Steyr ammo?

[Stevie]

I aquired an ancient Steyr M1912 today.

A an old but solid looking handgun. Would seem to be still chambered for the 9mm Steyr cartridge. It definately ain't a 9mm Luger.

A bit of google-searching doesn't turn up much..my usual sources of oddball ammo(Midway and Graf and Sons) got nothin'

Anybody have a mailorder source for 9mm Steyr?

 

[Frank46]

Fiochhi makes some obsolete ammo. Cannot swear to it but seem to remember them listing that caliber. Frank

 

[Stevie]

Yes..Fiochi makes it..a couple other places have made or make it too. Nobody has any in stock.

 

[RWJ]

Hornady?

I believe that a while back, Hornady made a run of 9mm Steyr , both loaded and component brass, Don't know if it was a one-timer, or an annual limited run. It is not on their website now.

 

[mkk41]

Another reason to hit the gun shows. I see boxes of 9mm Steyr ammo kinda regularly. A LGS had a few boxes on the 'pre-owned' shelf.

 

[Stevie]

Thanx guys...One of the forum members has IM'ed me a place that seems to have some ammo in stock!

 

[OFT II]

Great pistol. Be careful to keep the 9mm Largo out of it. They look the same but there is just enough size difference that it could be a problem.

 

[deadin]

9MM Steyr Ammunition|Buffalo Arms Company

 

[Stevie]

I don't know anything about the Steyr 1912 pistol other than what I've seen online(and that it's a cool looking ancient handgun).

Does anybody know how to safety check these things?

As far as it goes..this one stays cocked and won't 'push-off'..the safety seems to work fine...nothing appears to be broke or worn(except the grips!)..has rifling and a clean chamber..will hold ammo in the magazine(9mm Luger just to see if it will stay in..it won't chamber the luger)..seems to do everything one might expect an ancient Steyr to do.

I honestly cannot say I've ever seen one of these in real life before...and websites plus you-tube videos is the only education I've got for this old peashooter.

 

[41RF]

They are beautifully made; there is one thing to watch though. The safety is known to sometimes drop the hammer when taken off from safe position. I tried mine with an empty chamber, and sure enough it snapped! I just never use the safety and have no problems. Got a stripper clip for easy loading? They don't cost much but are not too common...Anyway, enjoy!!

 

[2152hq]

I always shot 9mmLargo in the ones I had w/o problems.
There was Blazer 9mm Largo (aluminum cased) ammo around for a while that got used in these also. Very weak load but it did work.
Some elderly (German?) 9mmSteyr pistol ammo on charger clips packed 2 chargers to a box can still be found at shows. But these have become collector priced of late. I still have a couple of boxes I think. It used to be cheap, like everything else.

Just lock the slide back to load w/o the charge clip.
C96 Mauser stripper clips will work (kinda),
Keep the bbl and frame cam grooves clean and lubed.
Check the slide at the muzzle where the TD wedge goes through cross wise for wear and possible cracks.
A weak recoil spring can put undue stress on the wedge and the slide in full recoil in that area.
Don't loose the wedge,they are just about impossible to find.
The small flat spring in the wedge itself can break also. Be aware of that so the wedge doesn't fall free of the gun and get lost.

The hammer spring can get weak and somewhat lazy on these, leaving the hammer with little power at it's full down position. A very weak spring should be replaced as it's part of the recoil system taking up energy from the recoiling slide through the hammer.

Some were converted to 9mmLuger caliber both by the Germans in WW2 and some after the war by enterprising marketers.
The German pistols are marked P08 on the side of the slide to denote the cartridge.
Some conversions have new bbls I'm told. The conversions I've seen have a sleeve in the forward part of the chamber. No other changes to the mechanism.
If you find an original holster, they can be worth about 3 times the pistol for some of them.
Repros abound.

I'm down to my last Romanian marked import Steyr 1912 pistol.
Many were imported perhaps 20 years ago from there and Chile with appropriate crests ground from the slides with all the skill of a chimp w/a dremel tool.

Have fun with your Steyr.

 

[deadin]

The biggest problem I had with the M1911/12 Steyr-Hahn was that its design made me want its predecessor,the M1907 Roth-Steyr. The Roth-Steyr is one of the most interesting engineered and beautifully machined military pistol made. It is another rotating barrel locking pistol loaded from the top with stripper clips. What's interesting is that both the barrel AND the slide are enclosed in an outer tubular housing. As I remember it's another one like the C96 Mauser in that the only screws or pins in it are the screws that hold the grip panels on. (And one of them takes a special spanner to remove.)

