Most gun enthusiasts will know that the Swiss-made B&T MP9 rotary barrel sub-machine gun was developed by Steyr-Mannlicher and manufactured in Austria from 1992 to 2001 as the Steyr TMP; but that’s just scratching the surface. Things between Steyr and the rotary barrel go way back – to the early 20^th Century, to be more precise.

A LOT OF FIRSTS

At the turn of the 20^th Century, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a centuries-old, declining global power, but a major power nonetheless; a status that it would formally retain until its defeat in World War I and its subsequent dissolution.

As such, it retained a massive military that strived to remain equipped with the latest, cutting-edge technology. In 1898, the Austro-Hungarian army had adopted a new sidearm in the form of the Mod.1898 Rast & Gasser revolver. It was chambered for a proprietary 8mm Gasser rimmed cartridge. Despite fairly modern (for the time) features such as an eight-round cylinder and a double-action trigger, the Rast & Gasser retained other characteristics, including an Abadie gate-loading system and an ejector rod, that made it obsolete right from the very get go.

And this, at a time when designers worldwide were already experimenting with increasingly reliable semi-automatic pistols that were seeing limited military adoption by the militaries of smaller countries and, in certain cases, by specialized troops and the navies of major powers, the Mauser C.96 was ordered by the Turkish Army, the Italian Navy, and saw success in China, while the Luger pistol first entered service in Switzerland, then with the Imperial Navy in Germany, a foreshadowing of the full-scale adoption that was to come.

Little did those countries know, the Habsburg empire would outrun them all, and with a domestic design nonetheless, the brainchild of Karel Krnka.

Born in Bohemia (which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and would now be in the Czech Republic), Karel Krnka followed in the footsteps of his father Sylvester, who had designed the breech-loading conversion for the 1857 Six-Line musket used by the Russian Empire. Early in his career, he designed a few ill-fated breech-loading, straight-pull, and bolt-action rifles. In the late 19^th Century, after a stint in England, he started working on handguns under the patronage of Georg Roth, owner of one of the biggest ammunition manufacturing companies in the empire.

Some years earlier, another handgun designer by the name of Wasa Theodorovic had worked under the patronage of Roth, coming up with a series of pistol prototypes, aptly dubbed the Roth-Theodorovic, that the company had not been able to successfully pitch. Karel Krnka extensively reworked the original Theodorovic design into various prototypes, adding or removing features as the development phase went by. Among other things, Krnka did without an external hammer and any manual safety of sorts, briefly experimenting with a grip safety before settling on a peculiar striker-fired trigger system that looks very familiar today.

The final iteration of the pistol, now known as the Roth-Krnka, was submitted to the Austro-Hungarian military in 1906 and officially adopted in 1907, hence the official denomination “Repetierpistole M.7” for “Model 1907 repeating pistol”. The Austro-Hungarian government acquired all rights and appointed the two major firearm manufacturers of the Empire to produce it broad numbers for the entire military, with cavalry units being designed as early adopters due to the specific features that made the Repetierpistole M.7 ideal for cavalry units.

The biggest manufacturer was, of course, OWG (a.k.a. Steyr), which further refined the project from an industrial point of view, adapting it to broad-scale manufacturing. It produced approximately 60,000 samples, which is why the pistol is today known as “Roth-Steyr”. However, the FEMARU Fegyvergyár Részvénytársaság of Budapest (later known as FÉG) was also in the game, manufacturing about 30,000 samples from 1907 until the end of World War I.

Just like that, Austria-Hungary had beaten all major powers in adopting a semi-automatic pistol as the standard service sidearm for its armed forces.

FAMILIAR FEATURES

The Repetierpistole M.7 is a hefty piece of machined steel, with a very long, sliding bolt assembly entirely enclosed in the frame. Locking is achieved by two cams machined on the barrel itself, which engage two slots within the front of the bolt assembly that wraps around the barrel.

