Took the Plunge.... Buying First Handgun

[Garys4598 1,065]

This afternoon I took my recently Mag-na-ported Steyr M40-A1 pistol for its maiden shooting session (first time I've fired this brand-new M40-A1) out at Fort Lewis' MWR Rifle/Pistol outdoor range. It was a nippy 32 degrees with some precipitation in the form of snow. The stationary target was placed at approximately 10 yards out, and I shot exactly 100 rounds of Winchester 165 grain FMJ.

 

Just prior to taking the pistol out to the range I thoroughly lubricated it using Tetra Gun Grease on the primary contact points (i.e., slide, barrel, etc.), and two tiny drops of Militec-1 on the extractor.

 

I have a total of six 12-rnd magazines, during this virgin shooting session I loaded them with 10 rnds each. During the first 60 rounds I experienced one FTE, and during the following 40 rounds I experienced approximately eight (8) FTEs which began to annoy me. My thoughts right now are that I have one of the older Steyr MA1 pistols that have a less than desirable shell extractor. According to the guys over at www.steyrclub.com this has been somewhat of a common occurance with the Steyr pistols puchased from CDNN. Anyway, allegedly Steyr Arms Inc. will receive my pistol and replace the extractor with a better updated one, free of charge.

 

Regarding the muzzle-flip and felt recoil of the pistol while firing (pertaining to the mag-na-porting), I cannot appropriately convey anything... because I did not fire the pistol prior to having the Mag-na-port service performed on the barrel and slide, and therefore have nothing to compare the gun's performance to. THAT will come a few weeks from now when a friend of mine and I conduct a comparative shoot (his stock M40-A1 to my modified M40-A1). I will say that shooting the pistol was a joy (excluding the FTEs I experienced) and that muzzle-flip was hardly noticeable.

 

Including the target photo, I've also posted close-up photos of the pistol taken immediately after firing the 100 rnds (i.e., prior to cleaning), to provide you some notion or comparison regarding gunpowder flash residue on the receiver and slide of this Mag-na-ported pistol. I found that there was very little on the slide's exterior in the proximity of the ports, but as you can see from the photos, it appears that there is some flash residue on the lower receiver near the muzzle.... which in my estimation has nothing to do with the existing ports.

Edited January 27, 2008 by Gary

[Garys4598 1,065]

I'll post pics a month or so from now, after I've had the gun all gussied-up and fit for show

Your not gonna valley-bitch your pistol too, are ya Gary?

Bob, the only "valley-bitch'n" I'm going to do to the handgun is:

1) Have the barrel and slide "autoported" by Mag-na-port (in fact, those two component parts were shipped FedEx just today).

2) Have the polymer grip receive a "X-Grip" permanent grit treatment by Springer Precision LLC.

3) Have the gun professionally disassembled, cleaned and all moving parts/contact points polished by Springer Precision LLC.

4) Procure a hangun light for the picatinny rail.

 

AND THAT'S IT. Ummmm.... shouldn't that be enough? .... .... ....

Hey Bob, I guess I spoke too damn soon (....which is just like me, no? ).

 

I changed my mind and decided to utterly "Valley-Bitch-eviscerate" the hell out of my pistol.... (no shit).

 

 

After having received my Docter red dot optic back this past weekend from Dean Makkos of Docter USA (it was being rebuilt to withstand the requirements of being mounted to an semi-auto pistol's slide), I shipped it.... and my six additional 12rnd magazines off to Springer Precision LLC (they've had my Steyr M40-A1 for more than a week now, to include the original 2 mags).

 

After receiving a "thumbs up" from Scott Springer that the pistol's slide could in fact be CNC machined to have the Docter optic mounted directly onto it (although.... that all remains to be seen), I decided to go full-bore and have the pistol's slide and all metal operating controls (i.e., the slide and mag release lever/button) hardchromed.... and to have the pistol's entire lower polymer receiver "composite finished" (after it has had a grip reduction performed on it) to include the bottom base plates of all eight 12rnd magazines, so that everything will match.

 

 

Dude, it's gonna be about as Valley-BEOOOOTCHED as a Steyr M-A1 series pistol has ever been to date! I mean, it's gonna be really, REALLY Peeeerrrrrrrrrrtttty!

 

........ ........ ........ ........ ........ ........

 

 

Of course this all comes at a rather stiff price..... but that's not the difficult part for me.

 

 

The difficult part is now waiting the friggen two or so months for the pistol to be finished being "reborn."

 

Edited February 27, 2008 by Gary

[jrance@iacwds.com 716]

Nice range report Gary. The waiting for custom stuff is always difficult.

1911

[Garys4598 1,065]

Well, this morning I was able to speak to Scott Springer (Springer Precision LLC) for approx. 20 minutes by telephone; to go over what remained to be completed on this pistol mod project as well as to discuss exactly what had been done regarding mounting the Docter Red Dot optic onto the pistol's slide.

