Steyr SM12 Evaluate: Capturing a Basic in 6.5×55 Swede

Like a lightsaber, the Steyr SM12 is a sublime weapon from a extra civilized age. The hogsback walnut inventory with Bavarian cheekpiece, butterknife bolt deal with, and lightweight spiraling on the barrel — the telltale marks of cold-hammer forging — level to the rifle’s Previous-World origins. And if its pedigree had been ever unsure, that it sports activities a single set set off firing probably the most iconic of European big-game calibers — the 6.56×55 Swede — ought to settle the matter. The Steyr SM12 is old style.

It is available in three inventory configurations and is obtainable in lots of short-, long- and magnum-length calibers. For my cash, the Halfstock Normal model I examined is probably the most interesting, although the others have their charms. The complete-length “Fullstock” has aristocratic snob enchantment to spare and in “Mountain” trim the rifle is lithe and delicate.

Except for the inventory profiles, the opposite distinction between these trims is their size. The Normal rifles all have 22-inch barrels, whereas the Fullstock and Mountain model of the Steyr SM12 have 20-inch barrels. The Magnums include 25-inch tubes.

Steyr SM12 Halfstock Normal Options and Specs

See It

• Cartridges: 6.5×55 Swede (examined), 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Win., 7mm-08 Rem., .270 Win., and .30-06
• Barrel: 22 inch, cold-hammer cast, threaded ½-28, 1:7.9 twist
• Motion: Push-to-cock, 4-lug (two rows of two) bolt motion
• Capability: 4+1 removable field journal
• Inventory: European walnut with ebony tip
• End: Proprietary Mannox end
• Set off: Single set set off
• Set off pull: 1 pound, 11 ounces (4.8 ounces in “set” mode)
• Weight: 7 kilos, 9 ounces (measured)
• Size: 43 ¾ inches
• Worth: $3,499

Key Options

• Embodies basic European design components
• Push ahead set set off system
• Guide push-to-cock arming and security mechanism
• Two-stage journal for straightforward feeding of single rounds
• Motion rated to face up to 120,000 psi of stress with out injury

Evaluate Highlights

• Glorious craftsmanship
• Easy operation
• Nice ergonomics
• Conventional aesthetics
• Accuracy:  2.094 inches (Common of 40 5-shot teams with 7 several types of ammo)

Configuration As Examined

Greatest Performing Ammunition

One factor in regards to the 6.5×55 Swede is the relative shortage of manufacturing facility ammunition. I needed to scrounge to search out ammo from Nosler and Hornady. To get probably the most from this venerable cartridge you’re going to need to contemplate reloading. Not surprisingly, the most effective outcomes I had had been with ammo I made myself.

Brass	Bullet	Powder	Primer	OAL	Velocity	Accuracy
Hornady	136-grain Lapua Scenar	42.5 grains N555	Fed. 210	3.065 in.	2429 fps	1.358 inches (Common of 5 5-shot teams)
Nosler	140-grain Nosler RDF	42.0 grains H4350	Fed. 210M	3.025 in.	2624 fps	1.628 inches (Common of 4 5-shot teams)
Nosler	95-grain Hornady V-Max	42.0 grains StaBall Match	Fed. 210	2.900 in.	2913 fps	1.634 inches (Common of 4 5-shot teams)

Steyr SM12: Conventional Hunter

Excessive-tech searching rifles are the trend proper now — and have been for a few years. Hunters and shooters have an infinite fascination with rifles produced from light-weight supplies like carbon fiber, magnesium, aluminum, and titanium that make them simple to hold for mountain searching, in addition to rifles which might be optimized for hitting targets at distances that might have appeared not possible a technology in the past. I rely myself amongst those that are intrigued by these instruments.

The Steyr SM12 belongs to neither camp. It’s so out of fashion that for those who needed to connect one thing as newfangled as a bipod you would need to take away the entrance sling buckle that comes hooked up to the forend.

And reality be instructed, there isn’t a bipod made that might be at dwelling on the inventory. The Schnabel forend — tipped in wealthy, darkish ebony — is contoured for the human hand, not some synthetic help.

Fish Scale Checkering

To drive this level dwelling, the inventory is checkered with an efficient and enticing fish scale sample. There are laser-cut panels on both facet of the forend and on both facet of the grip. The grip is deeply radiused and completed with an ebony grip cap, inside which a metallic oval bearing the Steyr brand is completely inletted.

The grip additionally has a little bit of a palm swell on its proper facet, filling the shooter’s hand and putting the set off naturally underneath the index finger.

