[madecov]

Well after another 300 rounds and a phone conversation with Glen Riddle, my M40A1 will be going back to Steyr for factory service.

I want to confirm(forgot to on the phone) that the Georgia address in the industry section is the correct place to send the gun.

 

[MrApathy]

what happened?

not sure if its the current address.

 

[madecov]

Round 40, another FTE
Round 70 FTE
round 75 FTF

round 150 FTE

had two horizontal stovepipes

300 round total

It's going back, It's getting worse

I'm pretty upset as I love this gun, but I can't carry it on duty with a relibility issue like this.

 

[EmesiS]

Madecov I am sorry to hear about your trouble, I am sure it is doublely hard due to the fact the M40A1 is such a brilliant gun. I was hoping you could post a thorough outline of the events as they occured - from the initial range test to the most recent failures. I think this could help other new M40A1 owners resolve the "is my gun messed up" question they usually ask themselves during the breaking in period. I presently have put about 1600 rounds through my M40A1 and can now say that I am 100% confident with this gun; this after a break-in period with many FTE's. There were many days I considered contacting Steyr about the issues I was experiencing, these were gut wrenching days because I loved the M40 so much and couldn't stand the idea that it may be messed up. So I am hoping your tragic story could be the information others could use to put at ease their minds or understand their guns are messed up -sooner than you had to.

 

[Shooter]

Is it my imagination or do most of the problems with the Steyr's occur in the 40 cal series ????

 

[madecov]

First 600-700 rounds where flawless.

here's a copy of the letter I enclosed

Steyr Arms Inc.
5977 Steeplschase Blvd.
Cumming,Ga. 30040


As per our previous telephone conversations, please find enclosed my Steyr M40-A1 pistol (serial number xxxxxxx) along with 2 magazines and case, copies of my Police ID and FFL license. Additionally I have enclosed a small amount of spent brass from my last range session
Per my conversations with you please be advised that this pistol has approximately 1000 rounds through it. 99% has been Winchester 165 grain target commonly available in the white box through Wal-Mart. Other rounds have been PMC ball ammo as well as Speer Gold Dot, Remington Golden Saber, Winshester SXT. No re loaded ammunition has been fired through the handgun.
This firearm was 100% flawless through the first 600-700 rounds with no failures at all. Recently it began to exhibit failures to extract. Initially I had one per 175 rounds. After a deep cleaning of the pistol and cleaning of the magazines the pistol had the same issues in the next 200 rounds at the rate of 3 failures in 200 rounds. After speaking with Alan and performing the possible fix he recommended I returned to the range with 300 rounds of ball and 20 rounds of Golden Sabers. Today I had one FTE (fail to extract) at approximately round number 45. These failures are usually a round extracting halfway with just a small portion of the brass remaining in the chamber. Additionally I had one complete failure to extract leaving the brass completely in the chamber requiring removal using a rod, this round was not stuck and was easily removed. I also had two more failures to extract that were easily cleared, and two failures to eject as a horizontal stove pipe. A second Police Officer also fired the gun with me and had 2 failures to extract and one failure to feed with the round stuck nose down on the feed ramp.
As this is one of my two authorized duty weapons (the other is an older M series Steyr) I am obviously concerned about reliability. Any help with this weapon will be greatly appreciated.
Upon diagnosis and repair please return the firearm to me at the address shown on my FFL.

 

[EmesiS]

Thanks Madecov I appreciate the info and I'm sure other will too.

 

[MrApathy]

..

 

[Zoueh]

Im sorry to here that you had to send the gun back Madecov. EmesiS
what exactly did you go through during the break-in period, and how many rounds untill it started getting better? I took mine to the range again the other day and I put 100 rounds through it and I didnt have a problem untill the last 20 rounds when I had 3 fte's, 2 with in the same magazine. I have only put 250 round through it so far. I originaly bought it for home defence but I do know if I can depend on it as of right now. So I just keep my Hi-point 9mm loaded for now.

 

[Just_watching]

After a deep cleaning of the pistol and cleaning of the magazines the pistol had the same issues

......don't clean it 8) sorry i'm joking

i got similar problems, but around number 50.000 - so i polished the ramp and replaced the extractor - prob's solved.
now my M40 have more than 100.000 trouhg it without further problems, i carry it almost every day and shoot more than 50 matches (ipda-rules). i'm still love & trust it.

 

[madecov]

Alan thought maybe some stuck on carbon in the chamber. he had me use a nylon brush and a drill to scrub the chamber.
The failures have necome more frequent after each range session.

I'm sure they will take care of it to the best of their ability, I have no worries.

 

[Gray_Wolf]

Is it my imagination or do most of the problems with the Steyr's occur in the 40 cal series ????

that's what I'm picking up too in the few days I've been on this forum...

ftp and ftf aren't supposed to happen even in the brake in period (haven't has a single maulfanction with my 92FS in 2250+ rounds) hopefully my M9-A1 will be as reliable.

 

[Shooter]

Despite any problems that I have had with these pistols (and they are few).........I still think they are wonderful designs........and my favorite shooters........

Wulf was suggesting some recoil spring changes might work in some of the feeding/ejecting problems and I'm thinking that's a good possibility to explore....I know personally I've corrected some fte issues with my Glocks and barrel conversions with a simple recoil spring change.............

 

[Guest]

I'm fully NOT a law enforcement official so reliability of my weapon isn't a life or death thing for me day to day. It is however extremely important when I compete. A stovepipe can add a second or 2 to my time and a FTE can flat ruin an entire course of fire. I noticed that you said you used a nylon brush and a drill to clean your chamber. In the past I shot a 1911 custom I built myself from Wilson Combat parts and a Colt frame. I've tried a hundred different things over the years to make that weapon more reliable. I finally found a system that works and I apply it to all my weapons and they all benefit. There are a few key elements involved. The first is the concept of micro scratches. Any time you apply a tool to a metal surface you create micro scratches. The process of using a drill and brush to clean your chamber would produce micro scratches running around the inside diamater of your chamber. I'm no scientist or anything again, but I tried this very thing and found that the tool marks actually retained a measurable amount of residue and even left visible marks on spent brass. The problem wasn't the tool marks it was the direction they were running. I experimented with different procedures until I discovered that polishing the chamber using a bore snake and using a linear motion as opposed to a circular motion worked wonders. The tool marks ran in the same direction that the brass moves in when it goes in and out of the chamber instead of running against it. I use super fine grit polishing paper folded around a wooden dowel to set the grain. I then follow up with my bore snake that I soak with Flitz brand metal polish. After I'm done the surfaces of my chambers and my feed ramps look like a highly polished mirror. It's important to note that the object of this sequence is not to remove ANY material from the chamber. It's simply to smooth out what is already there so that it becomes virtually frictionless and to ensure that any remaining tool marks run parallel to barrell instead of perpindicular to it. With this simple fix all you need to do is re-Flitz polish every 5000 rounds or so and at least in my experience you can virtually eliminate any failures not caused by other problems. I Flitz every surface that touches brass in all my weapons including the breech face and extractor surfaces and my weapons just don't jam unless there are serious problems outside the action.

 

[Guest]

its your imagination look back in the old threads youll see people talking about the problematic M9.

I never knew the M9 was problematic. :?:

When I purchased mine eighteen months ago, all I ever read about the M9 was the reliability, accuracy and consistency of quality. My M9 has been flawless.

Is it the one or two postings that has caused this statement to be made? :wink:

Just curious.

 

[EmesiS]

Zoueh - I have about 1600 rounds through my M40A1 and have not experiened any problem for the last 350 rounds. I experienced several FTE's and stovepipes after 150 rounds; the stovepipe issue was quickly remedied by better handling of the gun but the FTE's continued. I would clean my M40 after every session at the range, I cleaned the extractor and followed the advice and outlines here on the forum but I would still have about 5 FTE's per 100 rounds. I never experienced any hard jams, in every case the cartridge would extract after rack/release a few times. When I had fired about 900 rounds through it I noticed the FTE's were far less frequent, probably 2 per 100, and after 1200 rounds I had no more failures of any kind. The last failure I experienced was at about 1100 rounds but a freind reported to me (while I was shooting his gun) that my M40A1 had 1 FTE after he fired 150 rounds through it. Possibly his FTE was actually a stovepie but it happened at about 1250 toal rounds through my M40. I have had nothing but joy from my M40A1 since my last failure and I am totally confident with this gun now. Hope this helps and good luck

 

[Matches]

My M9 has been nothing but problems. Currently the trigger will not always reset. I have sent it in for repair and was told the replace the entire trigger assembly but it still is still not working properly. I would just get it replaced (and I still may) but I really prefer the M9 to the new A1s.

Matches

 

[aubie515]

That really sucks...I hope I don't have the issues with my older M9. It is the most accurate pistol that I have shot/owned.