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Steyr M40, M357, & M9: New Super M Series Pistols
Wilhelm Bubits is the mastermind of the Steyr pistol. He's a hobby shooter who at one time worked for Glock, and was also a uniformed officer and later a plainclothes officer.
Bubits ended up with Steyr Mannlicher, another Austrian arms maker, in 1997. A key player to bring Bubits' dream into reality was Steyr's engineer, Fridrich Aigner. After two years of research and development, the pistol has been christened.
The Steyr M (Medium) Series
Unsupported Versus Supported Chambers
The Glock was born as a 9mm and then modified into the now famous Glock 22 and 23 .40 S&W models. The Steyr M40 was born as a .40 S&W pistol and then the 9mm version was developed. That's why the Steyr M40 is exceptionally beefed up with a very strong lock-up system, and why it has a "well supported chamber".
Some manufacturers of 9mm pistols simply rebarrelled, modified the breechface and put in a stiffer recoil spring to develop their initial .40 S&W pistols. Since the .40/10mm bullet is bigger than a 9mm, the only way to get the .40 to feed reliably was to create an intrusive feed ramp, and possibly an oversized chamber to match. Thus the .40 S&W "Unsupported Chamber" was born. This was a quick and dirty fix by some manufacturers to get to market fast.
Other manufacturers either started from scratch or went through the added expense to redesign their 9's to safely handle the .40 with a well-supported chamber that still feeds reliably. These types of .40 pistols are therefore safer to use, whether you shoot factory ammo or reloaded ammo.
If you want to find out if your .40 has a well supported chamber, then do this: Measure the diameter of the lower, most expanded part of some fired brass. After the first measurement, rotate the brass slightly and measure it again because the brass sometimes measures greater from a certain angle because of the 6-o'clock chamber opening affect. If your brass measures .431 or greater, then your chamber is entering into unsupported territory. Also, put a round into the barrel and look at the 6-o'clock position of the chamber opening. If the thin part of the brass wall is exposed, or too much brass is exposed, you have an unsupported chamber. "Both" of these measurements are important to determine if your chamber is well supported or not. The greatest
brass expansion occurs when shooting full power loads.
In the six-o'clock chamber opening of the Steyr M40, you see virtually "no" exposed brass and the chamber is not oversized either. I kid you not! This is truly amazing, especially since the rounds feed perfectly. A Steyr barrel does not over expand and bulge the brass like an unsupported chamber would.
The diameter of the Steyr fired brass measures around .428 -.430 for full power loads. The Glock .40 and even a SW99 I tested can expand brass as much as .431 .433, which is a huge difference. In other words, the Steyr M40 is friendly for using in sports, reloading, and in agencies. It should give a little extra confidence to anyone who carries a .40 caliber pistol.
Generally speaking, ammo and gun companies don't care about reloading safety and case life. Some of the newer reloading manuals have strong warnings about reloading for pistols with unsupported chambers, especially concerning high-pressure cartridges.
The Barrel
Conventional rifling is used in the barrel, for those that choose to use lead. Bubits has stated that for the cost of being able to use lead and be "handload compatible", there is no more than a 3 percent to 4 percent loss in velocity.
The Steyr M series employs the Browning cam-operated tilting barrel system to lock the action during firing.
For Lead Bullet Fans
I performed a little test just for you. I don't normally shoot lead because I find it a little too messy. I bought 100 Oregon Trail Laser-Cast 170 grain Semi Wad Cutters (SWC).
Now, I've never been able to get SWC rounds to feed consistently in any of my Glock .45's. I've had some luck shooting SWC's in Glock .40's as long as the right combination of magazine spring tension, magazine follower type, etc are stumbled upon.
I'm glad to report that my Steyr M40 fed all 100 SWC rounds "perfectly". This is great news for sports shooters since a semi wad cutter cuts a larger, cleaner hole in the paper. That's because a SWC is not only a flat point, but it has a 360 degree cutting shoulder that maximizes the size of the hole. Now I just have to find some good bulk plated/jacketed SWC bullets.
