Steyr m-40, thoughts,opinions?

Sent my M40 to GSI for trigger upgrade and bevel to ejection port on a wednesday, I got it back completed on friday, the same week!!!!
Trigger is noticablly better than before. Shot it briefly with Wolf ammo the next day. Great improvement!! Started shooting off-hand for accuracy from further distances than I ever have. More consistent, less lateral deviation in point of aim with this lighter and more consistent trigger pull. I can't wait to try it out at my regular range, with the usual ammo and without having only 20 minutes till closing.
 
I've called GSI 2 or 3 times about a 357 Sig barrel for the M40 and they haven't been able to get them from Steyr.
JohnBoy
 
Now for a negative opinion: I had serious problems with both M40 and M9. Failures to fire in the M40 experienced during police training. I and unit armorer are convinced that there is a design flaw in this pistol. Subsequent "upgrades", gift certificates, etc. made me even more convinced that this design has bugs. I am not sure that enough were manufactured to have really wrung these bugs out. I hate being the Beta Tester!

The M9 had another kind of problem: the keyed lock failed in the locked condition disabling the firearm. Suppose this had been a key-locked pistol in a night table drawer? Not at my place. I would throw the key away upon purchase to avoid the temptation of locking it. Safety features are great if they work reliably. This one didn't.

My posts about 1 year ago about these problems elicited strong disagreement by certain individuals highly enamored by this
Fire(maybe?)arm.

I love most other Steyr products (including their Pinzgauer vehicle, a Euro-styled Humvee). I like the AUG rifle and the SP .32 ACP as well as the Steyr GB. IMO, the M and S series are not in the same league.
 
My understainding is that BMW was trying to buy the land the Steyr plant is on, in order to expand their own operations. At the 11th hour, the deal fell apart. Another buyer came in and bought Steyr. I hope Steyr remains healthy, and the new owner doens't muck things up. Here's a press release from the GSI website which describes the new owner:

As per June 22, 2001 the Austrian company Cura Investholding GmbH acquired 100 % shares of Steyr Mannlicher AG & Co KG from Creditanstalt AG. The takeover of the company also involves Steyr Mannlicher's 51 % holding of Suhler Jagd- und Sportwaffen GmbH, Suhl/Germany.

Steyr Mannlicher products are known world-wide for their high quality, precision and innovation. In combination with the new management, these features will ensure its strong market position into the future.

In 2000 Steyr Mannlicher achieved sales of approx. Euro 16 Million and currently employs 135 persons.

Cura Investholding is located in Wiener Neustadt and specialises in reorganisation of medium-sized firms. Owner of Cura Investholding is Wolfgang Fürlinger who is himself a passionate hunter.

The new owner is planning to concentrate on the more profitable range of products in order to meet to market needs. The new marketing strategy will expand Steyr Mannlicher's market position especially in USA. Cooperations on the manufacturing sector, especially with the production plant in Suhl, will reduce production costs whole mainting quality.


Steyr Mannlicher
Press Release
08/01/2001
 
I bought my S40 in June and since then more than 4000 rounds have been fed to this gun including Hot Ammo such as Corbon 135, UMC, Machtech, Winchester etc. Not a Single Problem!
Also I compete with at IDPA matches .
Sights are good and the feel on my hand is like a glove .
Excellent Gun.
I also own a G19 and G23 and I really like both Steyr and GLock.
Steyr Benefits with the External Security Lock and the Key to Disable the gun!
Jose
:) :D
 
optimist
I am interested in knowing what exactly the design flaw is? You said the M9 Key Lock and made reference to the M40 trigger upgrade, but what exactly are you referring to?
 
Hello Bullitt:
With the M9, I engaged the key lock safety with the supplied key (civilian version, not handcuff key). Could not thereafter unlock and the gun was out of action. Could not rack slide, key would not unlock it, etc.

M40 fired one round from the first magazine and thereafter could not be made to fire. No pin indent on the primer, and gun appeared to not go fully into battery. Gun was clean and lubed, no brass shavings fouling the gun, and ammo was high quality and in-spec (we checked). The M40 problem occurred on a police range. At least two experienced armorers worked with me to try to correct the problem and we called Steyr/GSI from the range to speak with the GSI armorer. This all occurred before the "upgrades" began. By then I had lost confidence in this pistol after 2 of 2 problem (9&40). Funny how that works, isn't it. Even all the great posts by others will not restore my confidence in this firearm.
 
