Steyr Club Forums banner

Does Steyr make lemons? because my new M40-A1 is sour!!!

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  Guest 
G
#1 ·
OK, so I picked up my new M40-A1 2 weeks ago from the local gun store and finally got a chance to shoot it today. The fist few rounds were great. POA and POI are right on.....very little recoil.....I was thinkg F#@K YEAH!!! THIS THING ROCKS!!!! About 13 rounds into the range session, it happened. When the slide moved forward to pick up the next round, it didn't go all the way into battery, stopping at about 1/4 from going fully into battery. I had to use all my force to rack the slide to get the live round out. Wasn't an easy task but I finally got it opened. So I continued to shoot.....then it happened again. This time it was stuck for real. I had to bring the gun to the range master who took my new gun into the backroom and got the round out....somehow. I asked him what the round looked like and he said it looked like the bullet got driven into the casing forcing the casing to expand. I was shooting Remington UMC in the yellow box. I used this same ammo with my Sig 2340 and never had a problem. What gives? Is my gun a lemon? Any input is greatly aprreciated....as of now I am kicking myself for not buying another Glock. :x
 
#2 ·
Never heard of that. Call up Jeff at SAI (there number is stickied at the top of Maintenance). They have excellent costumer service, and will make it right. Other than that, did you clean it before taking it out? Maybe a hydro-locking problem? I've never had a hydro-locking problem, so I dont know what causes it. I think too much lube in the firing pin channel?
 
#4 ·
steyrs are historically 50/50 with umc. the jamming you describe is the exact complaint of all people who have trouble with umc. both of my steyrs puke like crazy on umc.

try wwb or blaser brass. also be sure to shoot your defensive ammo. very few complaints with wwb and blaser and VERY few complaints with ANY of the defensive ammo.

also, do you tap your mags? after loading the mag, slap the back of it against your leg to seat the rounds to the rear of the magazine. this ensures they get a straight line onto the feedramp. it's a good idea in any auto pistol but with steyrs, this detail can be a make or break deal.

also, did you clean your mags? even though they're brand new, the factory may have packed them with preservative goo to avoid rust during transit. this goo can keep the follower from traveling in the mag smoothly.

do all this and give it atleast 500 rounds of break-in before assuming the worst. that being said, if you really do have a lemon, steyr will take good care of you.

best of luck
 
#6 ·
bigtaco,

I have to admit I’m a bit sceptical about tapping the magazine; if the magazine is (fully) loaded the compressed spring will hold it tight enough to prevent any movement anyways, wouldn’t it? Plus I don’t think there is that much space for a round to move back and fourth anyways...And wouldn't the effect of tapping be undone by the recoil?

:?
 
#7 ·
Steyr magazines typically will "rattle" when loaded. It took a very long time for my magazines to stop rattling, this would indicate that there is a bit of front to rear movement of the rounds.

Beretta LEO folks say it is called "rolling" and the rounds will actually bot just shift front to rear but will roll. They say eventually this can effect feedind and suggest that occasional unloading and reloading of magazines is not a bad idea. I guess this is something LEO's need to be aware of as we tend to leave our magazines loaded for extensive periods of time, however some effect may be evident in the short run.

SAI range testes with PMC ( That per Alan Coronett ) and I have never had a problem with WWB or PMC. I plan on testing some other ammunition eventually, but will probably stay away from UMC.
 
#8 ·
Hey Hotbossa. Try some Fiocchi or PMC, the M40 likes it hot! Magtech is excellent stuff also but the price is kind of high. Bigtaco is right, defense ammo make the Steyr happy. :D

I just got my new M40 and it was introduce to 50 rounds of Winchester Ranger 165gr. and it loved it.

A drop of light lube like G96 or FP-10 on the barrel lock block, the ejector and the extractor spring (outside slide area) is not a bad idea before the shooting session.

On the first 100 rounds in a new gun I always shoot slow fire only. Their is absolutely no science to this but for some reason in my case it manage to filter the lemon from the gem. Please don't be discourage with this false start, my Glock 19 started the same way (out of the Box my ....).But it became extremely reliable after the the brake in period. That G19 fire approx. 3000 rounds with very few hiccup (UMC hum..hum..). I got bored with so it was replace with my M9-A1. Never regretted it, never looked back. In fact, I haven't had more fun with a semi auto since my venerable but untouchable Browning HP (circa 1981 :wink: ).

