A new Star in Florida.

[velocette]

Bought another "Copsurp" pistol.
A 9mm, Star BM compact all steel pistol.
2 magazines and a box.
Pistol is not a virgin, shows signs of a LOT of holster carry and like a lot of retired police pistols, not much firing.
Arrived fairly clean with about 80% of its blue, a nice shiny sharp bore and it all works.
Any advice or suggestions on what to do or NOT to do with it?

R

 

[Dan-O]

I’d say to shoot it like you stole it, but I’m sitting on all my ammo at the moment.

Wish I would have bought a few when they were cheap and plentiful a few years ago.

 

[Tallball]

Star BM 9mm

• Tallball
• Dec 28, 2017

Mine has been a good shooter and has eaten everything I've fed it. Congratulations on your new piece.

 

[wiscoaster]

Just put new grips on it. Nice wood grips. Wish I could post a pic of mine, but it's in storage at the moment. Maybe later today, if I happen to retrieve it.

They're a nice shooter pistol, aren't they?

 

[bannockburn]

Star made good, solid, dependable pistols for many years. Biggest problem nowadays is in finding spare parts and magazines.

 

[H&R Glock]

Such a good deal that I bought 3 of em'.

You must go to YouTube and read and understand the simple modification needed to prevent your barrel link from breaking. It just takes a tiny piece of sheet tin to make a shim about .025" Shims can be cut with scissors.
Grips on the middle gun are courtesy of the GunnyUSMC.
Your decision to buy this gun was brilliant.

 

[JN01]

Don’t dry fire it without a snap cap as it can break the firing pin.

 

[velocette]

H&RGlock;
Thank you for the idea. I spent an hour or two cutting up an old feeler gauge set to make my shims. In the end it was .012" thick to just barely free up the take down pin.
It appears that the size (internal length) of the barrel link is what determines the gap at the rear of the barrel lugs.
In a bit of searching, I found that EGW (Evolution Gun Works) makes higher strength barrel links for the Star BM, two of which are now on order.
One to replace the original and a second spare. I'll probably have to re-shim the lugs with the new link too.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

Don't own a BM, I own a Super B, but I recall watching a few videos on You tube of guys modifying Sig mags to work in the BM.

 

[12Bravo20]

Don’t dry fire it without a snap cap as it can break the firing pin.

Dry firing a Star is a big NO NO without snap caps especially with the older ones.

I didn't buy a BM even though I probably should have. I do have a Model A Super in 9mm Largo along with a Firestar M40 40S&W and a Firestar M43 9mm. If I could run across a decent deal on the Firestar M45 45ACP I would probably snatch it up.

 

[Whiskeyhotel2020]

Great buy. The only Star I knew...

My dad had a Star PD when I was 8 or 9 years old. He carried it when he was off duty as a USMC MP. He had to sell it to cover bills. I heard about how great a carry gun it was for years. Every now and again we came across one at agun show and he'd debate getting it ultimately walking out of the show without. This went on for years.

I came across one when I was finally able to by my own guns. I called my dad up asked him what should I look for if I wanted to buy a PD of my own. He was telling me as I was in the paperwork phase. From the show I went straight to my parent's house. I opened the case that contained the pistol and set it on his couch and asked him how I did and if he liked it. He said yeah he's always liked the Star. I wished him a happy Father's Day and informed him that he doesn't have to find one anymore. The look on his face was priceless.

 

[12Bravo20]

The downside to the PD was the aluminum frame. You must replace the recoil buffer on a regular basis or the pistol will tear itself apart. Most of the Star PD's that I saw with cracked frames was due to the owner not replacing the recoil buffer regularly.

OP,

If your BM is anything like my Super A, M40, and M43 you will enjoy shooting it and shouldn't have to worry about the quality of the pistol.

 

[velocette]

Goin' to my club tomorrow. After my Smallbore prone practice, I get to shoot my new (to me) Star BM. We shall see how it works after all the cleaning, polishing, deburring and shimming.
Going to test it with FMJ, then JHP of several types and then my reloads of LSWCs. Range report will follow after the usual BS session following the shooting iand the cleaning begins.