(GunReports.com) — Steyr Arms has announced the U.S. availability of the new $560 full-size L-A1 service pistol.
Introduced last year at the IWA Outdoor Classics Show in Nuremburg, Germany, the L-A1 pistol has a full-length slide, 4.5-inch cold-hammer-forged barrel, and 17-round magazine capacity for its 9x19mm Luger chambering and 12 rounds for .40 S&W and .357 SIG versions.
The new L-A1 is nearly identical in form and function to other handguns in the Steyr line. The L-A1’s full-size polymer frame offers a high grip that places the barrel axis lower in the hand to mitigate muzzle rise.
The L-A1 also incorporates a newly designed loaded-chamber indicator that sits flush in the rear of the slide when the chamber is empty and is raised slightly when the chamber is loaded for a visual and tactile indicator of the firearm’s condition. Also new on the L-A1 is a reversible magazine release.
The drift-adjustable sights are in the Steyr’s trapezoidal configuration, and a Picatinny rail on the frame’s dust cover provides a mounting position for illumination and laser-aiming devices.
The integrated trigger safety within the recently redesigned Reset Action System trigger requires positive finger pressure to operate the L-A1’s double-action-only mechanism. This striker-fired pistol also incorporates a keyed safety lock. The barrel has conventional rifling, and the chamber is fully supported.
