WaMason
Member
Selecting my first pistol was an almost year long affair. I tried Glocks, of all shapes and sizes, XD's, and any number of 1911's.
My requirements were for a mid sized gun, something I could carry concealed if I chose, but big enough and with a long enough barrel that target shooting out to 25-50 yards could still be fun. I also wanted whatever I selected to be no smaller then .380, and with a solid reputation for being capable of consistent one shot stops.
All of the above criteria were fairly easy to fulfill, I found the Springfield XD platform to be the most promising, but ultimately I wanted something that just felt right in my hands, with a natural "pointability". For whatever reason, I have always had issues with grips on tools, video games, and generally whatever is meant to be manipulated with ones digits.
Ultimately where this whole ramble is going, I had searched and been to the range dozens of times with friends and relatives before I visited a pawn shop and was intrigued by the mere look of the gun I saw before me in the case. The gun before me was a Steyr M9A1, and was unlike anything I had seen up until that point. I asked the clerk to take it out, and immediately upon taking it into hand, it just felt right. I flipped it over, checked the tag, and upon seeing what the store was asking, laughed and handed it back.
A couple weeks later, luck had it that my favorite gun store had a similar model brought to them, with the front sight a little shipped, in the bottom left corner, and th price tag there was more then reasonable. I walked out that night the proud owner of a Steyr M40 pistol, my friend who had accompanied me there purchased the XD i had been going in to purchase before seeing the Steyr.
I have been consistently able to shoot groups of around 4 inch in circumference at 40 FEET with it, and have yet to find a gun that fits my hand anywhere near as well.(although I did come to realize later that a lot of my grip issue had to do with my inexperience in how to hold a handgun)
Has anyone else in this community been similarly blessed to come across one of these pistols, or have any criticisms or issues that they would like to bring to light?
My requirements were for a mid sized gun, something I could carry concealed if I chose, but big enough and with a long enough barrel that target shooting out to 25-50 yards could still be fun. I also wanted whatever I selected to be no smaller then .380, and with a solid reputation for being capable of consistent one shot stops.
All of the above criteria were fairly easy to fulfill, I found the Springfield XD platform to be the most promising, but ultimately I wanted something that just felt right in my hands, with a natural "pointability". For whatever reason, I have always had issues with grips on tools, video games, and generally whatever is meant to be manipulated with ones digits.
Ultimately where this whole ramble is going, I had searched and been to the range dozens of times with friends and relatives before I visited a pawn shop and was intrigued by the mere look of the gun I saw before me in the case. The gun before me was a Steyr M9A1, and was unlike anything I had seen up until that point. I asked the clerk to take it out, and immediately upon taking it into hand, it just felt right. I flipped it over, checked the tag, and upon seeing what the store was asking, laughed and handed it back.
A couple weeks later, luck had it that my favorite gun store had a similar model brought to them, with the front sight a little shipped, in the bottom left corner, and th price tag there was more then reasonable. I walked out that night the proud owner of a Steyr M40 pistol, my friend who had accompanied me there purchased the XD i had been going in to purchase before seeing the Steyr.
I have been consistently able to shoot groups of around 4 inch in circumference at 40 FEET with it, and have yet to find a gun that fits my hand anywhere near as well.(although I did come to realize later that a lot of my grip issue had to do with my inexperience in how to hold a handgun)
Has anyone else in this community been similarly blessed to come across one of these pistols, or have any criticisms or issues that they would like to bring to light?
Last edited: