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starmac
01-19-2012, 10:02 PM
I have a simple question. I was looking on the thread about the new ruger american.

It was mentioned that it was a good starter gun.
It is said to have a smooth action, an excellant trigger with different opinions on the looks as far as the stock is concerned. It comes in a pretty good range of calibers.
I guess my question is, What is a starter gun, and what is the difference between it and a keeper gun.

I may be different, but I guess my starter gun was an old at the time 300 savage and maybe not the best caliber for anyone thing, but has been my get it done rifle for most of my life. I know several others in there 60's that still use the rifle they started with. I know there is allways a reason for more guns, and I have several, but I quess I never thought of a gun as a starter gun, but I've heard the term several times. What I consider a starter gun is a youth model, something like the chipmunk, I bought for my girls when they were to small for anything larger, but even it was/ is a keeper gun. lol

Lee
01-19-2012, 10:47 PM
Good question.
Quick answer: Yawn

A quick google type search turns up the following hype:

"From the ubiquitous 10/22® and Mini-14® Rifles, to the new and exciting Ruger American Rifle™, SR22™ Pistol and SR1911™. Our Awarding Winning Products ...
ruger.com - Cached"

Well, they say it is award winning, so it must be. Hope they don't strain their arm patting themselves on the back. I also note that F&S own David Putzall chimed in about it so it must be this years first-have, must-have, be-all, do-all gun.

This gun rag reader, for the last 50+ years has subscribed to and read most all of the mags off and on for the stated time. I don't read them to find out what this years "caliber of the day" is going to be. I read them to glean the few good tips I can from them, when I can. And lately the pickings have been getting lean. No bone to pick with Ruger, just with the AD-MEN who are beating journalism into the ground with their incessant shouting.
So...
It's a Ruger. It's got a butt, and it's got a muzzle. It's got a trigger and when you pull it it goes "bang". Let's wait a couple years and see if it is all it is cracked up to be. (I still shy away from any "Mini-14's" because of all the bad rumors I keep hearing about them. But hey, that's just me)

Keeper gun? I've only had one "no-keeper" gun. It was a handgun that would shoot 3' high and 5' left at 10 yards. Everything else I've ever bought has done just what I've asked it to do. At the range I've asked it to do. But hey, that's just me, not the AD-MEN and gun rag writers.

Other than this, I have no idea just what a "starter" gun is or should be.....other than in the advertisers minds ..... Lee ..... :coffee:

P.S. Anyone remember the ".480 RUGER" ?????? Awww Haaaa Haaaa Haaa Haaaa. I have one .....:groner:

starmac
01-19-2012, 10:59 PM
It wasn't the advertiser that called it a starter gun, but a member hear, and not the first time I have heard the term on forums.

canyon-ghost
01-19-2012, 11:35 PM
Starter gun: usually the cheapest import that can be had for a young man that will eventually destroy it's looks, banging it around in a pickup truck.

Composite stock- because walnut is too expensive to land in the floorboards.
Black or blued finish- Because stainless and nickle cost too much to scratch up.
Simple design- to make cleaning easy.

That's a start anyway,
Good Luck,
Ron

Blacksmith
01-19-2012, 11:41 PM
My feeling is a starter gun may become a keeper gun. But a starter has some common features weather it is for a youth or an adult who is new to the world of guns. IMO a starter gun should be appropriate for the size and ability of the user. It should be simple to operate, fit the user (length of pull and weight), a common caliber with manageable recoil (for a noobe), suitable for the type shooting they want to do, easy to maintain, and in their price range. These things will help someone to learn to use a gun and enjoy shooting and become gun nuts like the rest of us.

To see examples of unsutiable "starter Guns" just go to YouTube and watch the videos of new shooters. Ha ha she got hit in the head or knocked on his a** from the recoil and lets tape it and show the world so more people will be afraid of guns. You don't jump in a race car and head for the track when you are learning to drive.

Teach them right and they will shoot for life.

starmac
01-19-2012, 11:59 PM
Yea I understand a youth gun.
I guess it was just different where I grew up and we had a different view of our rifle.
Most of the ones I grew around, got a used gun to start, and back then youth guns, if even available weren't very popular, but we didn't try to destroy our rifles.
Any of my guns look used, even the ones I have bought new though.
I know a couple guys that used the same rifle for years and lost them to thieves. The two I know never was happy with several replacements, It seemed like you use the same thing for 30 years or so it is hard to replace.

Love Life
01-20-2012, 01:03 AM
To me a starter gun is your first gun if that makes any sense. Whether it be an old beat up milsurp or a several hundred dollar piece. It is the gun you started with.

My starter gun was a M48A milsurp with that oh so comfortable steel buttplate. That rifle is in my coat closet as I type this and was shot last weekend and will more than likely be shot this weekend.

