New to me Star BM 9mm

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Alte Schule

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Picked up a Star BM 9mm from J&G Sales. Ordered on Monday May 31st and in my hand Friday June 4th. $350 with shipping and extra magazine. Have several milsup firearms but never considered a Star until a few months ago. Looks much better than I thought it would with the barrel showing a little wear. Probably will replace that within the next month or so. A big plus is that it breaks down like a 1911.

Anything I need to know or look out for. I’m not a novice just new to this particular firearm.
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That looks like a nice one, Alte Schule! Congrats on the acquisition!

Aside from their unfortunate model designation and somewhat frangible firing pins, the Star BMs are, IMO, dandy little 9x19 pistols.

I have 4, two of which I bought for a pittance in rode-hard-put-away-wet condition and then repaired & reblued (magnetited, actually).

For a long time they were my farm-walkabout handguns when I absolutely planned on pausing a some point for a plinking session.

I have always found them to be comfortable-in-my-hand, accurate & reliable ... with so-so sights and a bit on the heavy side for their size (all-steel, dontchaknow).

Me like! :)
 
Star BMs are very good durable pistols. The problem with their firing pins is well known. Also with firing pins, there are two types. Inertial and non inertial.
The non inertial (it is 2.0 inches long) will protrude out of the bolt face when the hammer is fully down. The inertial will not. Clearly the inertial will be a superior item.
Do not dry fire without a good snap cap. Finally, the barrel does NOT contact the frame in full recoil stressing the barrel link significantly. You can get new high quality barrel links
from Evolution Gun Works. You also can shim the frame so the barrel does contact the frame in full recoil taking the strain off the barrel link (You tube video for that) Of note, the safety is very effective, It cams the hammer back off of the sear, If it ever should break, the sear is still there to stop the hammer.
Numrich has a lot of parts for the Star BM including the inertial firing pin.
 
"Aside from their unfortunate model designation and somewhat frangible firing pins, the Star BMs are, IMO, dandy little 9x19 pistols."

That's a good one! :)

I like my "Star pistol with an unfortunate model designation".

I got mine when they came over a few years ago and were still pretty cheap. The OP got a very nice-looking one.

The BM uses a swinging link, like a 1911. The Super B uses a "cam" thingy like a BHP.

My BM is reliable, accurate, and balances well. It's smaller than a 1911, but is plenty sturdy to where the 9mm doesn't have much recoil.

It's a fun range toy, and another pistol that I would feel confident with if needed.

 
Thanks to all for your replies and most welcome information.. Another question. Is there any particular 9mm ammo I should use or avoid? I have 124 gr Blazer Brass FMJ in the magazines now but I have a boatload of assorted 9mm including a box of Black Talon from the early 90's.

I ordered two firing pins today. Probably will order a new barrel and barrel links soon.
 
Alte; If your Star is anything like my Star, it will eat anything you can stuff into its magazine. Its chamber tolerances are generous (like a Glock) Also, the pistols were designed for use with european 9mm ammo which is made to higher pressure standards than US made ammo. Make sure that your new firing pins are shorter than 2.0 inches and do NOT protrude past the bolt face when the hammer is down. Magazines for the pistols are interesting. Aftermarket mags made for a Sig single stack 9mm (you tube again) will work after a minor modification but are of poor quality. I have two of them that I finally bought OE Star followers for to make them more reliable..
 
I have two and love them. Funny, I have also broken the barrel link on one of them. It was an easy part to find (Jack first) and replace.

Somehow I missed the youtube video on the shim that can solve or temper that issue. I also learned about needing to check the firing pin to see if it is the latter model (inertial). More reasons to love THR.

It is heavy but that is part of its charm when you shoot it.

Enjoy your new pistol.
 
I held out for the BKM, the light weight brother of the BM. ...
For years I kept my eyes peeled a decent-price/-condition BKM. No Joy.

In the late 70s I really wanted a Star PD (lightweight .45acp, for those who are not familiar) to replace (or join) my .45acp Colt Combat Commander in my carry line-up. No Joy, at that time.

... but in 2005, within 3 months I came across 2 PDs, both in excellent shape and for outstanding prices, especially the 2nd ($250 & $205). ;)

Maybe I will try another run at a BKM search ... well, after the all-things-firearms-related pricing&availability Insanity ends. :)
 
I always wanted to like these Stars but didn’t have much luck. Had a very nice BM that had very spotty reliability, even with FMJ. Later, I bought a minty BKM. No wonder it was in such good condition. It wouldn’t feed at all. Not with FMJ, not with any one of three different like-new magazines. Something fundamentally wrong with it, but it was so unpromising that I didn’t waste much time trying to figure it out.
Very tempted to try again with the latest slew of BM’s, though.
 
I bought my Star Firestar M43 dirt cheap because the previous owner was using crappy ammo and it didn't function right for him. All I did was clean it and use good 9mm ammo. It hasn't let me down.
 
I'm ashamed to say that despite having my Star BM for a while now, it's one of the handguns I have yet to fire. I bought mine simply due to the price (it was under $200 at the time, perhaps around $169 IIRC). I did replace the grips, but that's all I've done to it.
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That one looks great.

You'll be surprised what a nice shooter it is.

If I were a LEO back in the day, I would prefer the BM to a Model 10, and I'm a revolver guy.
 
I'm ashamed to say that despite having my Star BM for a while now, it's one of the handguns I have yet to fire. I bought mine simply due to the price (it was under $200 at the time, perhaps around $169 IIRC).
Dang, really? I'd buy it from you for what you paid.

Big fan of Star pistols. The PD and Firestar are my favorites, but the Model B and the BM are seriously worthy working guns.
 
Mine was very reliable with 124-grain bullets.

Not so much with 115 grain “practice ammo”.

Our highly-seasoned gunsmith (Vietnam infantry vet) suggested the heavier bullets.

Very nice overall ergos with my Star BM.
 
Alte; If your Star is anything like my Star, it will eat anything you can stuff into its magazine. Its chamber tolerances are generous (like a Glock) Also, the pistols were designed for use with european 9mm ammo which is made to higher pressure standards than US made ammo. Make sure that your new firing pins are shorter than 2.0 inches and do NOT protrude past the bolt face when the hammer is down. Magazines for the pistols are interesting. Aftermarket mags made for a Sig single stack 9mm (you tube again) will work after a minor modification but are of poor quality. I have two of them that I finally bought OE Star followers for to make them more reliable..
Nice find! Yours is in much better condition than the one I picked up 20 years ago when they were coming into the country. I have fed mine everything from factory WWB (Winchester White Box) to handloaded 125gr. LSWC and it just eats them up. The only bullet it kind-of-sort-of doesn't "like" is the 124gr. Remington Golden Saber - it tends to stovepipe about every 20th round. Not sure why but it happens with both magazines with every bath of GS I've tried.

Other than that, if you handload, use it for testing because it's a really solid little gun.
 
I had a Firestar. Loved the looks. But could not shoot it very well. Trigger was terrible. Sold it a couple months ago, Hope new owner has better results.
 
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