Unique Military Trials Steyr-Hahn M1911 Pistol

Today we are looking at a unique military trials Steyr-Hahn M1911 pistol which has been fitted with an adjustable tangent rear sight. The standard model of the Steyr-Hahn has a fixed rear notch, but it seems that a potential client requested (or Steyr anticipated that someone would request) and adjustable sight model along with a detachable shoulder stock/holster. So they took one of the first batch of commercial production guns and modified it for aimed (“aimed”) fire out to 1800 meter. The stock was relieved to match the new sights as well. Ultimately, of course, this pattern was not adopted by anyone, and this is the only known example of such a configuration.

17 Comments

    • Are you sure meters? Default, at that time, straight-pull repeating Austrian rifle:
      http://hungariae.com/Mann95.htm
      used unit known as Schritt, up to 2600 Schritt. As 1 Schritt is equal to 0.75 m, that would mean that actually maximal setting is 1350 m. Which still is optimistic for 9 mm Steyr-chambered fire-arm.

    • Especially with an open notch rear sight held so close to the eye. If you’re gonna use a shoulder stock, you need to swap out the rear sight with an aperture.

  1. “detachable shoulder stock/holster”
    http://hungariae.com/Stey12.htm reports that A wooden stock was available for this pistol. For this option, the frame was slotted and tapped at the back of the grips for the stock attachment. Both Romania (6000) and Chile received pistols adopted for the stock.

    In 1916 a small number of pistols designated as ‘Repetierpistole M1912/P16″ were made with an extended magazine area with a 16 round capacity. This pistol was also equipped with a wooden stock with sculptured buttplate.
    Drawing of twin version can be seen here: http://qsy-complains-a-lot.tumblr.com/post/124407722888/miniaturesandcostumes-twin-steyr-191216
    I am not sure: was stock universal design for both single and twin version or twin version has own proprietary stock?

    • Camera angles can be deceptive, but this stock looks to be more of an inline stock than that on the double gun. Higher cheek welds work better with taller sights.

  2. I like how they dealt with RS graduation. Instead as making ballistic correspondent top, they ‘logarithmically’ spaced graduation.
    Btw.the true meaning of word “Hahn” is not “hammer” but Cock (as rooster) 🙂

  3. I do like the Steyr 1911,

    Within the constraints of having to appeal to a bureaucracy who either haven’t been in the field, or else have been out of the field for twenty years or more,

    and are at the very best, half human and half pension,

    And are still fighting the war of twenty years ago

    There Steyr Hahn is a very cool pistol, arguably chambered for a better design of 9mm cartridge than 9x19mm Luger.

    I’m not well up on the Smaller disturbances in Austria Hungary, but The big ones, like the Savoy Family’s annexation of the Hapsburg’s Italian possessions in 1860 and the Hohenzollern Family’s Annexation of Bavaria in the late 1860s, were within the lifetimes and possibly even the childhood memories of the older members of the Austrian military bureaucracy.

    However ludicrous the idea of sighting a pistol for use at over…. may seem to us now,
    And however marginal the effects if you did manage to drop a bullet onto someone’s helmet at that distance (ok, it might give his horse a fright, if you managed to drop the bullet on its arse).

    For the bureaucrats who controlled the budget and who were still thinking in terms of opponents with Dreyse needle fire rifles, it might have appeared to be a good idea.

    The same thing with the fixed magazine and stripper loading; it’s a magazine that can’t get lost, bent or dropped in the mud.

    That’s a very cool pistol

    • “Within the constraints of having to appeal to a bureaucracy Within the constraints of having to appeal to a bureaucracy”
      Wait, wasn’t Steyr Hahn originally created mainly for export? Austrians already adopted Repetierpistole M.7 not so long time ago. If so appealing to Austrian bureaucracy was not so important.

  4. Most of these pistols have no half cock notch in the hammer and since their way of loading nearly oblige users to carry with the chamber loaded, manualy decocking and cocking afterwards needs overcare against thumb slippage which may cause a catastrophe.

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