Thinking of buying a Steyr Hunting 5 Automatic Scout? Here is everything I learned after 12,000 + shots that I think you should know.
My opinion of this gun is in comparison to the other PCP rifles I've owned. They are:
Aesthetics 3/ 5
This is a subjective topic, but the Steyr is a generic looking gun to me. In my opinion it looks better than bullpups or any rifle with a bottle on the end of it, but lacks the timeless rifle looks of the Air Arms S400/500 series, Daystate Huntsman/Regal, or even FX Streamline. The wood on most of the Steyr rifles I’ve seen lacks much character, but I am very pleased with the grain and character of the wood on my gun.
Fit 1/ 5
The mechanical parts of the gun are engineered to very tight tolerances. The stippling on the grip is very nice and the stock in general fits together quite well. However, I have a small gripe about the fit of the rifle and a couple big ones.
First, the minor issue:
The buttpad is not quite flush with the bottom of the stock. I’ve looked closely at several Steyr pictures and it seems to me that they all are this way. It took me a month to notice this so it isn’t a big issue.
Big Issues:
The first big issue I had with the rifle in stock configuration was the positioning of the trigger. The trigger is positioned so that the pad of the second knuckle of the trigger finger must be used to fire the rifle. I much prefer to use the pad of the end of my finger because it is so much more touch sensitive. The trigger is adjustable and can be moved forward and tilted left or right, but the adjustment range is just too small. An Anschutz Sensitive trigger shoe was the solution to this problem and allows the shooter to fully customize where the trigger feels most comfortable.
Anschutz Sensitive Trigger Shoe
The next big issue with fit is the indexing of the magazines to the barrel. Pellets are fired directly from the magazine and through the barrel so this alignment is critical. The barrel is aligned with the barrel using 2 grub screws. When misaligned, the 5th shot of most shot strings is shot with a significantly slower velocity than the 4 previous shots. My gun came to me slightly misaligned.
Notice how the velocity drops noticeably at shot 5, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35. This is an indication that the alignment of the magazine is off. Once fixed, the rifle had a tendency to work itself out of alignment after 20 shots or so. The use of loctite on the magazine set screw has proven to be a longer term fix.
With both big issues fixed, I’d give my current rifle configuration a 4 out of 5 for fit. Unfortunately, the final rating needs to reflect the gun I was sent.
Finish: 4 / 5
The finish of the rifle is very well done. Everything is even and most everything looks quality. The lone exception of quality again appears to be the butt pad. It is adjustable up and down with the turn of a screw, but the pad slides through a plastic groove that seems cheap in comparison to the rest of the rifle.
Loading and Firing: 4 / 5
The magazines are made to precise tolerances and are easy to load and insert into the rifle. The magazines only have a 5 shot capacity so that the pellets are not at risk of falling out when inserted in the rifle. 5 shots can go by quickly with a semi-automatic rifle. The gun stays on point of aim very well which makes follow-up shots ready almost instantaneously. Rapid firing is especially fun.
The magazine design has three great benefits:
My opinion of this gun is in comparison to the other PCP rifles I've owned. They are:
Aesthetics 3/ 5
This is a subjective topic, but the Steyr is a generic looking gun to me. In my opinion it looks better than bullpups or any rifle with a bottle on the end of it, but lacks the timeless rifle looks of the Air Arms S400/500 series, Daystate Huntsman/Regal, or even FX Streamline. The wood on most of the Steyr rifles I’ve seen lacks much character, but I am very pleased with the grain and character of the wood on my gun.
Fit 1/ 5
The mechanical parts of the gun are engineered to very tight tolerances. The stippling on the grip is very nice and the stock in general fits together quite well. However, I have a small gripe about the fit of the rifle and a couple big ones.
First, the minor issue:
The buttpad is not quite flush with the bottom of the stock. I’ve looked closely at several Steyr pictures and it seems to me that they all are this way. It took me a month to notice this so it isn’t a big issue.
Big Issues:
The first big issue I had with the rifle in stock configuration was the positioning of the trigger. The trigger is positioned so that the pad of the second knuckle of the trigger finger must be used to fire the rifle. I much prefer to use the pad of the end of my finger because it is so much more touch sensitive. The trigger is adjustable and can be moved forward and tilted left or right, but the adjustment range is just too small. An Anschutz Sensitive trigger shoe was the solution to this problem and allows the shooter to fully customize where the trigger feels most comfortable.
The next big issue with fit is the indexing of the magazines to the barrel. Pellets are fired directly from the magazine and through the barrel so this alignment is critical. The barrel is aligned with the barrel using 2 grub screws. When misaligned, the 5th shot of most shot strings is shot with a significantly slower velocity than the 4 previous shots. My gun came to me slightly misaligned.
