Ever want a Spanish Star BM in 9mm Luger-but are only a DA/SA shooter?

I have a Star BM and a Star Super B. They're both great shooters and were very inexpensive. My FiL bought a Super B after I got mine. He got an even better deal, and his appeared to have been unissued. A long-time friend bought a BM recently, and she really likes it. I think she only paid $150, or something crazy like that.

Mine are just range toys. My carry guns are DAO. Other people with more training and skill are comfortable carrying SA automatics, but I'm not one of those people.

I have owned several BMs and they shot well and were built like little tanks. I have had good service from all of the different Star models I've owned in the past. I have a soft spot for the Star PD .45.

I shot one quite a bit. It was a good shooting, reliable pistol. I liked the solid feel of it & the compact size is quite good for CC. I would like to own one but the magazine is an issue that requires careful consideration. Magazines for these pistols are not plentiful & they are very expensive. The gun itself sells for a very reasonable price but after adding a couple of spare magazines at $50+ each the final price is not so attractive anymore.

The time for getting magazines was when this current batch first hit the market; then, the mags cost $20.

I own a B Super, so I was intrigued by the BM (especially at the price). I picked one up from some online vendor, $223 or something like that, with 2 mags + shipping. I was so pleased with what I got that I ordered another gun from Classic when they were $150, and got an extra mag for another $20. First one had a tiny crack at the rear of the slide, so they sent me another, this one polished blue and beautiful. I found some nice plain checkered walnut grips (which I also have on the B Super), and that really spruced the guns up.

I don't know if I'd do a daily carry with any of them, but the Stars do have the ability to engage the safety with the hammer down. I find them plenty accurate, and for range fun they are great.

You can't begin to find a near-1911 pattern all-steel gun for anywhere near the price of the Stars, and I think that's a major part of the allure. My 3 Stars in total, even with grips added, I don't think I have $700 invested.

I've got a Star BM that I recently picked up from an on-line retailer, and, as a lefty myself, have been contemplating a solution, but need to make a friend that's a machinist. I think another safety could be bought, and the slide catch milled off, the stud milled off and a slot cut into the original and a corresponding lug milled into the second safety, together with being drilled and a retaining screw added to essentially manufacture a one-off ambi safety. However, I want to avoid turning a $150 gun into a $150 gun with a $500 safety.....

Asking if you should buy another gun on this forum is like wandering into a bar and asking if you should buy a beer. Heck yea!

But seriously- kinda - given your carry choices, I wouldn’t strongly recommend adding SAO to the mix. I carry almost exclusively DAO, but I do slip my SIG P238 into my pocket occasionally when circumstances would allow a more deliberate deployment. I’m not adamant about just one system, and I do practice with both.

For a fun range gun or an inexpensive historical handgun, absolutely get one while they’re available and inexpensive. The sources will eventually dry up and then the prices will creep up.

Example: a few years ago, I could have picked up a Nagant revolver for less than $150 as a piece of history; not any more.

armedwalleye said:

I've got a Star BM that I recently picked up from an on-line retailer, and, as a lefty myself, have been contemplating a solution, but need to make a friend that's a machinist. I think another safety could be bought, and the slide catch milled off, the stud milled off and a slot cut into the original and a corresponding lug milled into the second safety, together with being drilled and a retaining screw added to essentially manufacture a one-off ambi safety. However, I want to avoid turning a $150 gun into a $150 gun with a $500 safety.....

Click to expand...

I'm a lefty myself and I've often wondered if the ambi safety marketed by Cylinder and Slide for the Colt Gov't Model .380 could be fitted to the Star BM. I put one on my Gov't model and it works great but it was a PITA to fit.
I don't suppose anybody here has tried it?