are from the Spanish Guardia Civil. They are like Spain's national police but they mainly operate in the rural areas of the country. The crest is a diamond with a Spanish rapier sword crossed over a Roman Fasces - an axe bound inside a bundle of wooden rods.

I got mine for $225 OTD at a local pawn shop a week or two ago, but the finish isn't nearly as nice as yours. Mine is a '73 model. It has the two crests on the slide and frame and only two lines of import markings instead of 3 lines plus a newly engraved serial number. I'm guessing it was an import from the batch that came in about 6 or 7 years ago from Century.

Good little guns for the price.
 
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