The Trigger
The Steyr, like the Glock, has a safety on the trigger. If the trigger gets bumped from various angles, the trigger will not release. You need to put a positive finger pressure on the front of the trigger for the gun to fire. This is an important safety feature that some people just don't get.
After shooting a few hundred rounds, I took the slide off to clean the M40. I put a little high tech Tetra lube on the inner trigger workings with a q-tip and then lightly removed any excess lube with the dry end of the q-tip. Oh, and I applied a little tetra to the long trigger bar as well. After reassembling the Steyr, the trigger action is silky smooth. Early triggers had about an 8 lb. pull. After August, 2000, the standard trigger pull became 5 lbs.
The trigger guard is angled 10 degrees downward, leaving room for a manual safety. This trigger angle allows for a very natural, higher finger placement.
The Steyr trigger is true double-action since the trigger continues to cock the striker throughout the stroke until it is released. The Steyr trigger does not feel like a typical double-action trigger at all. It has a short stroke action (aprox. 1/8") with a very short reset, for very accurate rapid fire.
Like the Glock, the Steyr striker mechanism is under partial tension (partially cocked) when the trigger is fully forward. After the trigger is pulled, the striker is fully at rest until the trigger is reset. The three passive safeties keep the Steyr pistol safe to operate. You just have to remember to engage your primary manual safety, the one between your ears, and NOT put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire; this rule is actually true for ALL guns.
In my opinion, the short, clean, stroke of the Steyr trigger feels better than the longer, mushier Glock trigger. I even grabbed a Glock armorer at my shooting range so he could test fire the Steyr. He agreed that the Steyr trigger felt better and the perceived recoil was less. But he told me not to tell anyone <G>
Since the M40 has a short trigger pull, it might be more appropriate to compare it to a single action trigger. Of course the M40 trigger cannot match a finely tuned single action trigger. But, for a short stroke DA trigger with 3 passive safeties, "requiring" no manual safety, unlike a single action pistol, it comes darn close. I'd say that single action fans could adjust to the new Steyr M series pistol pretty easily. Don't forget! You can use the Steyr manual safety if you want to. The safety features are covered in depth a little farther down in this review.
Take-Down Lever
Step 1: To disassemble the Steyr, you must first check to make sure the pistol is empty with no cartridge in the chamber and no magazine inserted. Then you have to pull the trigger, like the Glock, in order to release tension to the striker mechanism, pointing in a safe direction of course.
Step 2: The take-down lever is quite easy to use --- somewhat similar to a classic SIG. You simply press in the integrated lock button slightly, which is next to the take-down lever, and then the take down lever can be swung down easily so the slide can be removed. When the slide is reinserted onto the frame, the take-down lever automatically pops into place. Very clean.
A person unaccustomed to a Steyr may very well think the take-down lever is the manual safety, especially with the bold "S" and "F" markings adjacent to it. This could give the owner just enough time to take control of the situation during an emergency. With the manual safety on, this situation could get downright confusing for a perpetrator.
Grip
The grip has one finger groove that should fit almost all hand sizes, large and small. The upper rear of the grip frame is dished out, somewhat similar to the Beretta guns. This allows the web of the hand to get in a little tighter and also makes reaching the trigger easier.
Actually, some people who are used to oversized, large grips may at first complain that the Steyr grip is too small. I'm sure that grip socks will be made available for the Steyr to satisfy the needs of some owners. I'm 6' 1" and have long fingers, And I find the Steyr quite pleasant to shoot.
The grip angle is 111 degrees. Basically, this means when you aim the Steyr, you don't have to cock your wrist up or down since it is a natural point shooting pistol. The bore axis is so low (lower than a Glock) that it's almost like pointing your finger. A nice side effect is less felt recoil as well.
The textured pattern on the grip is adequate to obtain a nonslip grip. I personally like the more radical HK USP grip texture that almost feels like sandpaper --- but some people think that's a little too much. At any rate, the grip shape, along with the textured pattern, fits my hand perfectly.
