I’m all for new sight designs so long as they actually try to solve the problem of getting accurate shots on target quickly. RELATED STORY: Steyr Master – Steyr Arms’ Aug/A3 M1 Bullpup The front of the gun had little flip when held with a solid two-handed grip, and the large front sight was clear in my vision for confirming I was still on target. However, I found the Steyr S9-A1 was very easy to keep on target during rapid shooting. Nonetheless, compact pistols can exhibit harsher recoiling characteristics than their larger cousins. For the most part, 9mm is a fairly easy-shooting cartridge. Muzzle flip and felt recoil were very mild in this gun. Most of the other loads ran around 2.5 inches for five shots at the same distance. With the S9-A1, it gave me the best five-shot group of all the loads I tested at 1.6 inches at 7 yards unsupported. It has been reliable in all of the guns I’ve shot, and it tends to turn in very good groups. I’ve had a chance to test this line in a variety of handguns recently. Winchester’s 124-grain PDX1 Defender +P load was an admirable performer. RELATED STORY: Gun Review – Steyr Arms L9-A1 9mm I selected three loads for accuracy testing. The Steyr was 100-percent reliable with all of them. Both standard and +P pressure loads were used, as were loads with different bullet designs-frangible, FMJs and hollow points. Nine different manufacturers were represented, with bullet weights ranging from 50 to 147 grains. With the Steyr, I ran 15 different factory loads on the range. I want to make sure that a gun will run a broad range of ammunition reliably if I am going to give it a thumbs-up. Whenever possible, I try to run at least 10 different loads through a pistol I am reviewing.
The rear sight has a ramped front edge to reduce the possibility of it hanging on a cover garment, but the slope does preclude the use of the sight for one-handed slide manipulation. The rear sight has a similarly angled notch with two white lines designed to outline the two upper sides of the front triangle when properly aligned. With this system, the front sight is a large, white triangle. Steyr uses a sighting system referred to as trapezoidal sights. This allows a shooter to add a supplemental aiming device or lighting source like the Streamlight TLR-2 HL G combination unit that pairs a 720-lumen light with a bright green aiming laser. Steyr includes an accessory rail on the underside of the frame. Helped by the slide serrations, working the slide at speed was not a problem. However, I found that the slide height was still tall enough to get a good grip for slide manipulation.
Compared to some other guns, the same is true for the Steyr S9-A1. I have sometimes found that guns with a low bore axis also have a short slide height. RELATED STORY: VIDEO – Test-Firing Steyr’s Innovative, Light-Recoiling S9-A1 There is quite a bit of debate on how much this helps with controlling the gun while shooting, but I found the gun had little muzzle flip when firing. The gun has a low bore axis, meaning that the hand is able to grasp higher on the gun in relationship to the barrel. A 10-test average showed the trigger pull weight right at 5 pounds. It feels surprisingly good and does not pinch the finger at all. Compared to the trigger safeties on other pistols, Steyr uses a center lever that is wider than most. The gun has no external safeties per se, but it does use a trigger safety that is naturally deactivated when the trigger is intentionally pressed. As I expected, the gun was a top-notch performer.Ī polymer-framed gun, the Steyr S9-A1 uses a striker-fired system that allows for a consistent trigger pull from shot to shot. Steyr Arms, the U.S.-based importer of the company’s guns, sent me a compact S9-A1 pistol for review. That sense of family and tradition carry forward to today as the company continues to produce exceptional weapons for military and citizens alike. The recognized founder of the company, Josef Werndl, came from a family and region steeped in the tradition of weapons making-perhaps as far back as the 1200s. Yet the traditions of the company go much farther back than that. Rich in firearms tradition, Steyr Mannlicher has been designing and manufacturing firearms since the 1800s.