Enhancing the inventory’s unapologetically right-handed design is the raised cheekpiece that slants off the left facet of the buttstock. The cheekpiece is completed with three folds carved into the wooden and is lower within the Bavarian fashion, which curves on the entrance in order that its traces circulation into the grip and has a virtually straight drop on the rear.

The opposite sort of cheekpiece you’ll typically see on rifles with a hogsback comb is the German fashion, which is a raised oval.

Hogsback Comb vs. American Basic

The hogsback has a humped comb in distinction to the American Basic, which has a flat comb. A real hogsback provides the rifle vital drop on the butt to align the shooter’s eyes with iron sights, whereas the flat American Basic comb retains the shooter’s head positioned greater and is optimized to be used with scopes.

The Steyr SM12 is a bit sneaky on this regard. The rifle doesn’t include iron sights, until you get them organized particular. Figuring out that almost all of their clients are going to run an optic on the rifle, Steyr saved the drop to a minimal. The curve within the hogsback comb slopes up alongside 75 % of its size earlier than dropping for simply the final 25 %.

On this means the designers let the shooter have their cake and eat it too. The rifle maintains the normal look of an open-sighted rifle for pushed sport but positions the shooter’s head excessive sufficient to work with a scope.

The butt is fitted with a skinny rubber recoil pad that’s efficient and appears good. It’s joined to the inventory with a skinny spacer and exhibits a excessive degree of workmanship for a way effectively it’s fitted to the wooden.

With regards to beauty, nonetheless, the actual star of the present is the European walnut the inventory is produced from. The oil end on my pattern brings out the depth of the determine within the wooden. It has an enchantment that no artificial inventory, regardless of how expertly executed, can mimic.

The inventory is gorgeous on the within as effectively. The inletting is clear and exact. It has twin aluminum bedding pillars with a skinny, almost translucent, layer of bedding compound utilized evenly round them. This permits the inventory and motion to mate up in a constant and powerful method and is one other instance of the normal gun maker’s hand work that goes into the Steyr SM12.

Steyr SM12 Motion

European rifle makers place nice inventory within the {smooth} operation of their actions, extra so than uncooked accuracy. A lot of their searching tradition revolves round pushed sport, so the velocity with which a hunter can run a rifle trumps its capacity to print tiny teams.

How deftly a rifle handles is a mix of many components, together with inventory form, the sighting system it makes use of, the ergonomics of the protection, set off and bolt deal with, and the way the rifle balances between the fingers. However all these qualities are for naught if the motion has a heavy bolt raise or tends to bind and chatter within the receiver.

Full-Diameter Bolt

The bolt on the Steyr SM12 has two rows of two lugs which might be machined right into a full-diameter bolt physique. The coatings on the bolt and within the receiver are fairly slick. And since the bolt physique fills the raceway within the motion and is effectively supported by the quantity of fabric within the rear a part of the motion (from the again of the ejection port to the place the receiver ends) the bolt travels simply backwards and forwards.

I used to be unable to make the bolt bind or hesitate even when placing an exaggerated quantity of lateral stress on the bolt deal with when working the motion. After I put about 80 rounds by means of the rifle the bolt developed a minimal quantity of resistance from the collected fouling. After a spritz of gun solvent and a wipe with a rag, nonetheless, the motion was again to its glass-smooth self.

Guide Cocking System

Actions with handbook push-to-cock arming and security mechanisms are extra widespread in Europe than the U.S., although they’ve been slowly making headway with American hunters who’ve bought sure rifles from Sako, Blaser, Sauer, and Mauser.

The Steyr SM12 has a two-position tang-mounted toggle that sits naturally underneath the thumb of the set off hand and doesn’t take a lot drive to push ahead. When slid to the ahead, armed, place the cocking piece reveals a purple circle, indicated the rifle is ready to “fireplace.” Throughout the cocking piece is a button that when pushed decocks the rifle, returning it to its unique place, and uncovering a white circle to point “secure.”

The system is intuitive and simple to function. I had no points beginning with the rifle within the low prepared place and cocking it whereas bringing it as much as my shoulder. Likewise, returning the rifle to “secure” quickly turned second nature.

Working the Steyr SM12

The butterknife bolt deal with on the rifle isn’t significantly lengthy, however the way in which it’s formed, with a little bit of an outward bend on the finish, supplies ample buy and loads of leverage when opening the motion, extracting an empty, and chambering a contemporary cartridge.

Throughout the sensible portion of my analysis, I had no concern rapidly relieving the journal of its contents and making correct hits on metal plates at 100, 200, 300, and 430 yards. This can be a rifle that likes to be run quick and doesn’t really feel in any respect awkward or unwieldy when pushed arduous.