The magazine release is well placed on the left side of the frame so it's easy to reach for a right or left handed person. When the pistol is laying on it's side, the magazine release button is out of the way so it won't release accidentally. The magazine release does not have sharp edges like the Glock does.
The magazine catch is made out of metal, not polymer.
I'm only aware of two torture tests so far. One is discussed in detail later in this review, in which Bubits pumped 10,000 rounds through one M40 within a two-day period. GSI also shot over 13,000 rounds through several M40's. The pistol parts are holding up very well as of this writing.
Slide
The slide is super hardened with a tennifer finish, similar to the Glocks, and then a dull blackened finish is applied. The grasping grooves are well spaced, giving the shooter a comfortable contact when operating the slide. When you rack the slide, it is quite smooth.
The Steyr slide is only 18 ml high compared to the Glock's 22 ml.
The slide stop has a generous 30 degree angle making it very easy to manipulate. The owner's manual states that the strong slide stop can be used to release the slide, if you prefer not to rack the slide.
The slide rails are not molded into the polymer frame like a Glock and other polymer brands. The Steyr is essentially a steel pistol, wrapped in polymer. The mechanical parts function on a steel sub-assembly, and the lock bridge is very "strong".
It's interesting to note that the rails are cut at a 45 degree angle. This allows the slide and barrel to ride about 1/8" lower than existing pistols with rails cut at 90 degrees. The Steyr bore axis is about 5mm lower than a Glock. As a result, there is less muzzle flip, less felt recoil, and the low bore axis helps to center the round coming out of the magazine into the barrel chamber.
I shot the Steyr M40 side-by-side with a Glock 23 and the M40 did have less felt recoil.
The standard Steyr comes with fast acquisition, triangular-trapezoid sights. They can easily be swapped for traditional sights or night sights. Trijicon has mentioned they will support the new Steyr pistols by late 2000.
I personally believe these standard stock sights are the best I've had on a pistol. It's so easy and fast to find the large, triangular front sight during speed shooting --- wonderful. For accuracy shooting, use the tip of the front triangle for superb accuracy.
These standard front and rear sights are steel, unlike the Glock, which uses plastic sights
There is a loaded chamber indicator in the back of the slide that can be seen or felt.
When I looked inside of the Steyr, I was pleased to see how strong and beefed up all the parts are. This is one tough gun that is excellently engineered to last a long time.
The Steyr has three passive reset action safeties so it can be carried safely without using the manual safety, if desired. Along with the 3 reset action safeties and the manual safety, there is an integrated lock (for storage purposes), giving the Steyr an impressive total of 5 safeties!
The integrated lock is next to the take-down lever, located on the side of the frame, and comes with two keys. The police version uses a handcuff key. The civilian version uses a two pronged key. When it's locked, you cannot pull the trigger or take the pistol apart, but you can load and unload the pistol.
The integrated lock is not meant to be used in speed drills. You carefully insert the key and push the lock in then then rotate counter-clockwise to lock the pistol. You then push the lock in and turn the key clockwise to unlock the pistol. During the unlock phase, it's best to keep turning the key clockwise until you feel pressure as you pull the key out so the lock pops out into position easily. It's a snug fit. You can also pull the slide back a little or lightly press the trigger to help pop the lock out into position, although these two latter methods are non-standard and should not be necessary. The manual safety can be on/active during the use of the integrated lock for extra safety.
I have actually started using the integrated lock when I do not have direct control of the pistol since it is so convenient. Obviously, during concealed carry, you do not want to use the integrated lock! As a side note, the integrated lock is a very inexpensive part and very easy to replace.
Of course all locks can be picked with the right tool, even the generic handcuff lock. Overall, the integrated lock is an excellent feature, and it sure beats misplacing an external lock or forgetting one during transit.
I really like the Steyr manual safety because you don't have to worry about toggling it on and off accidentally. And it's basically invisible if you choose not to use it.
During a scuffle, or an operator slide rack error, or if the pistol skids across the floor, a typical manual safety on the side of a slide or frame can sometimes be toggled unknowingly. A Steyr manual safety system is less likely to be affected by these same scenarios.
