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7K views 23 replies 17 participants last post by  Pier23 
#1 ·
So here I am on the range today...

After some training, I proudly produce my brand new M9-A1 and hand it to my partner (Former Marine sniper, firearms expert extraordinaire). He smugly grips the pistol, a slight smile was detected on his face as I watched him enjoy the ergonomics and feel of the Steyr. He points at the target and dry-fires a couple times to get the feel of the trigger.

His smile widens and he comments that the trigger is better than the XD on his hip. I hand him a 17rd. magazine filled with 124grn. GDHP duty rounds and proudly exclaim "Take her for a ride, wussy!" He does, blazing away at the head and center mass area. The recoil recovery was remarkably faster than his XD. The trigger much better than his Glock.

Then, 2/3 the way through the magazine, my world implodes! The Steyr ceases to function! My partner taps, racks... but NOTHING happens. The slide won't come to the rear to clear the chamber. The pistol is hopelessly locked, almost closed, about 1/16th of an inch out of battery. The slide won't come to the rear, can't be slammed into battery, NOTHING. He hands the Steyr back to me with a big grin and says "watch this..."

He proceeds to draw his XD and shoot two magazines without a hitch. He was rubbing my nose into it. Ha!

So, I fiddled with the Steyr for the next 2 or 3 minutes. Finally, after pulling the trigger, hard, several times, I was able to pull the slide to the rear and eject the round, with an off-center indent on the primer. WTF over?

I proceeded to shoot another 100 rds without a hitch, but the damage was already done. I'm going back tomorrow with 300 rds to blast through the gun to regain my confidence.
 
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#3 ·
Steyrs do generally require a breakin period. No worries. Your friend can have a retake after 500 rounds everything will work itself out
 
#4 ·
Hi, that is very strange indeed. Do you have any photos of the case with off-center indent on the primer? Is the case deformed or totally ok?
I just dug into my pocket and found the round. Here's the primer:

Azure Finger Thumb Art Circle


There was a slight marring on the sid of the case:

Hand Sleeve Finger Gesture Thumb


I have 300 rounds of duty and assorted ammo to run through it today if I get the chance. I'll post the results.
 

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#6 ·
does this have anything to do with that "snag" steyrs have the last 1/8" of returning to battery. Another member recently posted a video showing the "hiccup" or "snag" when his slide was just completing its job. I noticed the same thing on my handgun the moment I racked the slide for the first time. none of my other handguns do this only the Steyr. If you ask me it sounds related... I don't know the details enough to elaborate but the bump on the striker is getting nudged and this may have caused this gentlemans failure in front of his friend.
 
#7 ·
Check out Talyn's post and the fix for the problem. It appears that there may be a ramp on the back top of the striker needed to smooth out the transition of the roller onto the striker when the slide moves forward into battery.
 
#8 ·
got a link? I hate to say it because I love my Steyr.... but break in periods were never needed in any of my other guns...EVER not did I have to "fix" or Polish anything to get things working right. Just sayin' People are minimalist and very few actually know anything about their firearms and thus people want out of the box functionality...hence the success of Glock, XD and M&P's.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
I've had this happen once. It took a lot of force to get the slide back. I can't find the thread, but I posted pictures of the casing that came out, and people were saying the rim was thicker when placed next to another round. It was Remington UMC.

I haven't had a problem like that since.
 
#11 ·
My XD9SC did that a couple of times when it was new. A hard rap on the muzzle with a rubber mallet cleared it easily. I wouldn't worry.
Yeah, just be sure you always carry a rubber mallet with you at all times in case your Steyr malfunctions when you need it.

To save your life.
 
#13 ·
For the primer to be striked like that, the round would have to have entered into the chamber crooked and fired early.

That's my guess anyways, there is no other physical way that I can think of that would cause this.

The slide only hangs up if you sissy it and ride it closed. This is due to the barrel lug not locking into the slide all the way. If your firing the weapon, the only thing that would stop it from closing all the way would be the round hanging up in the chamber, thus if you did manage to get the weapon to fire (which apparently it did) it would have not been in full lock up to the slide and thus caused an off center primer strike also jamming the gun.

The extractor could have hung up, most people forget to oil those, then wonder why they have problems.
That's my only other though, but they usually wont fire unless the slide is all the way into battery.

If you get the slide hang up from sissy closing it, but the extractor is hooked on the bullet, its about a 1/16th of an inch of play in the slide, the weapon will still reliably fire with a harder pull on the trigger.

I can go out and make a video on this if anyone is really interested to show.
I messed with mine to stop the trigger hang up when its just slightly out of battery though.
I found with mine that the safety had a bur on it causing it to hang up. Part of the molding processes, how they have those little fribs on them. I just cleaned it off and dry fired it with dummy rounds. Even with the slightly out of battery issue, it pulls fine.

