Star BM (the current wave hitting the market)

[scoobysnacker]

Not the priciest pickup or the prettiest, but I decided to get in on the run of Star BM's that are hitting the market. Seems everyone and their brother is selling them, for Not A Lot. Some of the more established vendors are selling them with 1 mag, and charge extra for the 2nd; I looked around and found a place listing 2 8 rd mags. It came with 2 magazines, which was worth it to me... and the vendor was actually cheaper than the better known guys selling just with 1.

The vendor I bought from didn't have pictures, but I'm here to say, that isn't relevant with this batch. I repeat this a couplr of times, for a reason- these are all pretty much in the ame condition.
These pistols were issued to the Spanish police starting in the 70's, they were bought back by Star and factory refurbished, and somehow recently released en masse on the US now.

What I received: a factory-matte blued pistol, with straw extractor and trigger, and case-hardened hammer. The actual bluing looks great, the gun itself has a couple marks (blued over) on the right rear grip tang, near the beavertail and behind the grips. The frame and slide have a matching pair of circular grindmarks, where the old markings for whatever PD were removed. Looks like a couple of divots. It has the stenciled CAI marking on the right side of the slide.

I received the pistol, two magazines, a Spanish manual, and a cleaning rod inside a green Star cardboard box, for the princely sum of 237 (225 + 12 shipping), + 20 for FFL. I got delayed, but since my FFL is also my range (I'm a member), I can shoot it, but not leave with it until cleared (I get delayed a fair bit, I've gotten used to that). I can take it home on the 21st, earlier if I get a "go".

My impressions- if you see any of the videos online talking about these guns, then that is what I got... a well-worn and carried pistol that has been reblued. The gun strongly resembles a 1911 Commander series, but is a bit smaller. Single stack 9mm, full grip (I have no issue getting my entire hand including pinky on the grip without hangover), 3.75" barrel, steel frame and slide. Came grungy, but a quick clean and lube with Ballistol got rid of the grunge, and revealed a very slick and smooth slide action with no rattle. Everything is solid, it's a great shooter (the weight and mass of the steel frame and slide absorb the recoil, and the barrel isn't TOO short for good accuracy. In fact, my son found it easier to manage than a longer slide, as those sometimes wobble a bit on him). Shoots to point of aim at around 10 yds for me, accurate enough to put 5 rds into the little silhouette on the upper left that you see in standard silhouette targets, with not a lot of concentration. Nice magazines, with a rounded steel follower, reminds me of High Standard 22lr mags. On mine, the mag safety was removed, so the mags drop free, and the trigger works without a mag. I didn't dryfire, as I have a Star and have learned of the brittle firing pins... but the trigger is light, and I did control the hammer on movement.

This is a lot of gun, clearly well made, in a familiar 1911-style appearance that fits the hand well, for a nice price. Pics to follow when I bring it home, but for those impatient, seriously- go look these up online. They are all about in the same refurbished condition.

 

[dr. mordo]

I got one about a year ago and had the same impression. It's a lot of gun for the money.

FWIW, mine doesn't feed JHPs well with the OEM mags, but the aftermarket mags you can find seem to feed them better.

 

[Ozark Marine]

Got a email from AIM Surplus a couple hours ago.
Star BM $199.95.
Hand pick + $10.00

 

[Ross3914]

I've had one for several years.

They are indeed and excellent value, and a darn fine gun. Good trigger, accurate, relatively inexpensive, and fun to shoot.

I think I paid about the same price as what they are going for now, so it's not an "investment" or anything. I think they're certainly worth the price.

 

[PPS1980]

You're right, I'm seeing them advertised everywhere. Lots of YouTube gun channels reviewing them too. I remember looking at Stars in the 80s and deciding against them because they had a firing pin reputation and parts were scarce here. At $200 they sound like a fun range pistol though.

 

[2152hq]

AIM had orig STAR mags for $20e but they sold out in a few minutes it seems!
Orig spare mags have always been tough to locate for the Model BM.
I never had any experience with any of the aftermarket mags for these, but I imagine some of them are just fine.

Nice 9mm pistols. Some people complain about the weight of them, but they are all steel.

