MUNITIONS

Steyr M–Series

The advantages of the insight of Austrian officer Willie Bubitt are many. The Steyr pistols use a double action only mechanism that features a very clean trigger break of perhaps five pounds. A trigger lever is set in the face of the trigger to prevent the trigger being pressed and the pistol fired by lateral pressure. The pistol features a firing pin block or drop safety. The pistol is partially prepped when at rest and a relatively short press of the trigger fires the pistol. An advantage is that a loaded chambered indicator protrudes from the rear of the slide when the piece is chamber loaded. A further advantage of the original design is a manual safety. The safety is activated by pulling two levers near the tirggerguard down and the safety pops into view. It is easily pressed upward by the forefinger of the firing hand. Since the trigger guard is large enough to allow gloved hand use, the safety is easily manipulated. For those who prefer a pistol with no safety, the safety may be ignored. The author is one of many authorities who believe that an automatic handgun without a safety abrogates many of the advantages of the type. Still, we must recognize that every additional phase in training takes time and administrators and bean counters are often jealous of training time. Still, the safety is a good idea and praiseworthy. New series Steyr pistols make the safety an option, and some will not have this feature. Another advantage of my S40 compact is the locking module in the frame. Often confused with a manual safety, the key lock allows the pistol to be locked and rendered unusable until authorized personnel unlock the pistol. This is a feature that makes good sense and is another praiseworthy and forward thinking feature of the Steyr.

Two further features set the Steyr apart even more. First, the Trapezoid sights are geometrically designed for both rapid acquisition and precision fire. More about them later. The second unique features is the handle and grip angle. The handle features a nearly perfect 111 degree grip angle. This grip angle allows the wrist to assume a natural locked position. A polymer frame often has two disadvantages. While recoil is absorbed to an extent by a polymer frame, by the same token this flexing often allows the pistol to short cycle. An automatic pistol must have a solid base to recoil. The locked wrist ensures reliable function. A second disadvantage is found in that the heavy slide results in an unbalance against the light polymer frame. Shots are often low on the target. The Glock is more prone to short cycle while the Heckler and Koch USP is often found to be slide heavy. The Steyr seems free of either defect.

Another advantage is that the slide sets rather low in the frame. By moving the slide low in the frame, or rather ensuring the frame rides hid on the hand, the engineers produced a low bore axis. The bore axis is simply the height of the centerline of the bore above the hand. A low bore axis results in little leverage for the slide to rise in recoil. With this combination of features, the pistol was predicted to be a good performer. I was not disappointed by range testing.

During the course of a week and several outings to the range I hammered out over 1,000 rounds of full power .40 caliber ammunition from my S40. (This is the compact version, well suited for concealed carry-the full size pistol should be even easier to use well.) The cartridges ranged from inexpensive Wolf full metal jacketed loads to full power service ammunition including offerings from Cor Bon, Fiocchi and Winchester. I did not clean the pistol during most of these trails but I did occasionally squirt a little Break Free into the barrel hood area.

The National Institute of Justice calls for cleaning and lubrication of the handgun every three hundred rounds. Those interested in saving their lives with a handgun would do well to adhere to this requirement. Handguns that I depend upon for personal defense are clean and lubricated as well as loaded with quality ammunition. However, I often go far past the three hundred round mark without cleaning during test programs. Sometimes a pistol becomes sluggish and cycles slowly. A few will malfunction. I ran the Steyr to five hundred rounds without any problem before cleaning and disassembling the pistol. Disassembly is simple, lock the slide to the rear an turn the takedown lever down. Simply run the slide off of the fame. Of course, always be certain the magazine is free and the chamber empty. When you replace the slide and lock it in place the takedown lever automatically returns to the locked position– a neat trick. Despite my cavalier treatment of the pistol it never failed to function.

Despite my predictions otherwise the Trapezoid sights did not require an acclimation. All shooters picked up on the geometric design and went on to produce good hits. Rapid fire and accurate shooting at small targets was well carried off with the Steyr. One instructor called the sight and trigger very experienced individual and I respect his opinion, but best is a strong word and a relative term. The Steyr certainly is well worth a hard look. There are many good choices in service handguns today and quite a few are reliable handguns. But there is always a particular handgun that suits one or the other shooter better than the other. Unless we are limited by administrative fiat to a single type, we should choose the handgun we perform the best with. For many shooters who fired the Steyr during the test program, the S40 was a favorite. Sometimes the advantage was subtle but other times the Steyr was a hands down favorite.

During the final phase I took several boxes of Winchester Ranger 155 grain JHP loads to the range and really bore down and attempted to do my best shooting. These loads had demonstrated excellent accuracy and are among the better performers in ballistic testing. The balance of expansion and penetration is ideal for police duty or personal defense. In other words this is a versatile loading. There are some that are more powerful but they are sometimes snappy in a compact. To each his own the Winchester load proved comfortable during a long session. I tried several one hand shoulder points and other drills to satisfy myself on the combat ability of the pistol. I also executed a number of speed loads. The design of the magazine is such that it handles well in rapid reloads. Angle the magazine into the magazine well by balancing the magazine against the back of the well and press it into place. (A slap is not necessary.) It is no problem to rapid replenish your ammunition supply.

