New Play Toy!!! (Firearm)

07/30/2003 | TMMT

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

New Play Toy!!! (Firearm)

Today I strolled into a local gunshop and much to my amazement I found a Steyr M40 (NIB) for $399.00. I’d always been interested in the Steyr ever since it came out specifically the smaller “s” series and more so the S357.

Well I just could not pass up such a good deal, I’ve seen this gun in shops down south, (GA, TN, SC) for as much as $519.00, so when I saw the $399.00 I had to have it.

Bought a pistol blanket for her, four boxes of Speer plinking ammo and some .40 cal cleaning supplies (bore brush, pads etc…) as this is my first 40.

Shot it already and WOW!!!

Accurate, once you get use to the “trapezoid” sites, trigger is short, very short and crisp, nice break around 5 pounds.

It is a very tight gun, first time I tried to apply the manual safety I couldn’t, took three or four tries now it moves just as the manual says it should, with two fingers.

I will most likely buy a tac-lite for this and a .357 barrel, and (pray) once the AWB goes away I’ll get me a few “normal capacity” mags for it (12 rounds) and then she’ll make a rather nice beside the bed gun.

It’s so nice to be able to buy a gun in a gun friendly state!

TMMT

[Joe Brower]

"29 posts and no bang list.

You guys are slipping. LOL"

Yeah, work's been getting in the way lately. I hate it when that happens!

[Joe Brower]

"Dang it! Close my safe!"

Ya beat me to it! $;-)

[Travis McGee]

There hasn't been a good old just plain fun gun thread in a while! This one has potential.

[Chemist_Geek]

If you ever really have to do that, make sure that you use a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun with 00 buck. With one in the spout and 8 in the magazine, 9 rounds of 00 with 9 pellets to the shell = 81 pellets of about the same size as a 9mm or .357. That's 9 x 1 7/8th ounces - or over a pound - of flying lead. Plus you don't have to be all that accurate when aiming it.

I prefer a 20 gauge with #3 buck... Install some weights in the stock, and it feels like my 10/22 to shoot. Really quick to come back on target...

[VOA]

bump

[Shooter 2.5]

I guess the machinist in me always thinks of the person who built the gun and not who used it.

I can picture someone on the final assembly checking the firearm out and putting the final inspector's stamp on it.

The only thing I have from that era you're mentioning is a Russian Nagant revolver. That's the machinist in me again. That cylinder that slides forward as the hammer is pulled back is fascinating.

It was manufactured in Tula in 1939.

[stevio]

Since S&W are kind of back in our good graces I was looking at the Model 329PD. It looks similar to the .357 that you posted but it's a .44 magnum made with scandium and titanium. The price at one local store was ~$700. The wood grips weren't as nice as I thought especially for the price. Any thoughts?

[Joe Brower]

MALE FANTASY ALERT!

[Shooter 2.5]

The only guns I have ever sold was a Trapdoor Springfield that was no more than a relic and a Sears "Ted Williams" .22 rifle.

I miss the Trapdoor because although it was rusty and pitted, it still had a significant originality to it. I had read stories that the troopers had trouble prying the copper cartridges out of the chamber. Sure enough, this one had gouges on the receiver. I kept it's partner because it was in much better shape. That one is a 50-70.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Since S&W are kind of back in our good graces I was looking at the Model 329PD. It looks similar to the .357 that you posted but it's a .44 magnum made with scandium and titanium. The price at one local store was ~$700. The wood grips weren't as nice as I thought especially for the price. Any thoughts?

Squantos, stevio wants to know about the 329PD.

[yarddog]

My Father brought back a Luger, a P-38 and another gun identified as an Autro-Hungarian, .32.

He bought a farm with money Mother had saved from his allotment and also sold all the guns to raise money. A cousin still has the Luger but I have no idea what happened to the others.

He told me a Colonel at the disembarkation point noticed the Luger in his papers and offered him $200 for it. Daddy refused but then later sold it to our cousin, (a Florida Golden Gloves boxing champion).

I have thought about asking to sell it to me several times but still haven't done it.

[Travis McGee]

You're correct. The designer and machinist is a neutral party.

But the history buff in me always sees a Russian KGB guard in a great coat and fur cap, holding a snarling German Shepherd on a leash, with the holstered Tokarev on his belt.

The Tokarevs were used to finish off any starving and freezing "zeks" who fell out of the march on the way from the camp to the mine or forest.

