The Stark Arms S34 Supergrade CO2 GBB is a beautiful Glock 34 replica with a top notch finish and build quality.
Stark Arms, a company known for producing high quality GBB pistols, is widely unknown here in central Europe and I’ve actually never seen one in the field until now. I couldn’t find many intel on the company itself but it seems that BO manufacture has it’s fingers in the pie and VFC is OEM-ing the pistols. And yes, that’s a good thing as VFC is know for their superb quality products.
Externals
The S34 Supergrade features a metal slide, a newly designed nozzle (the red color reminds me of those KJW pistols), original dimensions (this means, that the S34 fits into all real steel holsters unlike other Glock replicas), a Polymer frame, functional safety, a beefy metal magazine and … a FULL AUTO shooting mode! You heard right, full-auto, baby!
The build quality of the GBB is excellent. The finish of the metal parts is matt and silky smooth. VFC has done a perfect job manufacturing this little beauty.
It features a lot of Stark Arms markings in the frame and the logo on the slide along with the number ’34’, the word ‘Supergrade’ and the caliber ‘9×19’.
The lower part of the front section of the frame features a serial number plate just like the real Glocks.
The slide features a realistic looking dummy extractor pin, which is a nice feature for those of you that are looking for a realistic Glock replica. The slide also accepts real steel sights.
Magazine
The magazine is solidly built and features a removable bottom cap which also acts as a mag extender. Located at the bottom of the magazine is the screw that holds the CO2 capsule in place and punctures it. The screw is operated with a hey key.
ATTENTION: do not tighten to screw too hard! the second time I inserted a CO2 capsule I tightened the screw too hard and the screw separated itself apart on the inside which rendered the screw useless as the metal insert, which the hex key fits into, turns around without having any contact to the plastic housing of the screw.
I had to drill out the screw and replace it with the spare one that it is included with the S34.
Internals
The trigger mechanism looks similar to the Tokyo Marui G18 one but I can’t tell you exactly if it is compatible with TM parts. The quality of the metal parts is great and they should last a long time.
The hop-up is adjustable via a little dial just like the TM ones. The bright red/orange color of the nozzle and rocket valve give the GBB a nice litte touch of color.
Right behind the nozzle sits the “fun switch” which can be used to set the S34 to full-auto.
Shooting the S34 on full-auto is funny as hell as it shoots nearly 1000RPM and kicks quite hard. Controlling the GBB on full-auto requires a good, firm grip.
The spring guide features a short stroke spring on the very front of the spring guide which helps with faster cycling speeds and is a feature that you don’t see much often inside GBBs straight out of the box.
Shooting
The Stark Arms S34 Supergrade shoots around 320FPS on CO2 and 1000RPM when going full auto.
Shooting semi only, you should be able to empty 5 fully loaded mags with one capsule.
Shooting full auto is fun but it comes with a high price: massive cooldown. If you empty one magazine straight, the cooldown is so immense that you have to wait for at least 10 minutes before you can use the magazine again.
When shooting in hot climates like we had this summer (up to 37°C), the pressure rises inside the magazine and can prevent the hammer from fully opening the mag valve thus releasing only a little amount of gas which causes the slide not to fully cycle. I had this problem when testing the GBB for the first time as we had around 30°C.
Final Words
The excellent build quality of the GBB and the realistic dimensions make it an almost perfect Glock replica. CO2 is not my favorite type of propulsion as it is expensive and often causes problems in hot climates.
With a retail price of 210€ in Europe, the Stark Arms S34 is bloody expensive for a Glock replica but so worth the money considering the quality of the gun.
You can get the S34 Supergrade and many other Stark Arms GBB Pistols both CO2 and gas versions at BO Manufacture in France.
Thanks to BO Manufacture for letting us test the S34 Supergrade.
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