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Deleted member 67409
I bought a Steyr L9-A2 MF (9x19) back in November and I've now shot about 250 rounds through it. 50 rounds of S&B 115gr hollowpoints and approximately 200 rounds of Winchester White Box 115gr. Both times, I shot the pistol with @daekken. Once at an indoor range near me and today at his club in NH.
The Steyr is intended to replace my Browning Hi Power Mark III Standard as my multigun competition pistol. I've owned a variety of pistols but ended up due to a series of cash crunches with the BHP as my only gun. Being a broke college and now law student means very few dollars for gun money. Since getting into multigun last year, I've been slowly rebuilding my "collection."
I picked the Steyr for a few reasons. I initially asked the doyens of 3-gun in RI what would be the best pistol to buy for the sport. Answer: a 2011. I asked about a Glock and they said that a Glock would require a ton of cash spent on it to equal the lowest level of 2011. My shooting ability doesn't yet warrant a 2011, so I decided to get something modern, with an excellent trigger, which would be better than a Glock.
The two guns that stood out to me were this and the HK VP9. I eliminated the VP9 after handling both the Steyr and VP9 at a gun store in Vermont who had both. The trigger, sights, and handling on the Steyr are better than the VP9.
The Steyr has about a 5lbs trigger. Being striker fired, every shot is very consistent. I had owned Beretta 92s and shot other DA/SA guns before like CZ 75s and 82s and I knew that I wanted either a SAO gun or a striker-fired pistol. With the Steyr being $599 from the place I bought it, I couldn't say no to a gun that handled very well, had a great trigger, and cost less than a Glock 17 Gen 5, which are usually around $625-650 where I am.
The Steyr disassembles like a Glock in that you first decock the pistol by pulling the trigger. The Steyr then has a 90-degree turn lever that you turn down into the vertical position while depressing a button. More on the button later. Then the Steyr comes apart easy-peasy like any other modern pistol. The gun also comes with changeable backstraps and grips, but I found the OEM grips to be the best for me.
How's it shoot? Very accurately. In both my and @daekken's hands, the gun is very good at making consistently tight groups. He shot his CZ Shadow 2 better than the Steyr, but I shot the Steyr better than his CZ. With the Steyr being striker-fired, I won't have to worry about starting a stage with a DA trigger pull. The Steyr also has trapezoidal sights that both of us liked as well.
The one problem I had is that the pistol didn't reliably feed the S&B hollowpoints. I had about four failures to feed. The S&B hollowpoints were like $20 or $24 p/50 and I've had them sitting in the closet for like three, four years. I chalk this unreliability up to the ammo rather than the gun. That being said, I would diligently test any ammo that someone intends to use for carrying prior to carrying this pistol. Otherwise, the gun reliably ate its diet of Winchester White Box without complaint.
Overall I love this pistol. What's going to happen next is I'm going to get the slide milled for a Trijicon RMR. I considered a SRO or a Kahles Helia RD, but both are too long to fit on the slide. Besides, when I checked out SROs at gun stores, I didn't like them. I prefer the RMR.
Pros:
*Five-pound trigger
*Reasonably priced
*Trapezoidal sights
*Very light
*No safety to worry about on the clock or if you're carrying this
*Glock-esque slide release that's easier to engage than a Glock slide release
*Easy to disassemble as long as you drop the magazine and check the chamber prior to pulling the trigger
*Deadly accurate
*Overall, the gun doesn't need any tweaks out of the box for the average shooter
Cons:
*What is this "holster compatability" you speak of? I solved this problem by messaging Steyr and asking about a competition rig. They suggested Black Point Tactical, where I got an OWB competition holster and three double-mag holders. I am very happy with the holster. Other people might not want to wait from November to January for a holster and mag holders.
*Mags are $39 a piece. I solved this problem by buying a bunch from Steyr during a 20% sale.
*The hollowpoint feeding issues, which is a non-issue for me because I usually buy bulk-pack FMJs for competition.
*The button to disassemble the pistol has a "turn the gun off" system. You'll notice the two little wrenches in the picture below. Those are to turn the gun off if you use them to push the button all the way in and in the "right" direction. I recommend never using this feature.