Next, I moved to firing small groups at fifteen yards off the barricade position. I was able to secure several groups that are as good as anything I have demonstrated with comparable polymer frame pistols and better than most. It was never a problem to control the Steyr but you do have to maintain a firm grip with the pistol. Even when relaxing the grip there were no short cycles of the type that seem to dog other handgun types, but the firm grip remains necessary to produce good accuracy. In the end I am very impressed by this pistol. I think that the Steyr pistol definitely has a place in the scheme of things and it well worth a hard look. Well done.

Recently I surveyed an incident in which an officer was forced to fire to stop a felon. The felon was inside of a vehicle behind a windshield. The officer fired through the windshield at a downward angle and struck the felon once in the chest. The Gold Dot bullet used in this custom load went through the windshield, a jacket, shirt and T–shirt and continued through bone and muscle. The bullet was recovered just behind the right shoulder blade perfectly expanded. The 180 gain Gold Dot bullet broke just over 1100 fps. The 10mm cartridge often gives excellent results with modern loads. The 10mm has elements of the .357 Magnum, including high velocity, and others of the .45 ACP, including frontal diameter and sectional density. This combination makes for an effective cartridge. The 10mm was originally introduced as an alternative to the .45 in large frame handguns. The .40, which sprang from the 10mm, is mainly suited for use in 9mm frame handguns. The .40 is a success story. A 35 ounce service pistol with the ballistics of the .40 is a Godsend for officers on the spot when the Devil is on the loose. While the .40 is not a .45, results have been acceptable. What profit is there in adopting a larger frame handgun with more recoil? After all the 10mm fires a .40 caliber bullet and ballistics with some loads are no better than the best .40 caliber loads. I would never say the 10mm is for everyone but the 10mm is a good choice in some instances.

Only a few companies produce 10mm handguns. Glock offers the Model 20, a high capacity handgun with a good reputation for accuracy and reliability. The chamber and barrel are of a slightly different design than other Glock pistols. There is more support for the cartridge case and the chamber is tighter. Frankly I was amazed to have fired a 1.25 inch five shot group off a twenty five yard bench rest with the Glock and a Cor Bon 180 grain JSP. This is easily half the average of the best groups I have expected from the accurate Glock 21 .45. But as I later learned such accuracy is not uncommon with the Glock 10mm. Kimber offers a high quality single action pattern 10mm that is arguably the finest 1911 ever offered in 10mm. But these two are about the only acceptable service handgun choices in 10mm.

10mm BALLISTICS

The original 10mm load pushed a 200 grain bullet to 1200 fps. This was hot as a depot stove and too hot for most of the handguns cambered for the 10mm. Colt's Delta Elite was originally offered with a recoil rod arrangement that was not the best choice for handling the recoil of this powerful cartridge. Frame cracks were reported in Delta Elite pistols in less than the three thousand rounds. The Colt Double Eagle 10mm made a miserable showing in California Highway Patrol test programs. The 10mm took another blow from poorly designed foreign ammunition. There was a type of price on in 10mm ammunition and the ammunition purchased on the low bid did not have adequate research and development behind it. The bullets did not expand well if at all in critical incidents, and high risk team and units had quickly brought the 10mm to the front line.

There were slumps in which there were no handguns offered for the cartridge and even today there are only a few in production. The Smith and Wesson 1076 pistol once used by the FBI is no longer produced. Overall the 10mm remains a specialized pistol but those who use the caliber are loyal. A hard look at the cartridge reveals that the 10mm has two faces. This divergence in loads was once exploited by the FBI and other agencies and popularized like many advances in police work in the Dick Tracy comic strip. For day to day duty the .38 special was approved by the FBI but in certain instances the .357 Magnum was authorized. When the 10mm was adopted the FBI 'Lite' was the standard issue load. This is a Federal Hydra Shock load using a 180 grain JHP at about 1,000 fps. This is slightly stronger than the standard 180 grain JHP in .40 Smith and Wesson. The main advantage is that the full size pistol firing this cartridge is very controllable. My personal Colt Delta Elite is very controllable with the Hydra Shock and gelatin testing shows the load offers good expansion. A full power 10mm as loaded by Cor Bon may jolt the 180 grain bullet to about 1200 fps.

The Winchester Silvertip tip uses a 175 grain bullet at about 1175 fps. Agencies choosing the full power load are often rural or highway patrol agencies that need more power than urban agencies. These agencies are more concerned with penetration and less concerned with over penetration. It is true that rapid fire control is compromised but the increased power and long range accuracy are considered worthwhile. The big question is will the pistol and cartridge perform? Yes. With modern ammunition the cartridge will worth a hard look. The days of failures of poorly designed bullets are over at least as long and careful cartridge and load selection is used. There is inexpensive practice ammunition available as well. I have used hundreds of rounds of inexpensive Speer CCI Blazer ammunition with excellent results. The 200 grain flatnose bullet proved very accurate and the aluminum case allows a low cost especially in case lots.

I have used the 10mm for more than a decade. I consider it a fine cartridge. While I prefer the .45 ACP for general duty if that duty were highway patrol on a long stretch in a rural county I would probably feel differently. I sometimes deploy the 10mm and find the Colt pistol I use accurate, controllable, and powerful. There is something to the 10mm and I think that modern agencies would do well to take a hard look at this thoroughly modern, powerful cartridge.