Notice how the velocity drops noticeably at shot 5, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35. This is an indication that the alignment of the magazine is off. Once fixed, the rifle had a tendency to work itself out of alignment after 20 shots or so. The use of loctite on the magazine set screw has proven to be a longer term fix.
With both big issues fixed, I’d give my current rifle configuration a 4 out of 5 for fit. Unfortunately, the final rating needs to reflect the gun I was sent.
Finish: 4 / 5
The finish of the rifle is very well done. Everything is even and most everything looks quality. The lone exception of quality again appears to be the butt pad. It is adjustable up and down with the turn of a screw, but the pad slides through a plastic groove that seems cheap in comparison to the rest of the rifle.
Loading and Firing: 4 / 5
The magazines are made to precise tolerances and are easy to load and insert into the rifle. The magazines only have a 5 shot capacity so that the pellets are not at risk of falling out when inserted in the rifle. 5 shots can go by quickly with a semi-automatic rifle. The gun stays on point of aim very well which makes follow-up shots ready almost instantaneously. Rapid firing is especially fun.
The magazine design has three great benefits:
By pressing the pellets into the magazine, you are in effect sizing all the pellets. I believe this is a large reason why pellets that simply fall into the magazines are less accurate than ones that require a little press with the thumb to seat into the magazine. The magazines naturally force all the pellets to be sized perfectly.
Once the pellets are in the magazine, they are very easy to inspect. Bent skirts and knicks on the pellet heads are much more obvious once inside the magazine. Simply push the bad pellet out with the tip of a ballpoint pen and replace it.
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3. Since the pellets are shot directly from the magazine and are not indexed into the barrel first, the gun can be fully unloaded simply by removing the magazine. I really enjoy this feature. I can’t count the number of times I’ve prepared to take a shot and the critter flees to safety. With the Steyr, I am not stuck with a gun that has a pellet lodged in its barrel. All I need to do to make the gun safe is remove the magazine.
The first stage pull weight is easy to adjust, but the second stage trigger pull weight is a bit heavier than I’d like for target shooting . According to Steyr, the trigger weight can be reduced to break at about 8 oz. I don’t have a really reliable way to weigh the trigger pull, but my makeshift luggage scale shows the trigger break at about 17 oz. This is a hunting rifle after all, and not a target gun, so I understand how a slightly heavier trigger is a safer trigger. Still, I’d prefer the trigger to be in the 2 to 6 oz. range since I still do most of my shooting at paper. Turns out, lightening the second stage trigger is an easy 5 minute job if you have the correct sized spring. You need a spring that is 3.0 - 3.5mm in outside diameter and that is 8 to 10mm long. The following video shows the process:
https://youtu.be/LnLejlrxnoc
Sound
The rifle is not shrouded and has a bit more bark than some other .22 caliber rifles I’ve shot. However, with a decent sound suppressor, the rifle is definitely backyard friendly. The sound of the pellet hitting the target is the only noticeable sound to bystanders out past 25 yards.
The action of the rifle makes a unique clink sound when fired that is reminiscent of the handle of a spoon hitting the counter after being set down. The sound is most obvious to the shooter and becomes much more subtle to people nearby. It is unnoticeable from 25 yards away.
Adjustability: 3 / 5
As a model of rifle that has been around awhile, the Steyr was not designed to be easily adjustable like many current models such as the FX Impact. A choke can easily be added to lower the power of the 40J version down to 24J and up the shot count significantly at the same time. When shooting collared doves around my house I actually prefer a lower powered rifle so that the pellet is less likely to ricochet though the animal and cause property damage. The Belleville washers in the regulator can also be flipped to lower the reg pressure and in conjunction with an even smaller choke get the gun below 12 FPE. If interested, watch the video I put together on how to adjust the power linked below:
Regulator adjustment and addition of a choke:
https://youtu.be/dEyas8lwfoo
Hammer Spring Adjustment:
https://youtu.be/W6poaz5u_u8
Consistency: 2 / 5
The regulator is different than other regulators I’ve seen and used. It is not mounted inside the air reservoir. Rather, the air reservoir is screwed into the regulator. The design is very clean and clever. The gun is very easy to disassemble as a result. The problem with the regulator is that it seems to struggle to do its job of creating a consistent shot string with a low standard deviation. Below is a typical shot string:
While the shot string is clearly more consistent (flat) than an unregulated rifle, the deviation between shots is poor. The effects of this deviation are difficult to see out to 50 yards. The poor regulation of the rifle does open up group sizes at 100 yards, though. 4 of 5 shots will be under an inch center-to-center but a 5th shot will often be 2 inches low because of a drop in velocity.
Deviation between shots get worse if the gun is fired as fast as possible. It handles a shot every half second just fine, but trying to fire all 5 shots in a magazine in 1 second pushes the regulator past its limits.