I certainly can't ding you for not having confidence in the pistol (would I buy another if my first two experiences there thus? No), but truly, they seem unrelated. I mean, if you're looking for a common "design flaw" that could explain both problems, I'd like to hear what it is, because I (IANAA*) cannot figure out what it could be.

My guess? QC issues and a dose of bad luck. ;)

Mike

*IANAA: I Am Not An Armorer ;)
 
optimist

I'm really sorry to hear that, because mine (post upgrades model M 40) is a great gun. It out performs any Glock I've ever owned. However,I don't blame you, I would no doubt react the same way especially if it were to become a duty weapon.
 
Bullitt and Coronach:

IANAAE = I am not an armorer either

And my speculation would be just that, pure speculation. But what I do know is that in semiauto pistol design there are factors of mass, velocity, spring tension, angles, etc. that affect everything from feeding of cartridges within a magazine, to moving the cartridge into the chamber, and to the firing, extraction, and ejection of the case. Didn't Glock change an angle on the extractor? Didn't Beretta radius a particular cut on the slide to diminish slide cracking? All of these things contribute to reliable performance. Problems usually (or used to be) worked out before a product hit the street during product development and testing.

I have read that one of John Browning's genius characteristics is that his designs were robust from the get-go; i.e., that he worked a lot of that out in his head before ever bending metal. The M2HB machine gun has that kind of reputation. Perhaps it is myth, perhaps not.

I just get a little pertubed when designs are prematurely released. While not to be recommended, I know people who have purchased handguns and then holstered them or placed them in the nightstand drawer w/o ever test firing, with the ammunition that will be used.

There is a lot of pressure to rush to market and those that do not are often criticized severely for having had the guns on the front cover of a gun rag months and years before the product is available for public sale. Glock 36 and Ruger XGI come to mind (XGI never made it to the street).

So that's about all I have to say on this subject.
 
There are some S40's here, about 75 I think, and only a handful of S357's, maybe a dozen.

I think the first .45 that you will see will be the L45 which was designed to use the magazine from the 1911. It was actually the first pistol designed, the rest have just been brought to market first. Who knows if it will see the light of day under new ownership. The AUG has been a profitable item for them with military contracts, I just hope the pistols are included in the profitable item list.

Wilhelm Bubits designed the gun while he still worked for Glock. Gaston did not take suggestions to improve his pistol well, so Wilhelm left and took the design to Steyr. The crappy trigger that came on the pistol was the result of Steyr trying to make the pistol safe from litigation. The pull can actually be brought down to about 2 pounds. My gunsmith is one of the few that were trained by Wilhelm a couple of years ago in one on one sessions. The trigger has much potential.
 
I just get a little pertubed when designs are prematurely released.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree (just look at the computer software industry ... we all know about prematurely released products, and the pain they cause).

But once a company fixes a problem, if the finished product works well I'm not going to hold the early mistakes against them.

Would you never own a Glock just because there where problems with the early ones?


I think if you gave the Steyr another go you might be pleasantly surprised.

But if you're not going to, that's fine (since they may get scarce that would leave more for the rest of us ;) )

BTW, anyone else here find it ironic that the only person with a seriously negative view of the Steyrs goes by the name optimist :D
 
I just picked up a pistol at my local FFL and what was sitting in the case but a used Steyr M9. My 30 second review:

PRO:
1. Very nice hand-fit.
2. Very pointable.
3. Decent fit and finish (polymer. ehhh)
4. Light.

Neutral:
The trigger is OK. I'm not sure if this one has had the modification or not. If it has had the mod, its OK. If it hasn't had the mod, it should be pretty good indeed once its upgraded. Seemed way more 'normal' than a glock trigger.

CON:
1. The sights are strange. I mean, very strange. They could grow on you, though.
2. Still only 10 rounds of 9mm. If the S-series has the same capacity and is that much smaller, without sacrificing 'feel,' why would you buy an M-series?

I didn't buy it, but I did ask the owner to call his dealer and see about an S40. Guess what? They're not importing them (surprise).

FYI,
Mike
 
Quickest way to check for the pistol having had the upgrade is the serial number. The 9500 range or higher and it has the upgrade.

I found two Steyr pistols M9 and M40 at the gun show last weekend, both were $389.00 both had very low serial numbers. However, all the kinks were worked out on the M40's, so there should be no fear on the M9.
 
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