As the pistol is fired, the barrel moves with the bolt for approximately 13 mm (½-inch) until a set of two front cams integral to its cylindrical body engage with a corresponding set of helical guides machined into the barrel bushing, blocking its rearward movement. This disengages the barrel from the bolt body and forces it to rotate 90-degrees clockwise while the bolt assembly completes its rearward movement, ejecting a spent case and picking a new round from the magazine and feeding it to the chamber as it is pushed back to the locked position by the return spring.

The Repetierpistole M.7 is a striker-fired pistol, with a trigger that can be described as half-way between a single and double action. When the plunger (which hosts the striker) at the rear of the pistol’s body is pulled back and released, the rear portion of the striker’s body protrudes from the end cap to signal the cocking status; but the striker is actually only half-cocked. As pressure is applied to the trigger, the sear pushes the striker all the way back to a fully armed position until it disengages it, allowing the striker to spring down and hit the chambered round.

Should the round fail to fire, the striker must be manually cocked by pulling again on the plunger; a built-in safety intercept system prevents the striker from reaching the primer and igniting the round if the gun is fired when out of battery. When all ammunition is spent, the bolt assembly locks back to the open position; once the Repetierpistole M.7 is reloaded, it’s brought back to the locked position by pushing on a slide stop tab located above the grip.

What we are looking at, here, is essentially not only the first semi-automatic pistol to be adopted by a major military, and not only the world’s first rotary barrel pistol, but also the first “Safe Action” pistol. Glock’s signature trigger goes back a long way, but its roots are traced back to Austria. The trigger system was one of the reasons why the Roth-Steyr design was considered to be particularly adequate to the needs of cavalry units; the gun simply can’t fire by accident and features a hold-open device for one-handed operation.

The grip of the Repetierpistole M.7 is one with the frame, features wood panels, and double as the pistol’s magazine, which is loaded from the top via the ejection port using stripper clips. The M.7 held ten rounds of a proprietary .32 caliber (dubbed 8mm Steyr or, more accurately, 8×19mm Roth-Steyr). Slightly more powerful than 32 ACP, it was originally made available to the Austro-Hungarian military by its own ordnance factories in a 113-grain load with greased, unplated steel-jacketed bullets, although some private suppliers, including Georg Roth’s own factory, did manufacture cupro-nickel jacketed loads.

Regardless, all ammunition for the M.7 came pre-loaded in a stripper clip with a plunger to assist loading and prevent mishaps that could cause rounds to be ejected uncontrollably under the pressure of the follower springs. The stripper clips were packaged individually, and the M.7 featured a tab located above the grip that could be pushed when the bolt was locked in the open position to unload the magazine by, you guessed it, just ejecting the rounds from the top window.

FORGED IN FIRE

The service history of the Repetierpistole M.7 is inextricably tied to the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the pistol had its baptism of fire on the cruel battlefields of World War I. Outside of a small batch of German-produced Sauer variants of the design sold on the civilian market starting in 1900, in fact, the Roth-Steyr Model 1907 failed all military bids outside of Austria-Hungary, including two separate pitches to the militaries of the U.K. and the U.S., where it was unsuccessfully offered in a .45 caliber variant.

As the fortunes of war turned against the Central Empires, the number of M.7s in service quickly turned out to be insufficient. Starting in 1912, the Austro-Hungarian military had been complementing it with the Repetierpistole M.12, a.k.a. the Model 1912 Steyr Hahn, a hammer-fired, stripper-clip fed pistol that was easier to manufacture and more powerful than the Roth-Steyr, being chambered in 9×23mm Steyr and 9mm Luger.

Nevertheless, the Habsburg Empire’s need for handguns during the war ended up vastly outpacing the local industry capabilities; like their counterparts in the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian troops had to resort to the “Behelfpistole” (“Necessity pistols”), often privately equipping themselves with commercial handguns chambered in a myriad of different calibers. As the defeated Empire collapsed and disintegrated after World War I, a myriad of new independent states were born where it once stood. These states, including the Austrian republic, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, ended up inheriting vast quantities of Repetierpistole M.7s and all fielded them before and (in small numbers) during World War II.

