STAR FR: Reliable and accurate target pistol

The number of target shooters who cut their teeth on the STAR Model F target pistol in years gone by must be astronomical; it was cheap, reliable, and sufficiently accurate to satisfy the beginner at target work and it also made a very satisfactory ‘fun gun’. Unfortunately, Echeverria found more lucrative things to do in the early 1960s and stopped making it. They have now returned to this field with the new STAR FR model which is simply the old STAR Model F revived and somewhat better made.

Design

The STAR FR is a basic blowback pistol, having a heavy barrel fixed into the frame and a slide which has a front arms frame which traps the recoil spring beneath the barrel. It is simple to dismantle; one merely pulls the slide slightly back, presses the dismantling button above the left grip, lifts the slide, and slips it off forward, over the barrel. End of dismantling, nothing further is needed.

There are an external hammer and a safety catch that locks the slide while disconnecting the trigger. A hold-open catch ensures that the slide stays to the rear after firing the last shot in the magazine; with a new magazine in, the slide can be closed by pressing this catch or by simply pulling it back and releasing it.

The foresight is on a ramp and is adjustable for elevation; the rear sight, a square notch, is adjustable for windage. Balance weights are available, which can be attached to the barrel to adjust the point of balance for the individual shooter.

Altogether the STAR FR is a good beginner’s pistol that will provide accuracy enough to satisfy many shooters for their entire career.

Technical specifications: STAR FM