Steyr Hahn 1912?? Info Please

[Redcoat3340]

I know absolutely nothing, nada, zip about these pistols....but would like to learn more as my LGS has two in the case. A bit pricey I recall....and I don't know if they are 9mm conversions or something else.

I'll do a bit of googling tonight, but if I could get a few questions answered....it would help.

First, are they shootable in 9mm, if so marked? I'd use range fodder....but I like shooting what I "collect" ala my P1, P4, P5, P6, P08, BHP and S&W wheelguns, 39-2....and I'm wondering if these are mostly for "owning and showing" or actually firing them.

Next, what do they go for? I can't recall what my "dealer" is asking but I think it's north of $900 or $1,000. (And yes, condition is everything.)

What to look for when inspecting them...bore condition #1?, insure it really works, but anything else?

Are there better models than others....Romanian vs Austrian, reworks, etc. (There was a thread on another board that got me thinking about them and recalling my local guy had two.)

I'm trying to fill the list of German police pistols....probably not going to find a Sig 210-4 I can afford, nor an H&K P7M8....but I'm on the hunt for an Astra 600 and Mauser HSc and I won't be looking for an H&K USP as I have enough very good striker guns and to me that's just another good one.

Any advice/hints will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Andy Lowry]

That's the Steyr M1912, originally chambered in 9mm Steyr (9x23). After the Germans zapped Austria in '38, they ordered 60,000 new ones rechambered in 9mm. Short recoil; the barrel unlocks by rotation. Sounds cool; I want one.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

Check out this video, number 50 in a series on WW1 small arms. Lots of info on the origins of the pistol

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vICOHvcyonY&index=50&list=PLJvsSlrbdhn5v8AuvAZuOYJ5BgEEoDdqm[/ame]

 

[CZU]

It will be marked 08 if it has been reworked for 9mm, otherwise it will be 9mm Steyr. Also if marked 08 also look for a Eagle/L, that would denote Police use. The Police models are highly sought after as are any of the holsters.

 

[2152hq]

The slides held to the frame by a 'wedge' up at the front. Not too far different from the early Colt semiauto designs.

Make sure the wedge is in one piece (many are broken and silver soldered back together),,and that the area of the slide itself that the wedge secures is not cracked or repaired.
It has a small flat spring dovetail into it's top face that retains the wedge in position. Be sure that spring is there and it's oversize end for retension is not broken off.

Check the recoil spring retainer (the 'plug' in the front end of the slide) is orig and not been pieced back together. It has two long legs on it that are key in assembly. I've seen some makeshift replacements.

The slide in that area is not that thick though it is a reinforced area.
It can get battered pretty bad to the point of cracking if loads not appropiate for the pistol were used.
That usually came from using 38Super, which will fit and fire in SOME of these pistols. Also 9mm Bergmann ammunition was sometimes used during it's era of issue, that sometimes was loaded a bit hot.
Deffinetly no modern 9x23 Winchester ammo in these.

9mm Steyr is a near match for 9mm Largo and the latter is what most all of these pistols have been fired with since sold on the surplus markets over the years.
Orig surplus 9mmSteyr ammo used to be fairly common. It came packaged in charger clips which was the biggest draw at the time.
I have an unopened box or two around,,I'll just leave them that way.
I think you can buy repro charger clips now for $8 to $10 each for these.

CCI sold aluminum cased 9mm Largo at one time (still?) and that was the prefered ammo for these as it was loaded VERY weak. It functioned the action just fine and was accurate. But when shooting some of the surplus 9mmLargo around at the time,,what a difference!

Pistols marked 'P08' on the side were those chambered for the 9mmLuger cartridge for the German forces as already pointed out.
Many 9mmSteyr caliber pistols were converted to 9mmLuger by using a chamber ring in the front portion of the chamber. It just shortens the 9mmSteyr chamber to 9mmLuger length. It was a somewhat popular gunsmith/aftermarket conversion in the 60's and even the 70's as the orig ammo dissappeared for these. Same thing was done to many 9mmLargo caliber Astra, Star and Llama pistols
Usually there is no marking to indicate the change.
The conversions sometimes fail to feed 100% in the Steyr as the feed lips are a bit short,,but most work just fine. It's a range toy anyway.


