Steyr’s futuristic .40-cal delivers unbeatable ergonomics and 12+1 rounds of fight-stopping firepower!

For the May 2014 issue of ,em>COMBAT HANDGUNS, Chad Thompson took on the task of reviewing the latest handgun from Steyr—the Steyr M40-A1. Despite a capacity for 12+1 rounds of big-bore .40 ammo, Thompson found the M40-A1 easy to handle and smooth to shoot on the range.

“The Steyr M40-A1 is a striker-fired, polymer-framed .40-caliber semi-auto with a completely steel slide assembly,” says Thompson. “The bore axis is nice and low, and the pistol points perfectly. The pistol also has a paddle-type safety on the front of the trigger, like so many others of the genre today.
During the review, two particular features grabbed Thompson’s eye. “The two biggest things that I noticed upon initial inspection were the sights and the rail under the slide. The sights are triangular and trapezoidal, and the accessory rail is a nice added feature,” says Thompson. “These sights are way different than standard notch and post, but that is not to say that is a bad thing—it just took some getting used to. After a small amount of practice, I found them to be quite fast and easy to pick up.”

Another impressive feature Thompson found was the M40-A1’s recoil control, thanks in part to a new Steyr grip design. “The grip is smaller in diameter than those on a lot of competitors’ pistols, and it has a nice high-grip recess in the tang of the pistol that reduces felt recoil much better than I expected. In short, it made this .40-caliber pistol shoot like a 9mm,” says Thompson. “Now, .40 S&W usually has a little sharper recoil than 9mm, but, on the M40-A1, the recoil was mild and easily managed no matter what ammo was being used. Handling and ergonomics were great, and all the controls were easy to manipulate.”

To read the full article, check out the May 2014 issue of COMBAT HANDGUNS, available on newsstands January 28, 2014. To subscribe, go to /combat-handguns/.

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