Back in March I picked up two Star BM 9mm pistols from Military Gun Supply. I was impressed by reports about them I'd read on the 'net coupled with the very attactive price.
I picked up two for about $160 each, and here's what I got (a photo I've posted a couple times before on THR):
First order of business was some new wood grips to replace the stock black plastic. A visit to the GunGripGuys website (http://www.gungripguys.com/star/) and I ended up with a nice pair of zebrawood grips:
Although this pistol still had relatively nice blueing, the heel and front strap were both worn through to the metal and had some rusting. A friend tried to cold blue a similar problem with his Star BM, and I didn't like how the results looked, so I decided to look into hard chrome refinishing.
After reading up on the internet about various vendors for hard chroming, I decided to go with Accurate Plating and Weaponry. It was a toss-up between Mr. Cogan and Tripp Research -- both companies have had outstanding reviews and the photos of pistols they've worked on are really stunning.
After just a little over three weeks, here's what came back from AP&W. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
Comparison shot with Colt Combat Commander in nickel
There is a little dirt in the shot because I took the photos after taking her out to the range.
To say I'm happy with the result is the understatement of the year. At about $150 for the hard chrome job, I have a pistol which is still less than half the cost of the Colt!
One lesson learned: during the plating, the ramp and throat were not buffed out -- it was so rough that it was impossible to feed a round the way the pistol was returned out-of-the-box. A little clean-up with the Dremel and a buffing bit took care of it and now she runs like a champ and cleans up with just a swipe of the rag.
Great work, Bob...thanks!!
I picked up two for about $160 each, and here's what I got (a photo I've posted a couple times before on THR):
First order of business was some new wood grips to replace the stock black plastic. A visit to the GunGripGuys website (http://www.gungripguys.com/star/) and I ended up with a nice pair of zebrawood grips:
Although this pistol still had relatively nice blueing, the heel and front strap were both worn through to the metal and had some rusting. A friend tried to cold blue a similar problem with his Star BM, and I didn't like how the results looked, so I decided to look into hard chrome refinishing.
After reading up on the internet about various vendors for hard chroming, I decided to go with Accurate Plating and Weaponry. It was a toss-up between Mr. Cogan and Tripp Research -- both companies have had outstanding reviews and the photos of pistols they've worked on are really stunning.
After just a little over three weeks, here's what came back from AP&W. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
Comparison shot with Colt Combat Commander in nickel
There is a little dirt in the shot because I took the photos after taking her out to the range.
To say I'm happy with the result is the understatement of the year. At about $150 for the hard chrome job, I have a pistol which is still less than half the cost of the Colt!
One lesson learned: during the plating, the ramp and throat were not buffed out -- it was so rough that it was impossible to feed a round the way the pistol was returned out-of-the-box. A little clean-up with the Dremel and a buffing bit took care of it and now she runs like a champ and cleans up with just a swipe of the rag.
Great work, Bob...thanks!!