After the pistol is broke in, the barrel lock up issue shouldn't be an issue at all.

Another member noted some burs in the fireing pin area, I did not find this to be the case with mine. Though I cannot discredit him, he did figure something else out to modify our pistols to work to an even higher level of smoothness.
With the way a striker fire pistol works, I do not see this being the issue of the hang up.
If you play with it enough and have really soft (good feel) hands, you'll see that it's a neutral zone of the springs fighting each other. Which in spring world means eventually one will win. Which will probably be the recoil spring being heavier than the firing pin spring.

Most other fire arms don't have a silly issue like this because their tolerances are a bit higher vs the steyr.
Mine was about stiff as a board. I racked the slide repeatedly before even firing the weapon to make sure it would work smoothly.

Glocks and other fire arms are only in the reliability category they are in due to low tolerances in manufacturing, which is good and bad. It has it's benefits, such as no break in period or less maintenance needed.

Ever owned that car or bike that was just an absolute piece of shit, but it was un-stoppable?
I've had 2 myself, but anyways.
That's how I think of glocks.

I think of Steyr along the lines a Mercedes or BMW.
 
#14 ·
I think every new Steyr should come with a note that says"please shoot me at least 500 times before you even consider me broke in". My S9A1 took a little more than that before it began to run like a top. I really don't think the average Joe could afford all the ammo it would take to wear one out.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Well...I certainly hope my new M40-A1 fires reliably from round one with premium quality ammunition. I have only had it for a week, and will get out when the Oregon weather gets better. This is my first Steyr, and look forward to a good relationship, but am leery of firearms that you must fire hundreds of rounds (with a couple of hundred dollars added to the cost!),or adjust/smooth something out before they work reliably.

I do not want to ruffle any feathers on this site and this is not just aimed at Steyr as my new SIG SP2022 also has experienced some feeding "issues."

Say what you will regarding Glocks, XD's etc., but they work well right out of the box; are accurate enough at reasonable self-defense ranges; and are reliable and rugged. I have never had any malfunction of any kind with my five Glocks (three of them brand-new), or my XD; or my S&W Sigma(surprise!)

I sincerely hope I have no problems with my new Steyr, and have taken the break-in steps as outlined in this forum. But if that new BMW or Mercedes failed to perform the task it was designed for, it would be returned in favor of my old reliable Ford Model T - the Glock.

Cheers
 
#17 ·
If you get a BMW M series, you wait roughly 1500 miles before you can floor it. Precision requires care. Sloppy tolerances, hey, bang it out.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I guess you and I have different views on the reliability factor that should be required on a new defensive weapon. The auto analogy is perhaps a poor comparison.

I realize one must break in a new auto engine before pushing the limits. But I will get to that point much sooner in an automobile than I will with some pistols (500 rounds? I shoot many different firearms, my Steyr may never see 500 rounds in its lifetime!) And even though that vehicle is not fully broken-in, it will function. A problematic pistol design - who knows?

Please don't take offense at this viewpoint. We all have brand loyalty, but I assume you did not design the Steyr, and are not responsible for some of its quirks - many of which are outlined in this forum.

I do look forward to exploring this interesting design, but will certainly be let down if my Steyr does not perform as reliably as other pistol brands within a reasonable (50 -100 rounds) break-in period. Cheers.
 
#19 ·
500 rounds is a generous estimate. My C9 smoothed out significantly in less than 200.

If you want to save some cash, you can just cycle it and dry fire it a bunch of times. It won't have exactly the same effect as firing it, but might help some.

I can understand your frustration, but keep in mind you probably won't need 500 rounds before it becomes reliable - That's just the worst-case scenario. If it really bothers you and the problem hasn't sorted itself out within 300 or so, call the company and see what they can do for you. 300 is only 6 boxes of ammo - It's not that bad. Personally, I rarely shoot less than 1 box per range trip.

Look at it this way - At least it's not like some guns that only claim to be reliable with premium self-defense ammo that nobody can afford to shoot enough to prove reliability.
 
#21 ·
Thanks for the helpful comments, fellows. I have been cycling this M40-A1, both with/without snap-caps. Seems to be functioning reliably, and I do not anticipate much of a break-in period - and look forward to shooting this fine piece of Austrian machinery. Now if it would just stop raining here for a bit! But that is springtime west of the Cascades. Cheers.
 
#24 ·
There is a well-reasoned YouTube vid on M9 jamming. Now, IMHO, this guy did some wrong things. He was shooting, he said, out of the box with no prior cleaning. He DID try a variety of ammo, and one mag seems to work significantly better than the other, but the jamming was pretty consistant.

Having said that, I had a Kahr that took 600 rounds to settle in and become reliable. However, I also fall into the camp of weapons in this price range should work out of the box with no issues (assuming cleaned of factory grease first). But I also recognize that "break in" is just a fact of life for machinery.
 
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