Steyr Hahn Model 1912 Romanian

[somd_mustangs]

Let's get some pistols back in the rotation - here's one of the more awkward-looking pistols from days gone by, the Steyr-Hahn Model 1911/1912. This one was for the Romanian Contract in 1914 and still has the crest intact. Most were captured and had the crest scrubbed off. This guy is still in remarkable shape and is original finish, all-matching, non-import - which is pretty unusual for a S-H in general, let alone a Romanian. The recoil system was pretty interesting, the barrel actually rotates as the slide is propelled backwards. The slide cross-lock and recoil spring system is very similar to the early Colt (1900-1905) but unlike the Colt, the slide is beefed up considerably around the slot. As a whole, a very robust design. Chambered for 9x23 m/m Steyr, not exactly a common round nowadays. Barrel shows that even firing corrosive ammo a just few times can make a mess. This is from the "what was I thinking!" portion of the collection.

 

[yellowsled]

Insanely cool! You always seem to find hidden gems...

 

[dre271]

Very nice!

 

[lee2]

i've been wanting to get one of those.
have you ever fired it?

 

[somd_mustangs]

i've been wanting to get one of those.
have you ever fired it?

Nope. I had several "shooter grade" S-H's that I got rid of last year (and took it in the shorts). Ammo is out there but it's mostly corrosive. They're supposed to be pretty accurate but have heavy triggers and are a pain in the butt to load the internal magazine. The best bet is finding one that zee Germans reworked in WWII, chambered for 9mm Parabellum. These will have an "08" stamped on the left side of slide. These converted guns command a premium, even beat up mis-matched POS (think on the order of $800-$1500 depending on condition). A "standard" mis-match S-H will run $300-400, possibly less if you're lucky. A nice one, expect $600 or so depending on what it is. The Romanian and Commercial variants run quite a bit more, for instance.

 

[j8064]

Definitely very cool!

 

[lee2]

Nope. I had several "shooter grade" S-H's that I got rid of last year (and took it in the shorts). Ammo is out there but it's mostly corrosive. They're supposed to be pretty accurate but have heavy triggers and are a pain in the butt to load the internal magazine. The best bet is finding one that zee Germans reworked in WWII, chambered for 9mm Parabellum. These will have an "08" stamped on the left side of slide. These converted guns command a premium, even beat up mis-matched POS (think on the order of $800-$1500 depending on condition). A "standard" mis-match S-H will run $300-400, possibly less if you're lucky. A nice one, expect $600 or so depending on what it is. The Romanian and Commercial variants run quite a bit more, for instance.

good to know.

 

[somd_mustangs]

Usually there are one or two crappy-condition S-H's on GB, but right now there's 3 interesting ones...

This one is actually a fairly desirable Bavarian contract gun (no "letter suffix" in the S/N, mfg 1916) with an interesting holster. Seller doesn't know what he has.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=417731939

And a German-modified gun (the nazi S-H's were pretty much exclusively police-issue). He wants an insane amount of $$ for it though. But the ammo pouch is pretty rare if I'm not mistaken, and the holster isn't all that common either. As a rig, maybe it's not that crazy, come to think of it.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=419554177

This is a rare Chilean contract (total of 5000). But one of the more common seen in US since they imported almost all 5000 into the States. This would be a super deal other than the large "9mm" stamped on the slide, and probably another import mark we can't see. Looks refinished too...
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=419364877

 

[KH195]

Beautiful!! I've been on the hunt for one of the German conversion S-H's recently, hoping I can find one in the reasonable price range in the near future (saw that one on GB the other day and although the accessories are nice, definitely a lot of $$$$).

 

[Alphabrew]

Totally awesome!

 

[mawkie]

Have a shooter grade 1912, refinished and mis-matched, that I bought many, many years ago for a pittance. Not even in the same league as the ones somd_mustangs has. Had to do some work to get it reliable (springs, FP and extractor) but it's not a bad shooter. Loads via stripper clips. Even have some Hirtenberger ammo for it.

 

[somd_mustangs]

Some interesting details...