Most have the standard STAR feature of a firing pin that does not rebound with the hammer all the way down.
This places the pin onto the primer of a live round with hammer pressure behind it with the hammer in the down position. Bad if dropped.
Carry these with a loaded chamber and hammer cocked and safety on,,,or chamber empty.
Half cock is a safety feature to catch the hammer from full cock should it fall accidentally. It is not a half cock safety carry notch.

Some of the later production Model BM was made with a Colt style rebounding firing pin.. Safe(r) to carry w/a live round in the chamber and hammer down as the firing pin is retracted under spring pressure.

Easy to check for either by pressing the rear of the FP flush with the slide and see if the tip protrudes from the breech face.
If it does it's the older style,,if it does not, it's the latter rebounding Colt style.

Most STAR pistols like the A,B, S,I, ect have the earlier style.

Mag safety gets removed on a lot of these,,Amer'cans don't like em much.
Take the grips off, drive the pin end out from the left lower side of the frame and the pin w/flat spring will drop out of the frame on the right side.
If you put a magazine in the pistol when you do this it sometimes makes it easier to drop the part out as it doesn't get caught behind the trigger bar,,
The magazine safety works by simply pressing outward on that flat spring when inserted so it doesn't block the trigger bar.
Put the part in your 'good for somethin' even if you never use it' box.
Mags usually drop free as there is no flat spring tensioning onto the right side of them anymore.

 

[scoobysnacker]

Wow, that AIM deal sounds good, if they stay in stock.... edit to add, that's with 1 magazine, another $19 to get another mag. So at least they are honest about it.

I surfed around and bought from Gunprodeals, someone on a forum somewhere had posted a good review of the vendor. Mentioned the customer service guy's name, Nate... when I ordered, I sent an email asking about mags. On their sight, there was no pictures, and listed 2 8-rd mags. I did this online on a Sunday evening, and by 9pm he had replied. He said if it lists 2 mags, I should get 2, and to email him if I didn't.
I did receive the 2.

These appear to have an interesting story behind them, I know we are hearing some tidbits. Unlike the earlier Star BMs on the market, these all seem to have been factory refurbished, have the 2 little divots where the PD markings were, and the big CAI stencil on the slide. But like I said, despite the disfiguring, they also have been factory refurbished, and apparently have sat on warehouse shelves since. So you have a combination of ugly markings, and guns in like-new condition.

I watched the Classic Arms unpacking video, and a couple of the reviews. Mine came in the green cardboard box, and the refinish (would be) about 100%. No marks on the blue, at all. Looked gummy upon arrival, I cleaned that up pretty well with some Ballistol, but the bore seemed a little rough. Didn't have a good bore brush with me, I just pulled some patches through with the cleaning rod supplied. Accuracy didn't seem affected, this is definitely a shooter.

Closest comparisons I can make in 9mm- this going from memory and also with my son's input.

vs S&W 39-2: a little smaller dimensions, maybe shorter slide. Star seems tighter, heavier (the S&W has an aluminum frame, that surely makes the difference). Slide seems more solid. Definitely less recoil- I used some Turkish manufactured 124 gr NATO, it produced big fireballs and my son didn't notice much of a kick when he shot. He has way more flip with the 39-2 when I see him shoot that, and that usually is with lighter loads. This gun seems to absorb recoil way above it's size.

vs Norinco Tokarev T-54 in 9mm: another single stack 9mm, also has all-steel frame. Again, the Star seems both smaller, and thicker. The Tok has a longer and more slender slide, and a different grip angle. I think those two contribute to the greater flip on the Tok, with the same ammo.​

I did a little researching on the Gunboards Spanish Firearms forum, 2 things of note. First is that it appears there will be 45k of these imported, so that's why the market is flooded now. Kind of curious where so many were stored, but this isn't the trickle of guns we've been seeing recently, this is apparently a BIG shipment of guns, like we haven't seen in awhile.

Also- those familiar with the Spanish CG (a national police) say the guns were designed around and used with pretty stout loads, so the light recoil and thickness makes sense. This shouldn't be a gun that will be beaten to death with usage. Mine doesn't rattle at all.

And finally- there are a couple posters saying they are now getting access to various Star firing pins, and will have them for sale. As my understanding goes, this has been the big Achilles heel of the brand, brittle pins and lack of parts. If we get access to some parts, I think that can become a lesser issue.