One element I actually like on the SM12 is the orientation and relative positioning of the lugs, extractor, and ejector. When the bolt deal with is lifted, and the bolt rotates out of battery, the lugs are positioned at 6 and 12 o’clock. This provides the decrease bolt lug loads of engagement to select up the highest spherical within the double-stack journal, which it did with out fail throughout my testing.

The extractor is located simply to the left of the highest lug within the 10:30 place, whereas the plunger ejector is lined up on the other facet of the bolt face at 4:30. This propels the brass up and out of the oval ejection port at a 45-degree angle in a optimistic and dependable method.

Bench Capturing: Set Set off and Two-Place Journal

I spent many hours with the rifle on the bench gathering accuracy information, which is detailed under. Two issues that make the Steyr SM12 a pleasure to shoot from the bench are its set set off and two-position journal.

Set triggers had been extremely in style again within the day. They work a pair other ways, both with a two-trigger setup the place one set off cocks the second set off, which takes little or no stress to launch, or with a single set off that’s pushed ahead to “set” it.  When set it wants solely a lightweight contact to journey it. This latter system is what the SM12 has.

The fascinating factor about these set triggers is that they don’t alter the quantity of effort required to launch the sear. As an alternative, the set off will get a literal spring-loaded working begin on the set off mechanism and slams into it with sufficient momentum to beat the sear engagement and fireplace the rifle.

When setting the set off on the Steyr, it strikes about 3/8 inches ahead earlier than clicking into place. It requires solely 4.8 ounces ounces of stress to fireplace the rifle this manner, in comparison with the 1 pound 11 ounces of the set off in its regular place.

To “unset” the set off with out taking pictures it you merely decock the rifle by miserable the button on the cocking piece.

The opposite function on the rifle that makes it bench pleasant is the two-position journal. When inserted absolutely the journal operates usually, however you may push the discharge tabs on both facet of the journal and decrease it by about 5mm (.19 inches) to a second setting. When on this place the bolt received’t choose up the highest spherical within the journal permitting you to single-load rounds as a substitute.

This can be a remnant from an previous army requirement the place a soldier would possibly have to load a distinct sort of ammo on the fly and doesn’t have any sensible software for the fashionable shooter apart from making single loading extra handy. It’s one other charming reminder of the rifle’s venerable design and heritage.

Granddaddy of Massive Sport Cartridges: 6.5×55 Swede

Talking of venerable, few cartridges can match the 6.5×55 Swede on the subject of O.G. standing. It was developed again in 1891 as a three way partnership between Sweden and Norway and formally entered service because the army spherical for each nations in 1894. Although its official title is the 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser, the agency Mauser had nothing to do with the creation of the cartridge.

I received’t delve too deeply into the historical past of the Swede apart from to notice that it has earned its stripes on the battlefield, in Olympic competitors and different high-level rifle matches, and has a sterling fame as a searching spherical, getting used for every part from moose to grumble.

With a monitor file like that you could perceive why 6.5×55 Swede followers get their lederhosen in a pretzel when heathens like me sing the praises of the upstart 6.5 Creedmoor and different stylish rounds based mostly on Trendy Cartridge Design.

Although the Steyr SM12 is obtainable within the 6.5 Creed and different newcomers just like the 7mm-08, .308 Win., and .270 (the .30/06 will get a cross as a result of although it was developed within the 20^th Century it’s a two-time World Battle champ) I used to be by no means tempted to check the rifle in something apart from the 6.5×55.

Swede vs. Creed

Prone to being canceled by the Worldwide Order of Saint Hubertus, I need to confess that the efficiency of my rifle possible suffered by going this route. Sorry, fellas, however the 6.5×55 Swede can’t do every part the 6.5 Creed can, even when I “do my half.”

The 6.5×55 Swede doesn’t have the identical diploma of inherent accuracy because the Creed and that confirmed throughout my accuracy testing. Even when utilizing meticulously crafted handloads with high-quality elements, the Swede isn’t on par with the Creed.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t some actually correct rifles on the market within the spherical. After all there are. And to be clear the efficiency I bought continues to be greater than satisfactory for searching at typical distances. However the place it’s tough to provide an inaccurate 6.5 Creed, an off-the-shelf Swede that shoots bug-hole teams is a rarity.

Steyr SM12 Accuracy

For manufacturing facility ammo, I used to be restricted to the three masses I might get my fingers on. These had been Nosler 140-grain Ballistic Ideas, Nosler 120-grain E-Ideas, and Hornady 140-grain SSTs. The 140-grain Ballistic suggestions turned in 5-shot teams that averaged 2.280 inches. The Hornady 140-grain SST teams had been about the identical, averaging 2.422 inches. The Nosler 120-grain E-Ideas opened as much as 2.639 inches on common.

By at present’s requirements, none of those outcomes are spectacular. All instructed I put 21 teams downrange with the manufacturing facility masses and picked up the brass to reload.

Reloading the 6.5×55 Swede

I chosen 4 completely different bullets for the reloads: two match bullets (Lapua 136-grain Scenar and Nosler 140-grain RDF), a big-game bullet (Nosler 140-grain Partition), and a varmint bullet (Hornady 95-grain V-Max). I used three sorts of powder (H4340, StaBall Match, and N555) and two primers (Federal 210s and Federal 210Ms).

Reloading information for the Swede is already gentle. The utmost SAMMI stress is 55,000 psi, whereas the 6.5 Creedmoor is rated for 62,000 psi. The explanation for that is the variety of older army actions that aren’t constructed to the identical degree as trendy rifle actions.

I picked cost weights that had been in the midst of the pack and shot a number of 5-shot teams, which I aggregated into 20-shot teams. I did this with Hornady’s shot-analysis software on their 4DOF app, which additionally calculates imply radius.

I disbursed powder on my SuperTrickler, which is without doubt one of the greatest powder throwers available on the market by way of its velocity, accuracy, and flexibility. All my powder costs had been inside +/- .02 grains of powder, which is roughly equal to a single kernel of H4350, Varget, H1000, N555 or comparable extruded powder.

I used a Redding Premium die set on my Redding T-7 turret press to resize, decap, prime and seat bullets.

Kind	Bullet	Powder	5-Shot Avg.	20-Shot Group	Imply Radius	Velocity	ES	SD
Handload	Nos. 140-gr RDF	42.0 gr. H4350	1.628 in.	1.94 in.	0.61 in.	2625 fps	23.5 fps	8.7 fps
Handload	Lap 136-gr Scn	42.5 gr. N555	1.358 in.	2.06 in.	0.53 in.	2428 fps	74.5 fps	24.5 fps
Handload	Hrn. 95-gr V-Max	42.0 gr. StaBall Match	1.539 in.	2.3 in.	0.50 in.	2913 fps	104 fps	22.9 fps
Manufacturing unit	Nos. 140-gr BT	n/a	2.280 in.	2.79 in.	0.93 in.	2526 fps	55.6 fps	16.4 fps
Manufacturing unit	Hrn. 140-gr SST	n/a	2.422 in.	3.30 in.	0.96 in.	2546 fps	66.8 fps	18.1 fps
Handload	Nos. 140-gr Half	41.5 gr. H4350	2.260 in.	3.37 in.	0.97 in.	2608 fps	44.2 fps	12.2 fps
Manufacturing unit	Nos. 120-gr ET	n/a	2.639 in.	4.00 in.	0.96 in.	2714 fps	76.8 fps	22.65 fps

A Notice On Outside Life’s Accuracy Knowledge

Should you’ve learn Outside Life firearms critiques earlier than you would possibly discover two additional information factors on this chart. One is a 20-shot group and the opposite is imply radius. Each are calculated by overlaying consecutive 5-shot teams and utilizing the group evaluation software in Hornady’s 4DOF app. The chart above is sorted by the 20-shot teams, from smallest to largest.

Within the greater than twenty years I’ve been at Outside Life, we’ve all the time used a five-shot protocol to explain accuracy, with a pair exceptions. (With some competitors rifles we’ve shot 10- or 20-shot teams, and with some dangerous-game rifles in heavy safari calibers we shot 3-shot teams.) This has been our commonplace and we’ve talked about its worth in distinction with three-shot teams.

Nevertheless, we’ve come to be taught that five-shot teams are too small to accurately confirm accuracy, and that 20-shot teams present extra statistically legitimate information.

This isn’t our opinion. That is based mostly on the details that underlie the science of statistical evaluation and it has been backed up by a mountain of real-world information that’s been gathered by the ballisticians at Hornady. If you wish to make a journey down that rabbit gap, begin with the podcast, “Your Teams Are Too Small.”

We’ve all the time prided ourselves on the standard of data we collect and disseminate. We don’t make excuses for the weapons. We don’t filter out “fliers.” And we shoot till we really feel like we’ve bought sufficient information to help what we write.

That stated, we’ve concluded that we’ve got extra work to do if we’re going to serve our readers to the most effective of our skills. It’s going to contain much more taking pictures and spending much more time crunching information. However we predict it’s definitely worth the effort.

What Is Imply Radius?