- the bluing process used left the inside of the slide "in the white" so if it's blued that is a dead giveaway that it has been refinished.

- The "Model 1911" has the front sight milled out, while the "Model 1912" has a separate blade staked in place

- Military-accepted guns will have proofs on the right trigger guard "W-n", "Eagle", "YY" where YY is the last two digits of year. Chilean contract, commercial will not.

- Commercial guns don't have all the little acceptance proofs, are generally higher quality finish, don't have a letter suffix in the S/N. These are pretty rare to encounter.

- Chilean Contract guns have a unique S/N system, in the form of
1xxxA, 2xxxB, 3xxxC, etc. There were only 5000 made but they weren't sequential S/N's obviously.

- Bavarian Contract (1916 and 1918) don't have a letter suffix in the S/N.

 

[somd_mustangs]

Commercial Model 1911

This commercial model was made in 1912 to Model 1911 specs. It's late in the game and doesn't have the commercial address normally seen on the left side of slide. Note the lack of inspection and acceptance marks. Only the barrel has proof marks. This particular gun is like the proverbial piece of TP stuck to your shoe - I just can't shake it off despite numerous attempts to sell it, even though it's pretty rare. I got it from Kris Gasior's collection a while back (DHS victim).

 

[somd_mustangs]

Chilean Contract of 1912

Here's one of the Chilean Contract guns. As I mentioned these are one of the rarest variants at only 5000 made, but one of the more plentiful as almost all of them were imported into the US. This gun escaped the importer markings so is pretty unusual in it's own right. I did manage to sell this one at only a minimal loss. Note the crest on the left front, and the Chilean Army markings on right rear slide. Inspector markings of a shield outline are in evidence on the small parts, frame, slide, etc. No military acceptance marks on right trigger guard. You can also see how much of a difference direct vs. indirect lighting makes when doing the photo thing... these are in direct light of course, and the previous pics are over-exposed, indirect light which tends to show more issues with the finish (thinning, bare metal, etc). The actual color of the bluing is somewhere in between.

 

[Smitch521]

That's really interesting

 

[Machodoc]

Wasn't familiar with them before I saw this ... thanks for the education! (Now I want one!)

 

[rockstarartist]

Let's get some pistols back in the rotation - here's one of the more awkward-looking pistols from days gone by, the Steyr-Hahn Model 1911/1912. This one was for the Romanian Contract in 1914 and still has the crest intact. Most were captured and had the crest scrubbed off. This guy is still in remarkable shape and is original finish, all-matching, non-import - which is pretty unusual for a S-H in general, let alone a Romanian. The recoil system was pretty interesting, the barrel actually rotates as the slide is propelled backwards. The slide cross-lock and recoil spring system is very similar to the early Colt (1900-1905) but unlike the Colt, the slide is beefed up considerably around the slot. As a whole, a very robust design. Chambered for 9x23 m/m Steyr, not exactly a common round nowadays. Barrel shows that even firing corrosive ammo a just few times can make a mess. This is from the "what was I thinking!" portion of the collection.

Beautiful Pistol. I love coming across these unknown to me historic pistols.

 

[embermage]

lol still got any of these you want to get rid of?

 

[AssMan]

Have a shooter grade 1912, refinished and mis-matched, that I bought many, many years ago for a pittance. Not even in the same league as the ones somd_mustangs has. Had to do some work to get it reliable (springs, FP and extractor) but it's not a bad shooter. Loads via stripper clips. Even have some Hirtenberger ammo for it.

I just bought one of these on GB and noticed that there is a "K" stamp on the slide, hammer, frame and lever. Yours has this as well. Any idea of the significance? Thanks.

Edit: never mind. I see that it's the 'K' (Kontroll) inspection stamp.

 

[MilsurpDan]

I just bought one of these on GB and noticed that there is a "K" stamp on the slide, hammer, frame and lever. Yours has this as well. Any idea of the significance? Thanks.

The "K" marking is one of the small parts proofs for the Steyr factory. You'll see them on most Austro-Hungarian arms made there, the Budapest factory used an "R" stamping instead.