Good Luck

West01 :D
 
#9 ·
graywolf, there is actually quite a bit of room for the rounds to move front to rear in the mag. you can test this yourself.

load up a mag and slap the rounds to the rear. did you hear a sound? slap it again. no sound, right? now slap the rounds to the front of the mag. you'll hear the same sound as the rounds seat on the front wall of the mag. slap it to the front again and no sound.

as far as rolling, i was always aware that the rounds could and would roll, but it never concerned me because they are cylindrical. i had never thought that rolling could be a cause for concern. i'll have to investigate.

a glock mag spring is so stiff as to actually prevent any movement. (in my experience the spring is sufficeintly strong to actually prevent loading to capacity without the aid of a mag loader) the steyr's spring is not.

as far as the recoil, everything is moving together, having been subjected to the same force. the gun/magazine/rounds are all moving as a result of recoil because of the direct mechanical connection provided by the mag spring pushing all the rounds up against the slide.

also, load up a mag. tap it to the rear and chamber a round. pull the mag out. you'll notice that the top round in the mag is no longer against the rear of the mag. the rails on the bottom of the slide actually pull this round out a little bit as the slide comes into battery.

another test. load up a mag and tap the rounds to the rear. holding the mag in one hand and using the tip of your thumb, slowly push the top round out. you will see that it comes straight out until the rim gets close to the end of the feedlips. at this point the neck is clearing the front of the magazine. notice how the round droops a little bit.

now, same thing but slap the rounds to the front of the mag. notice how when you push the round out it slowly heads upwards. it's this part where the round heads upwards that i believe leads to trouble.

keep in mind too that the issue we're avoiding is jamming. this jam is cause by the rim of the spent casing contacting the neck of the round in the mag. obviously, the more variables we can stack in the favor of putting the round in the mag in the path of the spent casing's rearward travel, the worse off we are.

now, we can set up the unideal circumstance. let's put all the rounds against the front wall. when you chamber a round, you drag the round in the magazine a little farther forward. just enough so that when the spent casing comes flying back, the rim hits the neck of the round in the mag which stops the spent from extracting fully. but the slide keeps going and you get a double feed.

alternatively, if you have a super strong extractor spring, the extractor won't give up it's grip on the rim as easily and could actually pull the spent even though it contacted the neck of the round in the mag.

i realize we're talking about ten thousandths here or 20 thousandths there. but the reality is that if i don't tap my mags, mine will jam about 2x in three mags. if i do tap them, it is impossible to induce malfunction.

i've also seen ten thousandths here and a couple of degrees there lead to all manner of trigger reset issues.

this is my theory. proven by test in my own experience.

if a gun feeds reliably without tapping the mags, excellent. i still maintain that tapping mags to the rear certainly can't hurt anything. and in many instances this action can cure a feeding ailment. it's standard protocol for many auto-loading weapons of both hand and long variety.
 
#10 ·
Hi, hotbossa,

Bummer about your M40A1. I have an M9A1, so my experience may not be totally applicable to your situation. In three months, I've fired almost 2,000 rounds. I've had three FTEs, all with Remington UMC 115-gr FMJ. I picked up a big yellow 250-round box of this ammo because it was the cheapest thing in the store at the time. The other 247 rounds were fine, but I don't think I'll be getting Remington UMC again. I've also fired CCI Blazer aluminum case, American Eagle, Independence, and WWB, all 115-gr FMJ. Every bullet went down the barrel, and every case came out the ejection port. The gun is also deadly accurate. Good luck,
 
#11 ·
Just want to throw in that I too have had great luck with WWB cheapo stuff from wal mart. Ive probably put 500 rounds through it, and the only fail to fires Ive had are from moron friends not wanting to LET GO OF THE SLIDE!!!! Sorry, Ive had to say that a couple times, I cant say it any other way. So anyways, I dont really blame the gun for the FTF's. Just my stupid friends. So yeah, Ive had good luck with WWB. [/insanity]
 
G
#12 ·
Problems in the 1st 13 rounds? I wouldn't even consider any problems in the gun within the 1st 200-500rounds.

Steyr unlike glocks do need some kinda of breakin. My M40 spit brass at my forehead, fail togo into battery problably 3-5 times & had one FTE until the gun was broken-in real good and after about 400rounds the problems vanish.

A friend of mine M357 was problematic from out the box. His recoil rod was very tight. When switch with mine broken in rod, his gun function 100%.

When I change my old rod for a new one, I had the same problems as the M357.


best advice , shoot more ammo and of various ammo and break the gun in.
:p
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top