Talk to me about Star BMs

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Mars5l

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Local store has a one for $280, worth it? Anything that I should look at specifically? It does come with the original plastic case, albeit its a broken case. I know they have a following and Im into old surplus firearms.

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Yes. Good price. 18 months ago, a good not spectacular price. Today? Crazy.

BM (steel frame) is pretty solid. As long as a normal function check works, and nothing to fear from the bore (the color of the trigger worries me for storage rust) nothing to watch for specifically on these guns. Should work fine. Parts ARE getting to be almost impossible so if anything broken or missing, you may never get another one. But if it works now, it should keep working.

MAN did they pin stamp enough stuff on the sides? Jeesh.

More on the series: http://star-firearms.com/firearms/guns/b/index.shtml

If you want to try to age it: http://star-firearms.com/firearms/proof.shtml

B series is crazy common, should be easy to get new stocks, which it looks like it needs aside from a detail strip and some buffing of the rusty stuff.
 
Back decades ago had a few pass through my hands when they were cheap and plentiful. Never saw a bad one. Like so much of the stuff Spain made then good manufacturing. As another mentioned the one big downside would be parts if something breaks. When you buy something like this you have to keep in mind it's an import that was dropped a long time ago. So consider that if something needs to be replaced it could be a "challenge".
 
Star made a lot fo good pistols and was one of the better Spanish gun makers.

The BM is slightly smaller than the B and slightly bigger than the Firestar. I have an older Model A Super in 9mm Largo along with a couple of FIrstars and they have all been great guns.
 
Mars51

I had the full size Model B and for many years used it as my transitional gun for beginning shooters to go from a rimfire to a centerfire. Very reliable and durable though spare parts like firing pins and magazines are hard to come by.
 
I'd pop for the OP's pistol at that price.

Stars come my way about 3 or so every couple of years. I used to get a lot of .38 ACP and Largo full-sized and along the border, they are worth stupid money to Mexicans.... Cowboys in particular. Consequently, even if I put a sort of *it'll never sell* price on them, they do in fact sell and right away at that.

Stars, given their inherent mass and generally deep lettering are wonderfully fun guns to pretty-up. You can lay the slides and receivers into a well situated grinder and really tru every plane up and maintain the lettering - usually - and then polish and blue. Throw on ivory or mother of pearl grips and these guns really shine.

I have yet to ever pick one up, my hand exception a Colt-like interaction, without immediately noticing the difference. It is akin to picking up a Colt Ace .22 with its extra metal and mass. An interestingly assuring feeling, they have.

Here's a nice write-up that I give along with vintage Stars to my buyers. Might prove valuable to some. Lots of info on ammo, parts, user manuals, etc...

http://www.star-firearms.com/info/index.shtml

Todd.
 
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Very sturdy and serviceable weapon. I bought one after a post here in Group Buys and deals for a stupid low price. Had an issue with the first one, and J&G Sales, the vendor, made it more than right by me. Solid shooter, and a really soft shooter due to the weight. I'm actually looking for another. There are some parts available, and it sounds like firing pins and safeties are the spares to look to lay in stock.
 
It's a heavy all-steel rugged pistol that is very comfortable to shoot. That is a good price. A little internet research shows that parts are available, and not as hard to find as comments would suggest. Just don't dry fire it and you will probably never need replacement parts.
 
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Very sturdy and serviceable weapon. I bought one after a post here in Group Buys and deals for a stupid low price. Had an issue with the first one, and J&G Sales, the vendor, made it more than right by me. Solid shooter, and a really soft shooter due to the weight. I'm actually looking for another. There are some parts available, and it sounds like firing pins and safeties are the spares to look to lay in stock.
And extractors.

Todd.
 
I have found the Star BM (unfortunate moniker, that) to be a dandy little, reliable, accurate, all-steel 9x19 pistol. I have four and enjoy shooting them.

Sorry, but I cannot comment your price as I have not been following the recent pricing silliness very closely.
 
I would say that's a decent price. J&g had them for $230 before this crapola. With taxs and FFL fees that sounds about right. I would buy one for that much today. If it is in good shape.
 
Alright. Sounds like I should I get it. Is there anything wrong with refinishing it or getting it coated? I know its not a Garand, but wouldn't mind it looking better one day
 
Alright. Sounds like I should I get it. Is there anything wrong with refinishing it or getting it coated? I know its not a Garand, but wouldn't mind it looking better one day
I don't think you'll harm the value in any way by having it carefully refinished.

Some coatings queer the extractor slot as the finish doubles the thickness surrounding the extractor. DO NOT alter the extractor dimensions to make up for it if it is an issue.

I noted above that I like to run them through surface grinder, polish and blue and have yet to have anyone squawk. I've only really done it for myself and then had such high offers at shows that I sold every one that I've refinished.

Todd.
 
The B, the BM and the Firestar are all great pistols (in my opinion). And as Todd says, they can be prettied up mightily.
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Used in the movies an awful lot (often to double for 1911s)
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No one truly collects Stars (aside from the abortive Colt collaboration prototypes) so even engraved and special finish ones command no real premium. You won't harm the resale value by refinishing.
 
I used to have more, lots of people email me with details about their collections. I mean it doesn't have a collectors market, so no elevated prices for rare or original pieces. No worries with refinishing damaging price, and if you find a weird one (like engraved presentation pieces with the original box!), you can often snap it up for plain old issue surplus prices. A good gun to collect on a budget therefore.
 
I carried an aluminum frame Star BKM back in the 1980's. It was a 9mm (9x19) and a good gun.

I always wondered about the name BKM. Odd on a gun made in Spain since there is no letter "K" in the Spanish alphabet.
 
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