 

[cgt4570]

Too bad they aren't C&R. :-( Call me cheap, but I have a hard time swallowing $20 local transfer + another $10 for background on a $200 gun. Maybe a local vendor will have some at a show.

 

[Redcoat3340]

Well, reading this just cost me $200. I ordered one from AIM. I had one a couple of years ago, sold it to buy 908, and sold the 908 to help buy a Sig P6. Gave the P6 to one of my boys so I'm without a small single-stack 9mm. Or I was 'till this.

Many thanks for the heads up.

 

[scoobysnacker]

Too bad they aren't C&R. :-( Call me cheap, but I have a hard time swallowing $20 local transfer + another $10 for background on a $200 gun. Maybe a local vendor will have some at a show.

If it helps, consider that everywhere else seems to list the gun at or around $229, so that makes it a $230 gun you'd be getting for $230.

My experience with gunshows and local shops recently (like, within the last 4-5 years), would lead me to believe you might find some going around $300, maybe higher.

I forget with the shows, but remember, if you find something in a store, you're most likely facing tax too (unless you deal in cash, and are able to haggle a better price). So I view a 20-30 buck surcharge and figure, that's still saving me about 100 bucks.

At the range where I got mine, they had both an ATI 1911 Commander and a Sig P938. Both cost a good bit more, the Sig significantly moreso. The guy at the counter and I looked at the 3 in comparison, and the Star BM seems to be about midway between those two models in size. A good bit smaller than the 1911, and definitely a good bit bigger than the subcompact Sig. It seems to be a sweet spot for my hand, and a missing size in the lineup (if there is a comparable pistol, they didn't have one in the case).

 

[codenamedave]

I sure wouldn't mind adding one to the herd, especially at that price. I've owned a few Star PDs, liked them a lot and didn't have any reliability probs. I always thought of the BM as the 9mm version of the PD, but that's probably bass-ackwards.

Most folks know the full-size Star 9mms often subbed for 1911s in the movies, because they ran blanks better, but there was at least one instance of a BM subbing for a PD, in the cult classic Ms. 45.

 

[Erich]

Great guns - don't dry-fire them, though. Sam Damewood, the Alamogordo gunsmith who fancied-up this one, used to make them up after the spares dried up, but I don't know if he's doing it now.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Tempting acquisition at that price, I have thought to buy one several times, but some firearm more interesting to me always diverts me. So many firearms, so relative little money. Right now, I am building a slush fund for a K-22; hopefully these Stars will still be available.

 

[Brasky]

They are imported with two magazines, but companies are taking one out so they can sell it for extra

 

[LVSteve]

They are imported with two magazines, but companies are taking one out so they can sell it for extra

....and that's the only reason I'm not buying a second one. The magazine hoarders have already depleted the "extras" as far as I can Google.

 

[Stevie]

Yeh...I bought one of these BM 9mm pistols about a month ago. My local FFL had ordered three for customers and got stuck with one. I paid $210 for my Star BM(2 mags included) with box(green plastic, manual(Spanish/Guardia Civil version), and wrong cleaning rod that don't fit in the box.

Of course it has the infamous 'Century bill-board' and another serial number too! The little milled-off circles likely had cute diamond shaped Civil Guard crests. I guess earlier imports of these didn't get the ownership markings scrubbed and found a few pics online.

My BM is definitely used...but very good condition. The carried a lot not much shot look. I have not shot it a lot either...however I've shot it enough to know it works great and shoots pretty decent.

 

[jtcarm]

Cmon now Scooby, you made us read a post that long, but no pictures[emoji12]

 

[sigp220.45]

9mm Stars are all over the movies, substituting for .45 1911s. They work with blanks while legit 1911s are notoriously balky. The extractors are the giveaway.

Sam Jackson and Steve McQueen agree.

 

[amazingflapjack]

It's called a BM? Can't say much for the marketing folks.

 

[scoobysnacker]

Cmon now Scooby, you made us read a post that long, but no pictures[emoji12]

You're right, of course. It was cleared Tuesday but I was at work, and picked it up Wednesday.

So this came from gunprodeals, everything included for $225 + 12.95 shipping, plus FFL. No handpick, no payment for additional magazine.

Unboxed on the desk next to the little lady's stuff. I think you can see the marks on the right side of the frame, behind the grips. The matte bluing looks great.