 

Shortly after our phone conversation I received an email from Scott that contained a photo of my pistol (reference the .jpg image at bottom of this post) ... like, jeez... I'd friggen almost forgotten what my M40-A1 looked like! It's been that long...

 

To be completely honest, I am not exactly thrilled that he and his fellow gunsmiths decided NOT to CNC machine the slide to accept the Docter optic.... but, before making any final assessment or decision on that point, I will need to shoot the pistol first, to see how the red dot optic lines up and how the pistol performs overall when shooting. Scott had mentioned that the consensus was, lowering the red dot optic into the slide would have not been ideal; it would have placed the red dot too close to the bore's axis or whatever... (sorry, although I am no gunsmith or competitive shooter... THAT has got to be the biggest bologna statement I think I have ever heard about that sort of thing... I was schooled that the closer one is able to sight from a firearm's bore axis, the better... Perhaps I'm just... "old school")... yet, they were able to have the Docter's mounting screws thread directly into the Steyr's slide, vice fabricating a bracket which the optic would mount and sit into which in turn would be mounted onto the slide (hopefully you were able to follow what I just wrote).

 

As a sort of recap: they did fully utilize the rear sight's bevel... but also drill-tapped the slide's top to accept the Docter mounting screws which permanently alters the pistol's slide.

 

FWIW: Scott informed me that Frank Glenn performed the trigger work on my M40-A1. Scott reassured me that Frank Glenn's work is well known throughout the industry (sorry... but I for one have never heard of the gentleman, which of course doesn't mean squat; I know NO ONE in the industry...) and that my trigger's break would be superlative. Okay... that remains to be seen.

 

As mentioned, to fully appreciate and evaluate what has been done, I have to wait until the pistol is returned to me.

 

On that note, Scott mentioned that he expects the remaining mods to the pistol to be completed within the next 6 weeks. THAT'S THE KIND OF NEWS I WAS PRAYING TO HEAR!

 

 

According to Scott, my M40-A1's slide and metal controls are now headed out to be hardchromed, and the pistol's polymer lower and the eight mags that I sent, are being sent to his associate in Missouri to perform the "composite finish" treatment (I think Scott said this Missouri associate of his is Frank Barron).

 

~Gary

Edited June 4, 2008 by Gary

[jrance@iacwds.com 716]

Where's the laser and flashlight?

 

1911

[Garys4598 1,065]

Where's the laser and flashlight?

 

1911

What? Can't you see them???

 

They're right bloody-there!

 

If you look real hard you can see a hint of them... Just barely poking out right underneath (in the vicinity of) the pistol's muzzle.

 

Really??? You can't see the end of the laser and the separate flashlight???!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

**sheesh.... perhaps you ought to get your eyes checked**

 

 

 

 

..... .....

Edited June 5, 2008 by Gary

[Garys4598 1,065]

.... So, after months of anxiously waiting... apparently I am to be rewarded either tomorrow or Friday, with the arrival of the below.

 

Thank you Scott Springer!!!!! ..... ..... :

Edited September 17, 2008 by Gary

[jrance@iacwds.com 716]

Looks great Gary! Let us know how that Doktor sight works out for you after a few hundred rounds. I tried a scope on my .45 Grizzly WinMag once and it lasted about 5 rounds before it came flying off. Looking forward to the range report. Just be careful who you go shooting with.

 

1911

 

[Garys4598 1,065]

Looks great Gary! Let us know how that Doktor sight works out for you after a few hundred rounds. I tried a scope on my .45 Grizzly WinMag once and it lasted about 5 rounds before it came flying off...

1911

Well... as I mentioned in post #32 above, I sent my Docter Red Dot optic to none other than Dean Makkos and he 'shored-up' the devise's innards.... to the tune of costing me $180 (if I remember correctly). So.... if the cotton pick'n optic "craps-out" on me after whatever many rounds, allegedly I can send it back in to Dean to have it "reworked." It's my understanding from Dean that although there is really no guarantee the optic won't crap out after some time period (since it wasn't designed or intended apparently to be mounted to a semi-auto pistol's slide and withstand that kind of abuse)... it still should last a while. I suppose.... we shall see.

 

On a positive note though, if the optic does crap out, I can always go back to the Steyr's OEM rear sight. Scott Springer didn't have to CNC machine the slide's back portion so the Doctor and its mount can simply be tapped out, and the original rear sight tapped back in via the dovetail slot. Such is what Scott has informed me of anyway.

 

Edited September 18, 2008 by Gary

[Garys4598 1,065]

The pistol arrived by FedEx today.... I couldn't be much happier with how it turned out. Scott Springer performed a superlative effort to meet my desires. Here are a few quick photos that I took of it: