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| Rogak P-18, Steyr GB | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Semi-automatic pistol |
| Place of origin |  Austria |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1968 |
| Manufacturer | LES, Inc., Steyr Mannlicher |
| Produced | 1970s, 1981—1988 |
| Number built | 2,300 LES, Inc., 15,000—20,000 Steyr |
| Variants | Rogak (stainless steel), Steyr commercial and military (matte blue) |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 845 g (unloaded) 1285 g (loaded) |
| Length | 216 mm |
| Barrel length | 136 mm |
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| Cartridge | 9x19mm Parabellum |
| Action | Gas-delayed blowback |
| Feed system | 18-round detachable box magazine |
The Steyr GB, is a double-action 9x19mm Parabellum caliber, large-framed semi-automatic pistol. The GB uses a gas-delayed blowback action and has a magazine capacity of 18 rounds. It was designed starting in 1968 as a replacement for older handguns in Austrian military service, and went into general civil production in 1982, though approximately 2,300 copies were made in the late 1970s in Morton Grove, Illinois by LES Incorporated, and marketed as the Rogak P-18.[1][2]
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Development
In the early 1970s, Morris and Michael Rogak, a Steyr importer, received a set of preliminary engineering plans for the Steyr Pi-18 pistol, and set up a manufacturing facility in Illinois to produce the new pistol. While the Rogak, with its 18 shot capacity (the highest available at the time) and stainless steel construction, was revolutionary on the market, it was plagued with reliability problems due to poor manufacturing tolerances. Steyr took legal action to halt its production, and in 1980 finalized and introduced their own GB, made in blued steel but otherwise similar, to the world market.[2]
The Steyr GB was briefly widely touted as the ultimate Wonder Nine high capacity 9 mm pistol, but its popularity was cut short when the then-brand new Glock 17 pistol by new-to-firearms-manufacturing firm Glock won a testing competition for the Austrian Army service pistol order. It was also a competitor for the US military pistol competition ultimately won by the Beretta M92F.
Commentary from US firearms testers and writers indicated that the GB had remarkably low recoil for a pistol of its caliber and it was generally well liked in testing, but the lack of government orders meant that total production was only a reputed 15,000 to 20,000 pistols between 1981 and 1988. Most were commercial models, 937 examples of the military version were imported into the US before production ceased.[1]
Trivia
Charlie Sheen's character in "The Rookie" with Clint Eastwood used this pistol in the dog-scene bar room brawl.
References
- ^ a b S. P. Fjestad. Blue Book of Gun Values, 13th Ed..
- ^ a b Gene Gangarosa, Jr.. "Steyr's GB; Too Good Too Soon?".
