Steyr-hahn 1912

tokguy

tokguy

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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Buffalo Republic
Newest aquisition.
From a CGN'r, and thanks BTW; nice piece.
Not pristine and being Chilean, not that collectable. Still pretty cool. And my gal deserves credit for the fresh-out-of-the-box pic's ( I was away at work)
Pistol008.jpg

Very nicely finished, no nonsense pistol. Other than the safety ( probably what Norc modeled their for Canada 201 & 213 safeties off of) and slide release; a totaly ambidextrous pistol.
The wedge for taking down is a throw back to cap 'n ball colts, no?
Pistol017.jpg

Now to order up some brass and flange up a batch of reloads for it.
And I did ask " What no racy German Oktoberfest beermaid outfit pic's with the pistol?"
To which the reply was " Get out your Visa and get me an Oktoberfest costume first".
Now we need the Antique laws re-drawn...say; 100 years old, obselete cartridge; must be an antique right:)?
 
Don't knock the Chileno Steyrs: they were the SMALLEST contact for this gun and they were the only MILITARY guns marked as Model 1911. The 1912 is the actual date of manufacture, so she is 100 years old this year.... and still one of the BEST semi-autos I have ever used.

The cartridge puts out just about 400fpe at the muzzle, they are DEAD reliable and they are just WICKED accurate if you use the sights. It's a bother to get used to the angle at which they "hang" in the hand; you have to make a conscious effort to raise the muzzle, but the effort is worth it.

The Austro-Hungrian ones, the Romanian and the Bulgarian pistols all disappeared into that political cesspit they call Central Europe, got reworked time after time and gradually beaten and eaten to death. The Chilenos were relatively safe, undergoing only normal attrition from being used. After they hauled Allende and the rest of the Commies out and shot them, Chile disposed of their old warhorses and a lot of them came here. They are VERY rare in other places and many books don't even mention their existence.

This gun makes the most of the Krnka torque-locked rotating barrel system of operation, allied with yet another George Roth high-powered cartridge.

Be careful: it has less than HALF of the parts of a 1911 Colt but it does the same job. MANY parts are multi-purpose and you CAN get bitten. The Switch Button above the left grip is an example: it is a Slide Release for single-shot fire ONLY when the gun is empty; if the gun is LOADED, it becomes an UNLOADING BUTTON. Recoil spring is KEYSTONE shaped and rather amazingly strong; it compresses almost SOLID when the gun is at "recoil" position. The steel slab in the top of the slide is a single piece; it just sits there....but it does SEVEN jobs while it's in place. The whole gun is like that: a work of pure GENIUS.

You will NEED Chargers to load this baby. To load, bring the slide back, then LOCK it back with the SAFETY. Strip in your rounds, remove and pocket that valuable Charger, point the thing in a safe direction and flip off the Safety. Your gun is now Condition 1: safety off, hammer cocked, round up the pipe.

Trigger on mine was over 30 pounds when I got it and creepy and gritty into the bargain. Cornelius Ens at Manitou Gun Works slicked it to a perfect 4 pounds with ZERO creep: nicest trigger I have ever had on a semi-auto.

Most important of all: have fun with her!

And I very much AGREE with your proposal regarding status of these wonderful old pieces: 100 years old is "Antique" for almost everything else (30 years for cars), so why not guns?
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The trigger is pretty decent, actually.
The chargers are apparently the same as the ones that the Czech 7.62 X 25mm surplus comes on ( bonus, I have lots & they hold 8 rd's).
And other than the unusual grip angle, I don't see them as giving up much ingenunity wise to ( sound of trumpets ) the Colt 1911.
Caliber wise it isn't on apar with a .45 ACP; true.
The lack of a half #### notch is a downside as well. Either hammer down on a loaded rd or cocked on a loaded rd isn't the best set of options.
The safety isn't up to par with the grip safety of a 1911; but then again as I am a civilian I don't need to be combat ready. The lack of a grip safety is there-fore IMO, no big deal. Less moving parts to worry about.
I love the rear sight's ability to be used to charge the pistol, very nice actually.
I am quite pleased with the pistol.
Now; bosom baring Fraulein costumes...hmmm
 
You are right, of course, as to the ammo. Modern .45ACP loads put out 405 fpe but they are hot loads compared to the WWI loading, which was about 385 fpe. The useless 9mm Parabellum puts out only 365fpe and the original loading for the Steyr was a mere 420..... with a bullet HALF the mass of the American one.

Chargers are very LIKE those Czech ones and the Czech ones can sometimes be made to work. The 9mm Steyr casing, though, has a rim diameter of .380" as opposed to the .392" of the Parabellum case. The Czech chargers were made for loading SMGs, although they also would serve for the remaining 1912 Steyrs which had been converted to the Parabellum round during the period of the Third Reich.

The Steyr doesn't have a half-#### because it doesn't need one. It uses a true FLOATING firing-pin which is TOO SHORT to hit the primer unless it is SLAPPED by the hammer. You can hammer away at the hammer of a Steyr and not set it off. You can actually DROP a Steyr and it won't fire: sure can't say that for the Colt. It requires a very particular blow to throw that firing-pin forward on the Steyr and it is most unlikely that you will come up with that exact blow by accident. As to a grip safety, it is just more parts to go wrong. My Steyr..... and my Lugers and P-38 and Tokarev and Webley and a bunch of others, don't need them, so, why bother?

As to the slide-key, it was likely adopted from those 1902 Colt Brownings, you know, the ones that the slides and keys used to crack out on. The Steyr slides and keys don't crack out unless they are MASSIVELY overloaded.

Don't dismiss the old girl as a relic until you have gotten used to her. She has her own ways but they all make sense when you think about them.

Most important point: enjoy her while you are looking after her.

Now, as to bosom-baring frauleins in dirndls...... we definitely need more of those!
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PS: should have mentioned: the Safety on the Steyr is a positive BLOCK to the Hammer. Flip the Safety ON and NOTHING works; flip the Safety OFF and EVERYTHING works.

Very handy. And you can do it all with a flip of the thumb.

The old girl has to have something going for her. Chile bought them without even a formal trial. Serial Number 357 still exists. It is in Canada and I have fired it and it has the Chilean markings. The Austro-Hungarian Empire adopted them just shortly afterwards, following a PERSONAL test on the part of His Imperial Majesty Kaiser Franz Josef I, who then ORDERED his Army to adopt the gun.

Have fun!
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Everywhere else in the world, yes.

It's just that so many of the few remaining guns were sold here that Chilenos are the most common ones HERE.

Weird situation.
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