For pistol owners in general, the Steyr manual safety is a bit different from what they are used to. On the other hand, there are a number of rifles with the safety in the same general location as the Steyr pistols: M-1 Garand, the M-14 or Springfield Armory M-1A rifle, or the Ruger Mini-14 or Mini-30. And the new Vector pistol from South Africa employs a similarly placed manual safety.
To activate the manual safety, you pull down on a small lever on each side of the frame. Interestingly, these two levers are in the same basic position as the Glock take-down levers and they are protected by a slightly recessed polymer molding. This action lowers a small safety bar from the "top" of the trigger guard. Note: If the trigger is in the fully back position, you cannot activate the manual safety since the trigger is already deactivated.
You would normally activate the safety with your supporting hand. If you cannot or choose not to use your supporting hand, you can simply move your thumb to the other side of the frame, and slightly shift your grip with the lower three fingers and the thumb to maintain control of the pistol. Then, you can pull the levers down "easily" with your trigger finger and your thumb. It's a lot easier to do than to explain. At any rate, most combat/defensive type shooting has both hands on the gun most of the time anyway, so this is not a big deal. And remember, the Steyr is safe even without having the manual safety activated, as long as the trigger is not pulled.
When the manual safety is on, you can still rack the slide to load and unload the pistol. In fact the Owner's Manual recommends having the safety on during the loading & unloading stage.
To release the safety, you simply press "up" against the safety bar with your trigger finger, which is a distinctively different action than pulling the trigger finger backward to fire the pistol. Once you are trained with releasing the Steyr manual safety to fire mode, it's just as "easy and fast" as toggling the more traditional manual safety with your thumb.
Firing out of battery should not be an issue with the Steyr series. It has a very strong positive lockup. As soon as the slide begins to go back, the firing pin tension is also reduced so the firing pin should not have the momentum to set off a primer.
I always check all of my spent brass before reloading. I have yet to find a primer strike that is not in the center.
My Steyr pistol passes the 12 o'clock recoil spring test with flying colors. This is a good test to check the recoil spring strength. Make sure the gun chamber is empty. Point the muzzle straight up. Pull the trigger. Keep the muzzle pointing straight up while you rack the slide and then very gently let it forward until it stops on its own accord. My Steyr pistol completely resets in the 12 o'clock position. On the other hand, my new Glocks, 22 & 23 had to be lowered to the 9 - 10 o'clock position to completely reset. Having a strong reset and lessoning slide battering is a high priority of mine.
There is no other out-of-the-box, service-grade, compact pistol that will out shoot the Steyr M40. The slide to frame fit is tight, and built specifically to increase accuracy. After all, who cares what caliber you're using if you can't hit what you're aiming at.
In June '99, Bubits tested an early M40 "prototype" by firing 10,000 rounds through it within two days. He lubricated it once at the beginning of the session. Then he sprayed the pistol with an air hose after every 500 rounds but otherwise did not clean it thereafter. He had 5 malfunctions, one of which was a dead primer. He tweaked the extractor to fine-tune the gun for reliability.
Will the Steyr pass the torture tests of being frozen, burned, buried, dropped from helicopters, run over, etc? I don't know. It's a nice marketing ploy, but as long as my Steyr can handle "reasonable" torture testing, such as the flying frisbee test, etc, that's good enough for me and any kind of shooting I'll be doing.
I'll be using my M40 in IPSC & IDPA shooting as well as for a defensive weapon. That means I'll be firing it in cold, hot, dusty, & wet conditions. And I need to be able to reliably pump at least 200 - 300 rounds through it at any given match. Right now I'm feeling good that the Steyr M40 will do just fine. Once again, I really like the well supported chamber for this kind of shooting; And as a result, I feel more confident when carrying the M40 for defensive purposes as well.
I examined my M40 after shooting 1000 rounds through it during the first two weeks of ownership. There were no wear marks anywhere. The slide-to-frame fit is superbly engineered. I did find a little black paint that had rubbed off on top of the slide stop lever. This examination increases my confidence in the M40 substantially.