They were all made by Steyr Works/Austria.
I can't think of any major differences between the pistols made for Austria, Romania or the Chilean marked ones.
Most of the latter two had their national crests ground or defaced from the sides of the slides when imported.

They are charger loaded,,no separate magazine.
Chargers from the C96 Mausers work pretty well. But I usually just lock the slide back with the thumb safety,,then load individual cartridges into the mag from the top. It loads rather easily.
Then hold the slide, pull the thumb safety/slide lock down and allow the slide to run forward chambering the round.

If you want to unload the pistol, lock the slide back and depress the magazine cartridge release on the left side above the grip.
That will spit the entire remaining rounds from the magazine out in one blink of an eye. No need to run each one thru the action to unload.

Bbl to slide lock-up is by partial rotation of the bbl. Kind of like a Savage pistol. It only cams/rotates a few degrees. Very smooth operation.

Ejection is straight up . Extractor is on the top on the slide, ejector post is on the top of the disconnector and is center bottom of the breech face.
Extractor is dovetail fitted into the slide from the front and has it's own thin flat spring attach underneath. If removing be very careful, it has to be fully depressed and then moved forward out of the dovetail. No pins or screws.

A little tricky to TD and re-assemble the first couple of trys but no big deal after that. No way to get it together 'wrong' and still have it fire damaging anything.

Leaf springs throughout,,a cluster of 3 attached to the floor plate inside provide most all the power to the lock work components.
The hammer spring can be a bit 'lazy' on some of these for some reason,,meaning with the hammer all the way down, the hammer has no tension on it from the spring. But pull it back just a couple degrees and it takes right back up again.
I think some of these have taken a bit of spring set over time, maybe from storage with the hammer at full cock. Just my guess.
No real problem. I have one that acts like that, but works just fine otherwise. I've seen others. Seem to be from the Romanian or Chilean import bunch.

Most major parts are ser#'d to the frame,,not unlike most well made Euro firearms.
Mixed parts #'s are common especially bbl's., but they do seem to fit OK dispite that.

Grips slide onto the frame in grooves. They can still be somewhat loose even after tightening the screws up. Usually just the wood has shrunk a bit. Some careful shimming can take care of that and won't show.
Take care of the orig grips they are getting to be a rarity.
Plastic repro's are avail if you need them. Making a set of wood grips is not too difficult.

Parts are not real easy to find. Numrich has some, list many more but out of stock generally.

Orig holsters are rare and there are a few different types even within the Austrian issue.
There are reproductions,,and they are very nicely made. But they also have been used to fake an orig by aging them and passing it off on an unsuspecting buyer.
Not many other originals laying around to compare to afterall.
A primo orig Austrian issue holster can out price the pistol many times.

Fun pistols to shoot and handle. They draw a crowd at the range for sure.
Take it easy on the loads no matter the caliber.
Just enough to get 'her working is what I do. Then just have some fun with it.

 

[DWalt]

I think I have read that 5.56mm stripper clips will work, but I don't know that. They would be cheaper. Many of these pistols were sold to Chile. I have a box of what I think is ammo made for them (below). Reloading is no problem. Starline makes cases for 9x23 Supercomp which are rimless and essentially identical to 9mm Steyr or 9mm Largo. 9x23 Win cases will also fit. You can load with .38 Super or 9x23 Win dies. Light loads only, similar to loads for .38 ACP (not .38 Super).

 

[Arik]

Find out if they come with stripper clips. It's the only way to load those guns and the clips aren't cheap or easily found

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[2152hq]

You can easily load the pistol by locking back the slide with the thumb safety,,then individualy loading rounds down into the mag. Pressing them in like loading rounds into a Mauser or similar bolt rifle.
Then when ready, hold the slide back a bit and lower the thumb safety. Let the slide run forward and chamber the top round. Ready to go.

Yes they load easily w/the chargers. It was designed as a Cavalry pistol and the easy reload in mind. Holsters generally have pouches for a couple extra chargers.
But individual rds can be loaded into the magazine w/no problem when you're not in a heated situation with your Steyr.

The C96 doesn't have that luxury w/no separate slide/bolt lock other than the follower.
Pinching the open bolt to the hammer on the big Mauser with a single hand excersize accomplishes that and allows single loading with the other,,.

