Review: The Steyr M9-A2 MF Pistol

The Steyr M9-A2 MF is the latest iteration of one of the most advanced polymer-framed combat handguns in the world. Sporting innovative design, peerless reliability, and flawless execution, the M9-A2 MF is a simply magnificent piece of iron. It may be the best tactical pistol you’ve potentially never heard of. There are some fascinating reasons for that.

Foundations

Not meaning to disparage the dead, but everyone I ever knew who actually met Gaston Glock said he was not a very nice person. An engineering savant and a truly exceptional businessman, Herr Glock was, lamentably, not the most personable lad. However, that guy could build a proper gun.

Glock’s company originally produced stuff like machine gun links and combat knives for the Austrian armed forces. Along the way, he began dabbling in the burgeoning field of high-strength, injection-molded polymers. The story goes that Gaston was wandering the halls of some government building and overheard a conversation between two Austrian Army officers discussing the program to replace their aging WWII-vintage P38 pistols. His curiosity piqued, Glock researched the parameters of the solicitation and set out to learn about handguns.

Apparently, Glock wasn’t really a gun guy, but he was way smart. He purchased examples of all the major combat pistols of the era and tore them down to pins and springs to learn their mechanical secrets. He also interviewed folks who were really into guns to ascertain what the ideal combat pistol should look like. At the end of the day, however, he came to the table with a blank sheet of paper. In so doing, he captured lightning in a bottle.

The resulting GLOCK 17 was so named as it was Glock’s 17th patent. Featuring a radically advanced striker-fired trigger system and utterly utilitarian lines, the GLOCK pistol was the Kalashnikov of the combat handgun world. That thing will shoot underwater or in outer space. You just can’t kill it.

Those early GLOCKs only had 34 parts. They were also cheap to make en masse. The square slides were cut from forged stock, and the injection molded frames could be churned out for pennies once the expensive molds were perfected.

Inspiration

The HK VP70 actually pioneered the striker-fired, polymer-framed handgun. However, the trigger sucked so bad that this revolutionary gun crashed and burned commercially. The VP70 saw service on the big screen as the standard issue pistol for the U.S. Colonial Marines in the epic sci-fi opus Aliens, but nobody else wanted them. Glock’s pistol fixed all that.

No kidding. Gaston did quite well for himself. I was heading into the SHOT Show via an Uber one year with the rest of the peons and passed by the airport. There was a big white corporate jet with “GLOCK” stenciled across the tail parked next to the fence. For a time, 65% of the cops in America packed GLOCKs. Thugs love them, as do countless hundreds of thousands of law-abiding American shooters. The GLOCK is the combat pistol of the modern age.

The Interloper

Steyr had to market their gun in the shadow of all that. Both companies hailed from Austria, and everybody everywhere already spoke GLOCK. Steyr cemented its reputation arming the Nazis during WWII, and the AUG is a household name. However, they had a long row to hoe to break into the modern combat pistol market.
Steyr’s effort was the M9. Introduced in 1999, the M9 sports an aggressively raked GLOCK-style grip-to-frame angle, a steel 17-round box magazine, and scads of innovative bells and whistles. The gun has evolved through four generations as well as both compact and long-slide versions. Steyr has offered the pistol in 9mm, .40 S&W and .357 SIG, though the .357 SIG and .40 S&W versions have apparently been discontinued.

There is some common DNA to all these guns. For starters, the M designation comes from the gun’s weirdly unique sighting system. They describe it as a trapezoid. The front sight is a white triangle, while the rear is a pair of angled lines that run parallel to the edges of the triangle. If you squint just so and use a little imagination, the end result looks a bit like an “M,” hence the name. The end result is easily acquired and no-snag.

The gun has scads of safety systems. There is the obligatory tab safety in the trigger face. However, unlike that of a GLOCK, this tab is wide, flat, and comfortable. Pressing that button automatically deactivates both the internal firing pin and drop safeties. First-generation guns all came with a separate manual safety, but this was offered solely as an option for subsequent variants.

There is a key lock safety that deactivates the gun and locks the slide. In civilian examples, there is a special key that ships with the weapon. Cop versions used a standard handcuff key, which was cool. Use it if you want; don’t if you don’t. The option is there.

The chamber is fully supported, and there are three different loaded chamber indicators. The state of the gun can be assessed by sight or by feel in any condition. The takedown drill is unique but easily mastered. Like the GLOCK, the trigger must be pressed to strip the gun.

Steyr describes the trigger as a double action-only Trigger Reset System with a pre-set mechanism. I can’t tell its personality much apart from other striker-fired designs. However, trigger travel is just stupid short at around 4mm, and the pull weight is slightly north of 5 lbs.

The Latest & Greatest

Steyr introduced the fourth-generation M9-A2 MF in 2019. The pistol is offered in long, medium, and compact sizes. It reflects the current state of the art in modern service handguns.

The original designers of the M9, Friedrich Aigner and Wilhelm Bubits, actually secured the first patent for a modular handgun. While SIG has built a veritable empire around the concept, Steyr was the first. However, prior to the fourth-generation guns, the M9’s fire control module was not removable. The frame itself yet remains the serialized part.

The latest M9 variants include a full-length Picatinny rail and interchangeable grip panels. I made mine a bit fatter on the right and thinner on the left. That is what best accommodates my big monkey mitts.

Trigger Time

The M9-A2 MF offers about the lowest bore axis of any conventional combat pistol. Recoil is readily managed, and follow-up shots are both fast and precise. The short trigger reset lends itself to rapid fire if that’s your thing.

The weird sights are an acquired taste, but I like them. The gun fits me nicely and shoots both straight and well. An aggressively flared magwell and optimized controls make magazine changes lightning fast. This really is a superlative combat pistol.

I bought my M9-A2 MF on sale through Palmetto State Armory at a great price. If you haven’t signed up for the PSA weekly sales emails, you are leaving some superb deals on the table. The Steyr M9-A2 MF looks like a sci-fi prop and runs like a scalded ape. When compared to its more popular cousin, it is arguably the better gun.

For more info: Steyr-Arms.com

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