Austria’s arch-enemy Italy ended up capturing swathes of Roth-Steyr pistols during World War I and received many more as reparations; those guns were retained in service as rear-echelon sidearms for decades, so much so that Italy’s biggest ammunition manufacturer, Fiocchi, produced vast quantities of jacketed 8mm Roth-Steyr ammunition. The 1920s and 1930s saw those guns issued to Askari units with the Italian colonial troops in Africa, and in the final chaotic months of World War II, the Italian fascist troops that remained loyal to Mussolini and to the Germans fielded them in the last desperate attempts to stop the Allied offensive across the country.

That was the swan song of the Roth-Steyr Repetierpistole Model of 1907. Today, a small (but not small enough to make them rare) number of these survive on the civilian collector market in Europe and the United States. Their conditions may vary, but those that are still in good condition can return decent results at the range. Among other companies, Fiocchi still manufactures an 8mm Roth-Steyr load with Boxer primers and 113-grain FMJ bullets, developing approximately 329 fps of muzzle velocity and 290-foot pounds of muzzle energy, considered safe for these old timers.

However, if well kept, the Roth-Steyr Repetierpistole M.7 can reasonably be tested with original ammunition. I remember such a case from early on in my career when I worked for the historical (and now defunct) Italian gun magazine “Diana Armi” in the early 2000s. My colleagues and firearm collectors Roberto Allara and Oscar Groppo fortuitously came into possession of ten 8mm Roth-Steyr rounds (marked “GR” (for Georg Roth!) and manufactured in 1910) that were recovered by a friend in the woods of northern Italy, the location of many bloody gunfights between fascist troops and partisans in the final months of World War II.

Once each round was inspected for lack of corrosion and painstakingly restored, and, fighting back the protests of antique ammunition collectors who wanted to prevent such a waste, the two colleagues brought a third party on board who happened to own a Roth-Steyr M-1907 pistol. Two attempts to use the original stripper clip failed, but third time is always a charm… and there they went, on a 15-meter range, putting nine rounds out of ten on target, progressively getting closer to the bullseye. That’s what you get from a 100-year-old pistol and 100-year-old ammunition… if you’re brave enough.

The things we do for science…

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Elite Iron Introduces New Extreme Duty Suppressors

The demand for high performance weapons systems is spawning a whole new generation of advanced armament solutions for today’s elite military, law enforcement and discerning civilian marksmen. To meet the challenge, Elite Iron, a high end custom weapons systems and sound suppressor manufacturer in Potomac, Montana, has announced the development of three new extreme duty suppressors. The Bravo SD, Sierra SD and the SEAR, all three over-the-barrel mounted suppressors configured to reduce the overall length of the weapons, are now available for purchase from Elite Iron or any one of their many dealers. Based on real world input, the Elite Iron Bravo SD sound suppressor has been designed for shooters who need significantly reduced sound pressure and increased accuracy for a more compact .30 caliber rifle configuration. The SD stands for Special Deployment for good reason as the Bravo SD adds only 6 inches to the overall length of a rifle because of the unique over-the-barrel design. The matching muzzle brake allows for a 2-point contact that provides more stable barrel dynamics. The Bravo SD tube is made of 304 stainless steel. Internal parts are CNC-machined from solid 17/4PH stainless steel billets and are 100% TIG welded for added strength. The suppressor weighs only 26 ounces and has an overall length of 10 inches and diameter of 1.625 inches. The Bravo SD notably lowers the sound pressure level by 34-35 db. The Sierra SD was created for .338 Lapua chambered rifles and has the same built-in toughness, structural integrity, and increased accuracy as the Bravo SD. The Sierra SD weighs just 30 ounces, is 12 inches long, and has an exterior diameter of 1.625 inches. The 2-point contact (with matching muzzle brake) and over-the-barrel design, only adds 7.75 inches to the overall length of the weapon. Using the muzzle brake only also reduces recoil significantly for both the Bravo SD and Sierra SD. Sierra SD sound pressure level reduction is an impressive 33 db. The SEAR (Special Engagement Assault Rifle) suppressor is custom built to a host weapon supplied by a client or provided Elite Iron. The SEAR is also an over-the-barrel design for rifles from .22 to .30 caliber that require maximum sound level suppression. The .30 caliber version weighs 30 ounces, is 13 inches long, 1.625 inches in diameter, and reduces sound pressure level by 35 db. For critical shooting scenarios, the over-the-barrel Bravo SD, Sierra SD, and SEAR offer excellent sound signature reduction, increased accuracy and shorter overall rifle length. For more information please contact them at Elite Iron LLC, Dept. SAR, 1345 Thunders Trail, Building D, Potomac, MT 59823. Phone: (406) 244-0234. Fax: (406) 244-0135. They can be found on the web at www.eliteiron.com.

