I have owned dozens of the lettered Steyr series, the SL, L, M, S and the rarer ST, the T stands for Tropicalized, they have express sights and a matte finish, the most sought after of the lettered series is the Luxus grade. The Luxus had stamped steel in line mags, wood that ran from great to fantastic and usually were engraved from mild to wild, all shot extremely well. Yours probably has the cycolac (plastic) rotary mag and trigger guard assembly, if you drop an empty mag on a hard surface they usually survived, not so if they were loaded, you would be chasing, ammo, springs and plastic bits. The trigger guard also forms the mag housing and has a weak spot where the front action screw goes through, over tighten that screw and the assembly will crack, 10 years ago they were $100 + mags ran closer to $150. You can reinforce the area around the front screw hole from the back by using either Devcon or bedding compound as there is a webbed area that can be filled, not 100% fool proof but it works, just don't over tighten the front action screw. Also if that area is cracked the screw sometimes has enough play to change the point of impact, usually the source of "my Steyr shoots funny groups" complaint. The Model M was also available as the "Professional" with a green cycolac stock, more trouble than what they were worth, cracking behind the recess for the bolt handle when the action was closed was quite common, other areas were also prone to cracking. The front of the stock had two synthetic pins that supported the barrel , most ended up being removed and the actions rebedded, when the pins were removed the front of the stock need to be reinforced to keep it from twisting under normal pressure, ie: holding the fore stock with a firm grip. I preferred the double set triggers over the singles, you could set the front trigger to a crisp 3 lbs and when set was 8 oz, this factor contributed greatly to the accuracy of the firearm.
Overall they were well made except as noted and for the most part were very accurate, the euro style stock with the pistol grip swell seemed to fit most people quite well. The twist pattern on the outside of the barrel was due to hammer forging, a lot of other companies use the same process but smooth and polish the hammer marks out before completion, Steyr left theirs in,and it was a notable feature of these rifles. Many of the Steyrs came with their own style of an EAW scope mount, very well done and usable, although it was about a $300-$400 option when new. As far as parts go, they should be available through the present Steyr importer, the Model M action is still used on the SSG 308 sniper rifles, the newer versions use the SBS action, similar but not the same as the old ones. Hope this answers some of your questions, you have bought a excellent quality rifle that has the capability of out shooting most of its owners.