(Of course if you end up with a Roth-Steyr, how far are you from wanting a Rast-Gasser??)

 

[TACC1]

I just checked G-B for Steyr ammo, and there's some
listed. Hope this helps. TACC1

 

[Stevie]

I just checked G-B for Steyr ammo, and there's some
listed. Hope this helps. TACC1

GB?....Gun Broker?

I just ordered the last box of 9mm Steyr ammo Buffalo Arms had in stock!!

 

[Tom K]

The biggest problem I had with the M1911/12 Steyr-Hahn was that its design made me want its predecessor,the M1907 Roth-Steyr. The Roth-Steyr is one of the most interesting engineered and beautifully machined military pistol made. It is another rotating barrel locking pistol loaded from the top with stripper clips. What's interesting is that both the barrel AND the slide are enclosed in an outer tubular housing. As I remember it's another one like the C96 Mauser in that the only screws or pins in it are the screws that hold the grip panels on. (And one of them takes a special spanner to remove.)

(Of course if you end up with a Roth-Steyr, how far are you from wanting a Rast-Gasser??)

I have all three. Bought the 1912 maybe 25 years ago and the 1907 shortly after. Just got the Rast-Gasser at the last Tulsa Wanenmacher show.

The 1907 is interesting - kind of the grandaddy of the Glock in that racking the action puts the mainspring at a half-cock position. Then a hard pull on the trigger does the rest. I like to call guns like this 1-1/2 action.

Like other guns of the era it has a blind magazine in the handle that loads from the top. Unfortunately mine tends to eject several live rounds as well as the empty when it fires. Uses 8mm Steyr, even harder to come by than the 9mm Steyr that the 1912 uses.

 

[41RF]

For what it's worth, I had good luck using 32 H&R Magnum in my Rast & Gasser. They are made for smokeless and have an 8 round cylinder; kinda neat old revolver. The Fiocchi 8mm Gasser ammo is hotter than the 32 H & R Magnum, when it can be found, and of course it works fine also.

 

[Stevie]

I got my PCI 9mm Steyr ammo from 'Buffalo Arms' today.

Since my shooter-grade Steyr passed my inspections...and trying the genuine 9mm Steyr ammo in the stripped down pistols barrel showed it to be a proper fit...I shut it down at work..and took the son pistol shooting!

For an ancient gun with so-so bore..the Steyr is accurate!...I was quite impressed with the reliability too...not a hitch in the old Steyr's 'git-a-long', and it runs like a brandnew 9mm pistol should..except it's sort of ugly and obviously old.

Toploading the pistol without stripper clips is the pits though!..However I put a little oil on the slide-stop/mag release/thingy-bob and this helped..the first loading dry was a hard stuff...the subsequent mag loadings was much easier.

I guess I need some stripper-clips...

My son and I were really impressed with the Steyr M1912..I really expected it to be a jam-O-matic..or a mile off-target..but this was not the case at all! The ancient pistol was on target/well regulated(I think PCI is good ammo too)..reliability was perfect right down to locking back the slide when empty. Emptys fly over your head and a bit off to the left and the observer can catch them from mid-air as the shooter shoots..pretty cool for hard to find brass!

I like lots!!

 

[SOFMatchstaff]

I have a couple spare strippers, now that your hooked. Start looking for the MP34 to accent the set...

 

[Stevie]

I have a couple spare strippers, now that your hooked. Start looking for the MP34 to accent the set...

Thanx..I'll IM you after a bit about the stripper clips.

In the meantime..I got some Steyr questions..and you seem to be the person who might know the answers.

First question...oil or grease for the Steyr M1912?
I have the barrel lugs greased..and quality gun oil on the rest at the moment.

Second question...can you load eight rounds in the mag..and close the slide without chambering a round..as in push the top cartdrige down and ease the slide forward over it?
I have not tried this..however I was curious. I've never owned a top-loader pistol before..so have no idea.

 

[don 65]

i picked up a roth stery 1907 at a gun show years ago and looking in dealer catalog purchased 4 boxes of 8mm $13 a box and got stripper clip with the 1907