*Steyr doesn't offer a RDS-cut slide.
Would I buy another one? Absolutely.
The Steyr is intended to replace my Browning Hi Power Mark III Standard as my multigun competition pistol. I've owned a variety of pistols but ended up due to a series of cash crunches with the BHP as my only gun. Being a broke college and now law student means very few dollars for gun money. Since getting into multigun last year, I've been slowly rebuilding my "collection."
I picked the Steyr for a few reasons. I initially asked the doyens of 3-gun in RI what would be the best pistol to buy for the sport. Answer: a 2011. I asked about a Glock and they said that a Glock would require a ton of cash spent on it to equal the lowest level of 2011. My shooting ability doesn't yet warrant a 2011, so I decided to get something modern, with an excellent trigger, which would be better than a Glock.
The two guns that stood out to me were this and the HK VP9. I eliminated the VP9 after handling both the Steyr and VP9 at a gun store in Vermont who had both. The trigger, sights, and handling on the Steyr are better than the VP9.
The Steyr has about a 5lbs trigger. Being striker fired, every shot is very consistent. I had owned Beretta 92s and shot other DA/SA guns before like CZ 75s and 82s and I knew that I wanted either a SAO gun or a striker-fired pistol. With the Steyr being $599 from the place I bought it, I couldn't say no to a gun that handled very well, had a great trigger, and cost less than a Glock 17 Gen 5, which are usually around $625-650 where I am.
The Steyr disassembles like a Glock in that you first decock the pistol by pulling the trigger. The Steyr then has a 90-degree turn lever that you turn down into the vertical position while depressing a button. More on the button later. Then the Steyr comes apart easy-peasy like any other modern pistol. The gun also comes with changeable backstraps and grips, but I found the OEM grips to be the best for me.
How's it shoot? Very accurately. In both my and @daekken's hands, the gun is very good at making consistently tight groups. He shot his CZ Shadow 2 better than the Steyr, but I shot the Steyr better than his CZ. With the Steyr being striker-fired, I won't have to worry about starting a stage with a DA trigger pull. The Steyr also has trapezoidal sights that both of us liked as well.
The one problem I had is that the pistol didn't reliably feed the S&B hollowpoints. I had about four failures to feed. The S&B hollowpoints were like $20 or $24 p/50 and I've had them sitting in the closet for like three, four years. I chalk this unreliability up to the ammo rather than the gun. That being said, I would diligently test any ammo that someone intends to use for carrying prior to carrying this pistol. Otherwise, the gun reliably ate its diet of Winchester White Box without complaint.
Overall I love this pistol. What's going to happen next is I'm going to get the slide milled for a Trijicon RMR. I considered a SRO or a Kahles Helia RD, but both are too long to fit on the slide. Besides, when I checked out SROs at gun stores, I didn't like them. I prefer the RMR.
Pros:
*Five-pound trigger
*Reasonably priced
*Trapezoidal sights
*Very light
*No safety to worry about on the clock or if you're carrying this
*Glock-esque slide release that's easier to engage than a Glock slide release
*Easy to disassemble as long as you drop the magazine and check the chamber prior to pulling the trigger
*Deadly accurate
*Overall, the gun doesn't need any tweaks out of the box for the average shooter
Cons:
*What is this "holster compatability" you speak of? I solved this problem by messaging Steyr and asking about a competition rig. They suggested Black Point Tactical, where I got an OWB competition holster and three double-mag holders. I am very happy with the holster. Other people might not want to wait from November to January for a holster and mag holders.
*Mags are $39 a piece. I solved this problem by buying a bunch from Steyr during a 20% sale.
*The hollowpoint feeding issues, which is a non-issue for me because I usually buy bulk-pack FMJs for competition.
*The button to disassemble the pistol has a "turn the gun off" system. You'll notice the two little wrenches in the picture below. Those are to turn the gun off if you use them to push the button all the way in and in the "right" direction. I recommend never using this feature.
*Steyr doesn't offer a RDS-cut slide.
Would I buy another one? Absolutely.
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