Fair or not, the combloc guns always make me think of communism, history's worst form of institutional mass-murder.

[Shooter 2.5]

If we can keep it going until Friday night it should hit the usual numbers.

I should start a thread on the guns I've broken. I just recieved my Smith and Wesson back from the factory. They had to replace the sight rail and the slide.

Who me? I didn't do nothing! It was like that when I go it. I don't know, maybe someone else did it. It just fell apart when I picked it up. etc.

Seriously, I have no idea. The hook on the back of the rail just broke off. I have no idea why they changed the slide.

The next week the Mateba fell apart. That one was easy. The linkage decided to unhook and it was a simple matter of putting it together. Hope it doesn't happen again.

The guns are doing better than I am. I may be out of shooting for a little bit. I think I could schedule something in a couple of weeks and then be out of it for a month or so.

NO biggy. Just something that's been bothering me for a couple of decades or more.

[Ranxerox]

I will most likely buy a tac-lite for this and a .357 barrel, and (pray) once the AWB goes away I’ll get me a few “normal capacity” mags for it (12 rounds) and then she’ll make a rather nice beside the bed gun.

Buy'em up quick! I believe Steyr was recently sold to BMW and have been/are being kicked out of their manufacturing space. Might cause some supply chain problems for awhile.

[Shooter 2.5]

I think everyone can tell stories of lost guns. I don't want to depress the thread with the ones I've heard.

I never heard the stories of anyone who was the recipient of the guns. I always think they know they did something wrong and keep the stories to themselves.

The Nagant came from my brothers and sisters in laws. At the time of death of my father in law, they elected that I become the owner of the Nagant.

No one else wanted it. That's one good thing about anti-gun Chicago. I was checking it into baggage at the Midway airport and a Chicago cop was watching me. He was smart enough to know the laws on transportation.

[Shooter 2.5]

I'm pure Bohemian on both sides. My grandparents were lucky enough to get out at the turn of the century. My mom said she had cousins still over there and always wanted to visit. My dad was adamant in hs refusal.

My son visited Prague after the fall and he said our last name is like Smith and Jones over there. Kinda cool because I don't know of anyone with my last name. My son is the last of the male line.

The good news is he's getting married in a couple of months. There's hope.

[bmwcyle]

If you have trouble next door.

[Squantos]

I finally got mine. It is mechanically smooth and has better than average trigger, fit and finish. The walls of the cylinder looked a bit on the thin side so I started out with some 44 specials (CCI gold dot 200 gr) and worked up to the 240 gold Dots in 44 mag. It has a bite and albeit the first idea is to put on the rubber hogues that come with it. I suggest that the really nice ahrens (sp?) wood grips stay on as recoil is easier IMHO.

The rig has recoil and bite but for it's intended purpose of self defense and a backpacking /hunting safety sidearm it will serve me well. All that said.....the POS HiViz Whizzbang sights "suck"......no better way to say it. I personally do not like them, never will. Not that they aren't perfectly functional . I just do not like em one bit. I will send my little 329PD to C&S, as soon as I find a load it and I like and can agree on, for a set of sights, maybe even the fixed ones they have ....maybe he'll cobble me up some for the 329PD.

The other mod I will make on mine will be a lanyard stud as I carry mine over water a lot for boating and fly fishing. Not worried bout the water per se....just the deep water loss potential.

If ya spend time in country where you are two or three steps down on the food chain I suggest it. As it is light enough to carry "all the time"

Ya'll Stay Safe !

[TEXASPROUD]

Is that a Fleming conversion?

[Squantos]

Agree but...........but they work. They work well. My MAK-90 is a jackhammer for hard use. We went mud boggin last spring and with a coat of mud and water about three inches thick on, in and under my little FJ40 I then took note that my MAK was on top of my gear pile in the back not in it's case and the improv-test was on. For safety sake I dropped the mag, cleared the weapon and ran a bore snake thru to make sure the barrel didn't get the same fill of canadian river mud we did and put the same mag back in and started shooting. Awesome little rig, tough and dependable albeit ugly as sin and build by hammer monkeys in a sino soviet slave camp somewhere.

It serves for rough duty yet as you say.............reminds one of what were up against every day. I have a couple of the makarovs and a CZ 52 and a Norinco copy of the 1911A1 I bought from a money starved friend. Functional and as stated .........ugly. But then aren't we all.......:o)

Stay Safe !!