 

[2152hq]

Here's a few pics of some of the parts of the Steyr. This one from my pile of project guns,,a Century import from the 90's. It had been tastefully polished w/a bench grinder & reblued, and the Romanian crest (I believe it was theirs) ground from the left side of the slide.

Mixed numbers here and there including an electro pencil # matched bbl,,but it does have an exc bore.
I got as far as polishing the grind-a-crest work from the side and a couple rough swipes on the right side but that's all. I had a couple other to shoot at the time but they are gone now.
I kept a few spare parts for from other projects too. Should have kept more.

Left side slide, damage from crest grind out about done. You can also see the locking notches for both the safety (rear) and that for locking the slide to the rear to individually load the magazine w/o a charger clip.

Front of the slide (underneath)
You can see how thin the slide walls are and even the reinforcements around where the wedge fits thru is not all that much more.
Check this area for battering and even cracks.
Some people think 38Super is the cartridge delight for these.

The wedge and how it fits and secures in the slide.
It has a flat spring dovetailed into it (top surface). The spring has an upset knurled end to it that can be depressed out of the way so you can push the wedge into place. Then the head pops back up when the wedge exits the other side of the slide and is secure. The opposing end has a small shelf/edge to keep it from going any further.
Weges are a rare item to buy as a replacement.
Many are missing the spring or the spring has that knurled head broken off from poor disassembly (pounding the wedge thru w/a hammer when simply depressing it will release it)

This is the end cap in the frame to the recoil spring.
Notice the long legs. The narrowed tapered one goes into the top position, is depressed upon insertion and then snaps up and into a small opening in the frame to secure it.
The wedge fits right thru the opening of the two legs in operation.
Many of these are missing on Steyrs
The gun can work w/o it as the recoil spring is in back of the wedge and itself as a plug in either end. Some of the plugs are broken from again poor disassembly and are silver soldered back together or makeshift plugs installed;

The floor plate w/ lock springs assembly
A couple extra springs in the pic too.
The pistols are very nicely made, typical Austrian Steyr quality.
The floor plate is held in place by the one grip screw that transverses the frame at the bottom of the frame.
That BTW is the only screw in the entire pistol if I'm not mistaken.
Springs are dovetailed into place and held there w/a small pin.
The springs rarely break, but I have seen a few hammer springs with that very slight amt of 'set' I mentioned in an earlier post. Doesn't seem to bother operation at all.

Grip panels slide on from the base of the frame. Secured with the one thru the frame screw. Often bowed or warped so they are loose. Shim if need, treat them carefully. The left panel is routed out slightly on the back for the magazine cartridge guide and release. Rt side is plain flat.

Extractor,,careful with this part. As you can see it is it's own spring.
The hump in the middle of the length on the bottom retains the firing pin (also shown in the pic).
The two parts interlock,,no pins or screws. The notch on the firing pin is just the right length for firing the pistol and then allow the spring loaded pin to retract from the breech face.
The small hole in the extractor seems to beg for a retaining pin but was for mfg purposes.
The extractor is assembled (w/firing pin in place) by depressing the fron leaves together and pushing them under the charger bridge far enough to allow the back end to sit down into the groove in the frame. Then push the entire extractor back in the slot to seat the small tab at the rear of the extractor into it's seat in the frame. At that point the top leaf will pop up and seat behind the charger bridge and hold there by a small shoulder on the leaf. Simple!
The fireing pin has splines cut on it's major dia to clear dirt and oil during operation.
Those Austrian guys think of everything..

Just a couple pics of the cam slots in the frame to rotate the bbl. The slide roof has the same set up.
Bbl cam lugs to match,,(CAI magic matching electro pencil number wand!)
..and just a pic of about the mid point of the frame,,note the slot in the frame,,,and at the muzzle of the slide,,note the identicle width shallow lug on either side inside the slide.
This is how and where you line up the slide with the frame assemble the two together.
The slide is all the way to the rear and drops straight down onto the frame,,then push it forward.
Then once the recoil spring & wedge are put back in,,the slide can't recoil back that far and the slide can't come off the frame.

Hope this helps out a buyer of one of these fine pistols or someone just interested in them. They are fun to shoot for sure.