Steyr Announces Long Range SSG 08 in .338 Lapua Magnum

Steyr Arms has substantially upped the ante on its extraordinary long-range tactical rifle, the SSG 08, with the introduction of a brand new adaptation chambered in the ultimate long-range tactical round, the .338 Lapua Magnum. The rifles are currently in route to the U.S. and will be available this summer. Introduced to the American long-range shooting market in 2009, the SSG 08 was designed to the specifications of Austria’s EKO COBRA anti-terrorism unit. The SSG 08 is based on Steyr’s unique Safe Bolt System (SBS) action, which is bedded in a high-grade aluminum stock and mated to Steyr’s direct trigger, legendary for its crisp, clean and repeatable break. The skeletonized stock includes a UIT rail along the length of the fore end, a built-in bipod post, multiple mounting points for user-customized Picatinny rail combinations and a fully enclosed detachable-box magazine. The butt of the stock folds for transport and features an adjustable cheek piece, an adjustable butt plate, and an integrated, finely adjustable rear-elevation pod. The cold-hammer-forged barrel measures 27.17 inches to maximize the potential of the .338 cartridge, and its 1:9 twist rate will stabilize bullets up to and including the increasingly popular 300-gr. HPBT Secnar projectile. The action, magazines and stock were lengthened to accommodate the dimensions of the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge. Due to the SSG 08’s extreme accuracy potential and ability to maintain supersonic speeds at distances in excess of 1,500 meters with the .338 Lapua chambering, a 20-MOA declination scope base will also be included to make use of your favorite long-range optic. The .338 Lapua Magnum version of the SSG 08 also includes a newly designed heavy-duty bipod. The suggested retail price is $6,795. For more information contact Steyr Arms, Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 840, Trussville, AL 35173. Phone: (205) 467-6544. Fax: (205) 467-3015. Website: www.steyrarms.com.

