Star BM 9mm slide/frame "play"

[expat_alaska]

The Star BM is a superb .45, but alas, it's still a 1911 design which means it will always jam once in a blue moon even in the best of times. I got rid of mine when parts became scarce and I was able to land a S&W 645.

You should have held onto that Star BM .45 . It must be worth a fortune.

 

[POBVA]

Greetings again, all. Wow, I am so glad to have had a chance to learn from some seriously experienced people. I can't tell everyone how much I appreciate the expertise. 12Bravo20 and flightsimmer - you all gave me the stimulus to go ahead and dive in a little deeper. Glad I did. I took the steps, thanks to flightsimmer's "push" to go ahead and just remove the extractor. You are so right - easy as could be! Before doing so, I pushed on it and it did move easily on the pin, so then I took it out. Yes, there was some gunk in there, but not really bad. I cleaned it thoroughly. But I think this may help me (with some help of folks here) to nail this down. Having the extractor out, I cleaned it up and took some pictures, which I've posted here.

Please let me throw in the caveat - this is the first Star I've owned, the second (next to my Ruger Mark II, a different animal) automatic pistol. I'm mostly an old fashioned bolt action rifle guy. So, I have no idea what a Star BM extractor in good shape is supposed to look like, and I admit it! That's why I'm hoping someone will see this pix and tell me "that's what mine looks like and mine works fine," or "man, you need to find a new extractor, that thing's worn/damaged/defective/broken, etc." What struck me is how one corner of it doesn't look like the other (reminder, I don't know what it's SUPPOSED to look like!); it's rounded off. Was it designed that way (the rounded edge is the lower edge, where the case would ride up under it; is it rounded to make the case run up under it)? Or is that lower corner worn, so now it's not grabbing the case fully, leading to the failure to EXTRACT?

I guess it comes down to (and I think I can guess the answer) as to whether this design is like a Mauser controlled feed (the case rim has to role up underneath the extractor) or a push feed? If it's a push feed (which the spring design leads me to believe), then I'm suspicious that that rounded off corner is causing a problem.

Can anyone guide me on this? MANY thanks!

 

[flightsimmer]

OK, since you now have it out, see if it fits into the extractor grove of a 9mm case all the way in as far as it can go to get a good firm hook on the case and let us know.

 

[entropy]

It actually looks OK, but replacing the spring as long as you have it out, and polishing the chamber (or having your gunsmith do it) is cheap insurance.

 

[flightsimmer]

It may be that you need to undercut the hook very slightly or sharpen it to get a better grab on the case.
Only polish the chamber as a last resort.
Or, possibly a little stiffer spring?

 

[12Bravo20]

I have to agree with flightsimmer and entropy. See how the extractor fits a case and fix/replace as needed. Go ahead and replace the spring since it’s out.

 

[Confederate]

You should have held onto that Star BM .45 . It must be worth a fortune.

Ouch! Yeah, actually it was a PD .45, but what I had was a STAR BM 9mm. I'm sure the manufacturing tooling exists somewhere. They should dust it off and start cranking them out again. Or someone should get one of the BM models to China and have them make a working copy of it. I've seen some of the 1911 copycat [GHOST] guns produced in the jungles of the Philippines and the bloody things work better than the Colts here. See the video here:



I think they make the point that if the guns don't work flawlessly, they can't sell them, and they depend on these guns to feed their families. There's nothing like that kind of motivation to make the things work. Colt's use of the United Auto Workers was a huge mistake and their guns were then screwed up by the same people who were screwing up our cars! The only Colts I really wanted were the Gold Cup and the Python.

 

[H&R Glock]

Blue Press just had a story about the BM. Supposedly $259 in excellent condition from AIM Surp..com
AIM is out of the excellent pistols but have shooters for $199. The picture they show reveals lots of wear, but they say the internals are excellent.
Mine arrives on Monday. I will post pictures.

 

[H&R Glock]

It got here this morning. Cost $189.xx from AIMsurplus.com. It has holster wear. The barrel looked like sand on the inside until I scrubbed it with Hoppies and MPRO7, now it is shiny. Much better looking than I thought it would be. First thing I did was take out the magazine safety rod!


Not bad for the money and glad I bought it.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Stars pistols have been known to prefer heavier bullets. Try some 124gr and 147gr. My BM feeds everything but shoots better with 124gr.

 

[fxvr5]

Speaking of slide-to-frame fit and accuracy, here is an article that some of you might find interesting:

http://www.shootingtimes.com/gunsmithing/is-slide-to-frame-fit-important-for-accuracy/

 

[H&R Glock]

Stars pistols have been known to prefer heavier bullets. Try some 124gr and 147gr. My BM feeds everything but shoots better with 124gr.

Yoe! Gunny, I have K's of 115 grain RN 9mm ammo loaded for my other 6-8 pistols. I stuck this BM out the back door and fired a magazine of 115's into the woods. It fired perfectly. My Star Super B also works well with these. Then I ordered more 115 grains from X-Treme as they had a 10% off/free shipping deal going on for St. Pats day. I'll try some 124 grainers after I run out of these pellets. The $189 is correct even tho they advertise $199.
Question: Why aren't there more C&R pistols on the market? Every year more guns turn 50 years old. That would make my license be more worthwhile. There must be some kind of administrative marketing hold on this category of hand guns.