Harter66
01-20-2012, 01:22 AM
+1
In practice for me w/my kids , it was a 22 Rem of 40s vintage pre-dinged. Then a 308 .1 had a 20ga but they chose to shoot 12s in the field . Every 1 of them would take a day afield or at the range over a ball game.

Jim Flinchbaugh
01-20-2012, 02:46 AM
I thought a starter gun was what was used to start the 100 yard dash?

Bret4207
01-20-2012, 07:06 AM
Starter gun: usually the cheapest import that can be had for a young man that will eventually destroy it's looks, banging it around in a pickup truck.

Composite stock- because walnut is too expensive to land in the floorboards.
Black or blued finish- Because stainless and nickle cost too much to scratch up.
Stainless- Because taking care of the gun is too much trouble and it looks "pimp".
Simple design- to make cleaning easy.

That's a start anyway,
Good Luck,
Ron

Sorry Ron, opinions differ.

missionary5155
01-20-2012, 08:21 AM
Good morning
Why start with a firearm that is garenteed to be of questionable value,reliability & accuracy ?
Why not start an individual with a firearm that is reliable and of known reasonable quality. It does not need be the most expensive
Happily my shooting experience started 55 years ago with a used Remington 514. Then a used Iver Johnson single 12 guage. After it was up to me to purchase the rest with some kind coaching from dad.
There are many good quality used firearms out there that are accurate and reliable.
Mike in Peru

MBTcustom
01-20-2012, 08:49 AM
I agree with missionary5155, you should get the best that you can afford.
I mean think about it, "starter gun" implies that it is to be a young mans first gun. Why would anybody introduce a young man to the world of shooting by handing him a junk, cut rate rifle? That first rifle will mean more to him than any other he will ever have, and he will treasure it above any rifle he will ever be presented in the future.
With that knowledge, if I am ever blessed enough to have a relationship with a young man that needs to learn to shoot, I am going to invest in a good mouser action, and build that rifle for him carefully and with love. He will always have it and it will always be his rifle.
Ruger can keep their "starter rifle" for folks who dont realy care about shooting very much, and dont realy care about rifles very much. Its like this person who came up to me the other day. She told me that she was going hunting with some friends and had never done such a thing before. She needed a rifle and said she wanted an inexpensive but reliable gun that she could bust hogs with. I ran her down a list of cheap "starter rifles" from all the major manufacturers and gave my recommendation as to the best one for the money. Hers was a perfect situation for those rifles.

Wayne Smith
01-20-2012, 11:06 AM
For my boy it was my Ruger Convertible Single Six at five years old. At 11 my older son loved my SBH 44Mag loaded with 5gr Bullseye. Great big gun, small recoil. He loved it. Then they both got into swords!

Reload3006
01-20-2012, 11:12 AM
I don't necessarily consider the term starter to be a bad thing. But I dont think its really a true term. I guess you could call just about any "Youth" gun to be a starter gun. I bought my boy an inexpensive single shot .410 to start him out with. (For my own personal reasons) knowing that later in life as his maturity increased i would move him up into larger gauges and rifles. if there wasn't such a gun what was the concept behind the Cricket etc. all smaller versions of guns to "Start" our kids out with. I don't feel that the term starter has any connection to quality what ever.

a continuation of my thought i ask what parent that really wants their kid to love hunting and shooting is going to start them off on a 300 win mag. Get the snot kicked out of your kid or a new shooter a time or two and I can almost guarantee you will either break them from ever wanting to shoot again or you will create a very bad flinching habit for the kid to break later in life.

Well my .02 if its even worth that.

ErikO
01-20-2012, 01:06 PM
I'd think that a 'starter' gun would mean that it would be very good quality just sized a bit smaller so it could become a family 'heirloom' for first-shooters. I plan on starting up that tradition in my family with my kiddo when he turns 11 in October.

blackthorn
01-20-2012, 04:46 PM
To me, from my own experience a 'starter' gun was the one I could afford (surplus 303 Lee Enfield) until my financial position allowed me to buy the one I REALLY wanted (300 Wby. mag).

The first gun I had was dad's old Winchester .22 Rabbit gun, it had no extracter/ejecter (empties removed with a jack-knife) and was held together with stove-pipe wire (that gave it a hair trigger). Dad was NOT a 'gun guy' and the old Winchester was there just to shoot at stray dogs/cats that threatened our livestock. I am convinced Dad never really expected to hit anything ---just scare it.

1Shirt
01-20-2012, 04:55 PM
Agree with Blackthorn, a starter gun is what you can afford, or one that was given to you. I was given a single shot Win 22 when I was 12 years old, and hunted with it and a single shot 12 g. Stevens until I enlisted. First starter gun I bought was a 340 Savage (Used) after I got out of the Corps (note not corpse like some think it is), in 222. And that was what and all that I could afford at the time.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

starmac
01-20-2012, 05:00 PM
I would think it would be hard to buy a firearm after you get out of a (corpse). lol