Pawn Shop Guns

by Sandy Keathley
 
Pawn Shop guns. I never go to pawn shops, haven't in years, but a few weeks ago I did, and found a nice addition to the stable. But first, a little background:

As a general rule, pawn shop owners know their stuff, or at least know how to research it. They know what something is worth. You're not going to find an 1881 Colt Army revolver for $25. The only exception is something that, based on arcane trivia on the gun, could be either common or rare, and only a collector would know, like a Finn-captured 1929 Russian Mosin-Nagant Dragoon carbine. However, in the real world, you won't likely find a real treasure, but can find a decent used gun at a decent used price. Or a real pig that nobody wants.

In this case, browsing through two pawn shops, I found several nice, fairly new, fairly high-end pistols. Cheaper than new, but not much. I was looking for an extra 9mm semi for use in classes, as a loaner. I didn't want to spend too much, but also didn't want a "Saturday night special". If I didn't find anything, I wasn't any worse off.

I found one for under $300, in good condition, with an extra mag, that was worth the cost. I left the store, got on my phone, Googled it, found a review on Youtube. Based on that, I went back and bought it.

It is a Star BM. I had heard the name, but didn't know much about them. One of many available cheap import knock-offs, or clones. What got my attention was that this was a Spanish clone of the very excellent CZ 75, which I also have. CZ (made in the Czech Republic), is one of the most popular police sidearms in the world (outside the U.S.), all steel, and built like a tank. I left with my Star and went right to the range, without even cleaning the gun. It was accurate, had a good trigger, performed flawlessly, and was easy to shoot. Like the CZ, it is all steel, so muzzle-flip is minimal. I did find out later that it is more ammo-sensitive than my CZ, and will not reliably feed Blazer
ammo, but that is not unusual; many guns are ammo-sensitive to some degree.

I could have bought one of these at GunBroker for about $270.00, but by the time I paid shipping and a transfer fee, it would have cost more, so this was a good deal. Besides, I never would have bought one without handling it.

If you're on a tight budget, this can be a good option, but be sure and look up reviews first on any gun you might buy, and consider how the Trigger Action Type impacts your intended use.