Accuracy: 5 / 5
Here is where the Steyr really shines. It is very accurate out to 100 yards. I am able to get groups on par with and often better than good .25 caliber rifles. At 100 yards, 5 shot group sizes average 1.68 inches ctc but are frequently sub MOA with unsorted pellets straight from the tin. I believe it would shoot sub MOA all the time if the consistency with shot velocity problem was solved. I weigh accuracy as the most important factor of any gun and the accuracy of this gun trumps all other irritations.
The gun is not pellet picky and shoots many pellets well. I tested 32 different pellets and 4 different NSA slugs through the barrel. As the following table shows, there are many good options for low powered pellets out to 25 yards. For higher distance shooting I recommend the 16 grain Air Arms Field and the 13.43 grain JSB RS pellets. Both provide outstanding accuracy between 50-100 yards. Groups open up to about 8 inches at 200 yards with the Air Arms pellet.
I’ve tried a variety of slugs through the barrel at 50 yards. The slugs fall into (and out of) the magazine very easily and do not group as well as the preferred pellets. Here is a comparison of the JSB Monster vs. NSA 21 grain slugs at 30 yards.
Refill: 2 / 5
I’m not a fan of fill probes and don’t often purchase rifles with them. When I do, I try to change them out to a foster fill. The Steyr has perhaps the worst fill probe I’ve ever come across. The probe fits at a wonky angle when pressed into the reservoir opening. The fit is not smooth and the probe must be pushed pretty hard to make it seat all the way in. When the gun is not being filled, there is a plug that fits into the hole to keep dirt out. I’ve seen much more clever designs such as on the Edgun Leshiy where the hole is covered by a rotating ring after the fill.
Alternatively, the gun air reservoir can be unscrewed from the gun and attached to an adapter on the fill bottle to be filled. I prefer the “quick fill” method of using the probe, but would like to see the filling procedure of the gun updated to a foster fill.
Reliability: 4 / 5
I must admit to not owning my rifle long enough to give a fair rating on reliability. However, I’ve yet to hear of an issue with the Steyr breaking down. Steyr purposely uses extra high wearing o-rings to improve the reliability of seals on the gun. If they are effective, than it is money well spent by Steyr and other companies should follow suit. The 2 year original owner warranty is nice protection from getting a lemon.
I deducted a point on reliability for the magazine indexing issue. The rifle had a tendency to wiggle itself unadjusted over time and require reindexing. Loctite on the magazine set screw solved the problem for me, however, I have heard others on the forums claim that the barrel needs cleaned frequently or the gun will lose its accuracy. I suspect that the magazine indexing issue is the real culprit for the loss of accuracy. In order to clean the barrel, two allen key screws need to be removed from the barrel and the barrel slid out of the action. Once reinstalled, the magazines are reindexed to the barrel. I believe that it is the reindexing of the magazine to the barrel that fixes the accuracy issue and not the cleaning of the barrel. I’ve found no loss in accuracy over 10,000 shots fired and have never cleaned the barrel. Here is a video showing the process of indexing the magazine to the barrel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJO6OhXww1w
If reliability ever becomes an issue, the rifle comes with a take-down diagram and part number/descriptions. O-ring sizes are included in the descriptions. I don’t think I’ll buy another gun from a company that doesn’t provide this information.
Ease of Maintenance: 5/5
This is the easiest gun I’ve ever had to take apart. The regulator is located outside the reservoir so adjustments to it can be made without emptying the air from the gun. The reservoir itself can be unscrewed from the rifle while full and screwed back in at will. Adjusting the trigger pull and location is easier than any other gun I’ve had. The barrel is held on by two nice quality set screws and is a 1 minute job to remove. There is no need to clean the barrel to maintain accuracy and there are no external parts that need lubed. The extra high quality o-rings are likely to extend the life of the seals. Well done, Steyr!
Summary and Overall Impression:
Pro:
Outstanding accuracy
Semi-auto is a hoot.
Safe: The gun can be unloaded as pellets are fired directly from the magazine.
Action is engineered very well.
Reliable
Easiest rifle to maintain
Con:
One of the most expensive PCPs.
Magazine alignment can cause consistency issues.
Regulator consistency is worst I’ve run across in a PCP.
Heavy trigger pull not suited for target shooting.
Trigger position requires aftermarket trigger to be purchased to solve.
Outdated fill method.
No straightforward velocity adjustment.
Consider Buying if:
Super accurate semi-automatic fun is worth the premium cost of the gun.
You are looking for a great hunting rifle.
You enjoy plinking. This gun is capable of a lot of trick shots.
Avoid if:
You are looking for a target rifle. The barrel is as accurate as a 25m benchrest rifle, but the heavy trigger pull and erratic regulator makes other target oriented guns more suitable.
