[mrapathy2000]

Steyr has released pics and little reading on the new M-A1. the trigger guard is no longer round in the new pictures and the manual safety seems to be an option. they say the gun has a drop and firing pin safety which original didnt completely have. original m and s series had a drop safety which kept the sear from moving when the trigger is not pulled. the gun has the same old locking mechanism.

Steyr Mannlicher website (http://www.steyr-mannlicher.com)
hit the usa flag for english its in upper right hand corner. they now have news section in english.
the link to article and images are under news section

they dont have the M-A1 in the pistol section yet but would not be suprised if that changed in the future.

new M-A1 images (http://www.steyr-mannlicher.com/index.php?id=172&type=1)

[Handgun]

Thanks for the info!

Hmm ... I like the usable rail but I dislike the grip and the overall look of the gun compared to the current M/S series. Just my opinion.

By the way, heres the English version of the web site so there is no need to translate:
http://www.steyr-mannlicher.com/index.php?id=99
look under "News".

[Beav]

I'm no engineer, so do these safety changes address the supposed safety flaw as discussed numerous time here and on the firingline?

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=144739&highlight=Steyr

[mrapathy2000]

last I knew they didnt have the news section in the english version.seems they added it now.

the gun is safe the sear will not lower unless the trigger is pulled so the firing pin best not move or else it is broke. cant imagine is breaking as its pretty solid steel. their is a safety device which keeps sear from moving down spontaneously.

wish they would of made the mag release ambidextrious.

on the grip issue it looks close to the original minus added texturing. my convern is the top of the grip it looks thicker than current m/s.

dont like the look of the finger indent near trigger. like how it was slim in that area. wonder if recoil is any tamer with slightly thicker grip. not that recoil was a issue at all.

[George Hill]

So it's just a Steyr M series with a rail?
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=591167

[Sox]

Any word of the "xs" series they alluded to when the guns were first shown at the shotshow some years back? Supposedly, they were going to offer a "subcompact" designated as the XS? :)

[aircarver]

the gun is safe the sear will not lower unless the trigger is pulled so the firing pin best not move or else it is broke. cant imagine is breaking as its pretty solid steel. their is a safety device which keeps sear from moving down spontaneously.

Yeah, but this is irrelevant.
The striker holdback spans across the moving parts and tolerance stackup of the frame and slide. .050" engagement is all that prevents the striker from releasing. There is no 'half cock' notch to catch it. The problem should have been addressed with a striker block, but wasn't.

[mrapathy2000]

no your missing the point. its going no where untill the trigger is pulled. NO WHERE! the chance it ever would is out there and dependant upon failure of high quality parts. but just forget what I am saying go put on your beanie and let it be.

Aluminum deflector beanie (http://zapatopi.net/afdb.html)

[aircarver]

If you want to risk your personal safety on a single point failure mode mechanical device, feel free. My 'S' only goes 'condition 1' pointed downrange.

[mrapathy2000]

the gun has a part called drop safety in my manual its part number 32. its to the right of the sear. it keeps the sear from doing anything until the trigger is pulled. numerous springs fairly strong keeping trigger and sear in place. the sear itself has to move 2 directions after the gun is cocked. the sear cannot simply move on its own cause it has no where to go until the trigger is pulled. I have bang,dropped and fired thousands of rounds yet I have yet to see any steyr gun fire without trigger being pulled. its nice you have a theory or have read something from the firing line. but where is the unsafe full auto firing pistol you are talking about? I just removed the slide while gun was cocked. removed plastic plug from slide removed firing pin and then pulled slide off and I cannot for life of me move that sear without using the trigger. trigger doesnt want to move by itself or through environmental forces from fall this is without safety engaged. unless the frame to slide fit or some other part breaks it is highly unlikely.

[mephisto]

oh no. the great steyr debate is here once more. i too wont charge my m9 if im not going to shoot it down range. now let Steyr bring me a m45.

[Cthulhu]

Let's not drag out this dead horse. Even with a force breakdown part by part (done rather well, in this engineers perspective), people still believe that this gun is notably more unsafe than competing designs. The only people genuinely purporting it to be so (MacMan10 and JimmyMac) didn't make the transition to the new board, at least under their original names. Their arguments were borderline paranoid, based upon possible failure modes that are extremely unlikely to occur. Then it was hijacked by Handy, who spent so much time whining about logic of his opponents, he forgot to use any (He was later banned for making personal attacks when people critiqued his less than sound argument, so go figure.) As a Steyr owner (that has neither jammed or had an AD, BTW) I ask that anyone who claims that it is an unsafe design to cite any AD or instance of full auto that they have personally experienced or witnessed.

That said, 1 or 2 instances of full auto out of tens of thousands pistols sold would not be enough to convince me that these black pistols are threat to the shooting public. I personally believe the 1911 to be a fundamentally safe design, although the pistols that I have seen AD or go full auto most often are 1911 patterns (and those are almost always due to someone messing about with the internals, rather than parts breakage/wear).

Untold millions of people per year trust their lives to devices with single point failure modes. Commercial Airliners and seatbelts come to mind. Remember the FMEA coda: Risk = probability of failure x severity of failure

[hjrocket]

Which is inherently safer when carried with round in chamber on both pistols, andw/ safety on the S-40 ??:confused:

[Flashpoint]

I would think that the S-40 with the safety on would be "safer" because you wouldn't have to keep your finger off the trigger to keep it from firing. Not that I am condoning putting your finger on the trigger when you don't intend to pull it, but if the safety between your ears failed it would be there to help cover your bootie.

[twoblink]

I'm somewhat offended that I'm not listed as the premiere Steyr M series defender; but that's life..

That said. There really isn't a big safety problem with the Steyr's original design. (If you understand it)

But if you think it's unsafe, by all means, don't buy one and don't carry one.

There are advantages to carrying in condition 3 if you read the articles about it; but I for one have no problems carrying it in condition 1..

Nope. not gonna get baited into a Steyr safety debate..:D

[Jeff OTMG]

Last word I had from Wilhelm was that the XS would never be produced. I don't think that you will ever see the L either.

[Flashpoint]

I am courious to know if you had a M model Steyr would you be able to swap frames with the M-A1?

[mrapathy2000]

dont know about the frames but found a sight for steyr fans.
Steyr-Aug.com (http://www.steyr-aug.com/)

and a discussion board for steyr pistols for anyone interested.

steyr handgun board (http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/158533)

on the frame swap. it would be nice though I doubt it would be as easy as glocks upgrade operation but it might be do able.

[Oracle]

I just wish they had changed the sights. Yick.