Barrett Now Has Improved REC7 Rifle in .223

Barrett, a company world known for providing high-end firearms, optics, ammunition and training, announces the newest improvements and additions to the respected REC7 piston-operated rifle line. The REC7 rifle continues to impress with its enhanced reliability, accuracy and durability. Barrett continues to expand this product line by adding the popular 5.56 NATO chambering cartridge to the lineup. Many improvements have been made to the REC7 line, with many new enhancements included. The most visual changes are the Daniel Defense free-float rail system and Magpul MOE six-position stock. The Barrett Enhanced Piston-specific Bolt is made from 9310 steel and is nickel-Teflon coated. Along with the new extractor, these features increase durability. Each bolt is proofed and magnetic-particle tested to guarantee reliable performance. Machined from 8620 steel, the nickel-Teflon coated anti-tilt bolt carrier features an integral piston strike face. The patented chrome-lined, forward venting, fluted gas block increases reliability by eliminating carbon buildup in the gas cylinder. The 17-4 stainless piston is the strongest on the market, and is easily accessed for cleaning without removing the handguard. The two-position (suppressed/unsuppressed), nitride finish gas plug is corrosion-resistant and easily manipulated with gloves. The gas block acts as an extended rail, providing ample space for mounting optics and accessories. The REC7 rifle’s forged 7075 aluminum upper and lower receivers are type 3 hardcoat anodized. The lower houses a dependable Mil-Spec single-stage trigger. The Magpul enhanced trigger guard allows easy access to the trigger in cold weather or with tactical gloves. The upper supports a free-floating, 16-inch hammer-forged, chrome-lined barrel with M4 feed ramps machined into both the receiver and the barrel extension. Each barrel is proofed and magnetic-particle tested for quality assurance. A Mil-Spec A2 flash hider protects the muzzle. The REC7 rifles now include two 30-round magazines – either Magpul PMAG 5.56 NATO or Barrett 6.8, three rail covers and tactical soft case. A right-hand, single-point Burnsed sling loop is angled for charging handle clearance. You can get more information by contacting Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc., Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 1077, Murfreesboro, TN 37133. Phone: (615) 896-2938. Fax: (435) 856-1040. Website: www.barrettrifles.com

Pelican Introduces New LED Lantern

Pelican Products has introduced the rugged 9410 LED Lantern as their most powerful hand held lighting tool ever. Engineered with an array of four next-generation LEDs, the 9410 LED Lantern shines a smoke-cutting 710 lumens/43,200 candela peak beam intensity. The 9410 LED Lantern offers three illumination modes (high, low and flashing) with a water-resistant electronic switch that toggles between modes at the push of a button. The switch also features an integrated battery level indicator that illuminates when the lantern is on – green (more than 75%) – amber (Between 75% and 25%) – red (25% and lower). Powered by the latest in Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable battery technology, it boasts nearly two hours of run time (4 hours and 45 minutes on low mode). Designed to stand on end, the lantern array can be rotated 120 degrees transforming it into an area work light. The 9410 LED also features a sure-grip, all-weather handle and an extra large space to accommodate gloved hands. Rated IPX4 water-resistant, the lantern has an incredibly tough polymer construction that will stand up to just about any abuse that comes along. It weighs in at a mere 3 pounds (with batteries) and features a quick-release nylon safety strap that prevents entanglement. In order to ensure a secure attachment, the 9410 LED Lantern and charger base are rated NFPA 1901 for use on fire apparatuses. With an MSRP of $399.95, the lantern is available in black and safety yellow. Like all Pelican hand held lighting tools, the 9410 LED Lantern is backed by the company’s Lifetime Guarantee of Excellence. Please contact them at Pelican Products Inc., Dept. SAR, 23215 Early Avenue, Torrance, CA 90505. Phone: (310) 326-4700. Fax: (310) 326-6047. On the web at www.pelican.com.

Hoppe’s New Bore Snake Viper Offers Increased Cleaning

Hoppe’s new Bore Snake Viper takes the world’s fastest gun bore cleaner and makes it even better. The Bore Snake Viper utilizes the same one-pass pull-through technology and compact storage size of the original Bore Snake with the addition of an extra cleaning brush for a total of three, providing 50% more cleaning power. The Bore Snake Viper has a cone shaped bore guide on the leading end to allow for easy insertion into your gun’s bore. The pull cord on the Bore Snake Viper is attached directly to the brushes for superior strength. The area to apply lubricant on the Bore Snake is clearly marked in bright orange. The new Bore Snake Viper is available to fit .22-.30 caliber rifles, 9mm-.45 caliber handguns and 12 gauge shotguns. For more information please contact Hoppe’s Products, Bushnell Outdoor Products, Dept. SAR, 9200 Cody Street, Overland Park, KS 66214. Phone: (913) 752-3400. Fax: (913) 752-3539. Please visit their website: www.bushnellperformanceoptics.com.