The concept of imply radius is straightforward and highly effective. It’s the common distance from the middle of your group that your photographs affect. The smaller the imply radius, the higher your firearm shoots. What’s significantly vital about it, in comparison with common group dimension, is that it’s a predictive software, reasonably than one which simply tells you what occurred — which is what group dimension does.

A gaggle simply data the unfold of the 2 worst photographs — these which might be farthest aside. That doesn’t inform you what would possibly occur sooner or later. Imply radius, alternatively provides you a mean that applies to subsequent photographs.

If that appears complicated or counterintuitive, consider it by way of muzzle velocity. Let’s say we file 20 photographs measuring muzzle velocity. The distinction between the 2 worst photographs — the quickest and slowest — is our excessive unfold, which is analogous to the intense unfold we use to outline group dimension. For argument’s sake, let’s say the common velocity of the 20 photographs is 3000 fps. And let’s say the slowest shot was 2800 fps and the quickest shot was 3200 fps. All the opposite 18 photographs had been inside a number of fps of 3000, giving us an general common of 3000 fps and a regular deviation (SD) of fifty fps.

Whereas the intense unfold (group dimension) on this instance is 400 fps, that doesn’t present any perception into what future photographs would possibly register. As an alternative, we have to flip to the SD, which is a calculation based mostly on all of the photographs. The SD is a predictive software (not only a historic file of what occurred) that we will use to anticipate the velocity of our bullets sooner or later.

Statistical evaluation tells us that about 68 % of our photographs will probably be inside one SD of our common (imply). Whereas 95 % will probably be inside two SDs of the imply. And 99 % will probably be inside three SDs.

Figuring out this, we will predict that greater than half our photographs will fall between 2950 fps and 3050 fps, whereas 19 out of 20 photographs will vary from 2900 to 3100 fps. The intense unfold instructed us nothing past what occurred as soon as.

Whereas imply radius isn’t precisely the identical as SD, like SD it has predictive worth.

Imply radius received’t supplant group dimension anytime quickly (if ever) for many shooters. However a savvy minority of set off pullers will begin to use it, whereas gathering bigger, extra related, pattern sizes with their taking pictures information.

My colleague Tyler Freel has an glorious story on imply radius that you must try for those who’re curious to be taught extra.  

Deciphering The Steyr SM12 Accuracy Knowledge

The three handloads on the high of the chart are all inside spitting distance of one another with respect to their precision, with the imply radius of the 95-grain Hornady V-Max edging out the others. I’d fortunately hold taking pictures any of them, however I plan to load one other batch of the 136 Lapua Scenars and 140 RDFs with H4350. I’d count on to see good SDs (word that whereas the teams with the 140 Partitions weren’t significantly good, the H4350 delivered constant velocities and SDs) and good imply radiuses.

I’ll additionally strive loading Hornady 143-grain ELD-X bullets. In an unique 6.5×55 Swede the 1:9 twist would do a marginal job stabilizing these bullets, however the Steyr has a quicker 1:7.9 that ought to do effectively.

Steyr SM12 Professionals and Cons

On the “professional” facet of the ledger, the Steyr SM12 is a superbly crafted firearm that blends glorious manufacturing processes with expert handwork. The tight and even metal-to-wood match alongside the barrel channel is an efficient instance. The hole on both facet is minute, however you may slide a bit of paper between the barrel and inventory and watch it glide unimpeded till it contacts the recoil lug.

Different execs embody the rifle’s reliability and good ergonomics. Options just like the set set off and two-stage journal are helpful with out being gimmicky.

As for cons, the large one is price. I see and recognize the complexity and craftsmanship that results in its $3,500 worth, however that’s nonetheless a heavy raise for many hunters. I additionally want the rifle had been extra correct. It isn’t a contest rifle and don’t count on that degree of precision, however I’d be a lot happier if I might discover (or load) ammunition that printed 20-shot teams round 1.5 inches or higher.

Ultimate Ideas on the Steyr SM12

This elegant rifle harkens to a bygone period. It’s designed for the one that prioritizes custom and who relishes the heat of walnut and metal over carbon fiber and polymer — even when that alternative prices efficiency. The SM12 continues to be a very succesful searching software, and I look ahead to taking mine afield this fall. And the truth that I’ve to work more durable to get probably the most out of it, frankly, appeals to me. It’s the distinction between rolling as much as the sting of an alfalfa subject at midnight to select off a cow elk at first gentle versus trekking into the mountains to find a solitary bull.

There’s nothing unsuitable with choosing the simple route every now and then, whether or not in your alternative of quarry or searching rifle, however there’s worth, too, in taking the trail that’s adopted by the few reasonably than the numerous.