Steyr LG100 FT

The last time I reviewed a Steyr FT rifle was in 2002, then it was the recently released LG100, the one with the wasp stripe woodwork and the now famous ‘barley sugar’ hammer forged barrel. A lot has changed in those 14-years, not least a string of wins and trophies in just about every FT competition at one time or another. The design has moved forwards too and I have the current factory offering, it will be interesting to see if I can spot the differences.

What’s changed?

There are any number of changes that have taken place! The first things that strike me are, the colour, with a bright silver chassis, and the barrel which appears to be longer than the original and the LG110 FT has put on a few pounds. It comes fitted with a brushed-silver, MEC Free Position butt hook. It adjusts in just about every direction you can think of and the kit even contains an additional link to make the hook longer. There is a full instruction booklet, which is well worth the study. The hook is mounted on an adjustable carrier plate that allows full vertical movement. The carrier moves left and right, as well as in and out of the stock, allowing you to alter the length of pull.

Moving forward, there’s a fully adjustable cheekpiece, which appears to be wood, with a satin black finish. It moves up/down, left/right and can be rotated away/towards your face. This matches the rear aluminum section of the stock, which is anodised matt black. Not much more you could ask for really and pretty par for the course in the latest FT rifle designs.

Get a grip!

The pistol grip is finished in satin black with stippling on the palm. A cap head screw underneath allows it to move forwards and back and to be rotated in either direction. Immediately in front is the trigger; the blade is curved but with a flat contact patch.

It can be mounted left or right on one of two separate rails, and moved up or down the post and rotated left or right. In short, it will adjust to suit everyone. In front is the hook-type guard.

Above all this, on the right, is the cocking lever with its familiar black plastic grip, and above that is the rear dovetail, which is part and parcel of the main chassis. It’s finished in satin silver with white etching on the right hand side only; this includes the words, “Steyr UK - Official Import”. Typically, the LG100 is a single shot with a nicely chamfered and generous loading port. Above the breech is the forward dovetail and immediately in front of that, the barrel.

The main chassis/forend shows an integral accessory rail for an adjustable hamster. It is not the prettiest thing, but it can be moved up/down and forward/back, all using the same sized Allen key; sensible, take note! You will be unsurprised to learn that there is an aluminum air tube. What may surprise you is that it is fitted with both a manometer and a probe type quick fill. Also supplied is a neat little double cone muzzle brake, finished with a matt black body and stainless steel cones. The finish throughout is excellent and of really high quality. The textures vary a little but that is nit picking in the extreme.

Make some noise.

I was very impressed with the comprehensive tool kit that comes with the rifle, in this instance I also have a spirit level included in the kit and a riser scope mount. The spirit level was installed using an additional small level across the breech opening to ensure everything was square, but I chose not to use the riser scope mounts as it is designed for Weaver mounts, which I don’t use, so conventional high mounts were used to hold a Leupold Competition just where I needed it!

Next job is to fill the cylinder with 200bar of air. Having used a probe filler before, I applied a tiny wipe of lube on the O-rings; this was supplied with another rifle for just this job, as any old mineral lube will not do due to the possibility of ignition. The probe slots in easily enough and the cylinder is soon filled.

The side lever works beautifully, leaving a huge amount of room to thumb a pellet into the barrel. When closing the breech there is a little click, which signifies that everything is locked shut. As I had hoped, the trigger is still a joy to use, a nice light first stage, which then bumps into a brick wall. Gently squeeze and the second stage breaks like glass. If the factory-set unit is not to your tastes, there are three screws that allow you to adjust first stage weight and length and second stage weight, so you can tune it to your heart’s content. Me, I like it as it is!

A little hot

An initial chrono session showed the LG110 to be a little on the hot side with Air Arms Fields, but a tweak of the adjuster, found at the back of the chassis just above the pistol grip, with the tool provided and things settled down nicely, with a 9 fps variation over a 20-shot string. A later test had that variation down to 6 fps.

The first session on the zero range produced some more than acceptable groups. Harry Preston, the UK Steyr importer suggested I try JSB pellets, which I did, along with Air Arms Field, RWS Super Field and H&N Sniper Light. This just proved that the LG110 FT is not particularity pellet fussy. Best groups at 50 yards were in the 12 to 15mm region for a 5-shot string, some were better, but the odd flyer would mess that up.

Sittin’, kneelin’, standin’

Obviously, the place any FT rifle needs to perform is on the course, so, off to the woods we go. It’s an excellent sitting rifle as I would expect, with all the weight down low it is just up to the shooter to find and hold the point of aim, and the target will fall.

Kneelers I found a little more difficult. I am sure that with time and familiarity getting the balance and fit right would help things no end. But I found things a little wobbly at first, with a good degree of weaving from side to side. I then lightened my hold on the hamster, letting it rest on my hand rather than gripping it and this made all the difference! All of a sudden the 45 yard knock up/down bunny on the zero range stopped losing paint off its face plate.

Standing was a bit more variable. At first, even in my hands the combination of a crisp 2nd stage trigger and an extremely fast firing cycle meant that targets under 30 yards had no chance. However, later on in the test I started struggling a bit and I started to see quite a bit of weaving going on. A further session was called for, and proved my initial assessment was correct. I think the above highlight the need to spend time getting the butt hook, cheek piece and hamster all in exactly the right place to fit you perfectly.

Conclusion

Steyr have certainly evolved the LG110. Some of the improvements are subtle, some blindingly obvious, but what has emerged is an extremely competent FT rifle. Cocking is very light; the trigger is of the highest standard of precision without a hint of creep or backlash. The combination of the muzzle brake and the stabiliser in the breech block means the LG110 is every bit as dead to shoot as its predecessor, so much so that I was able to watch pellets in flight from standing shots!

It is not a brilliantly well balanced rifle and can feel a little heavy at times, but a little bit of time spent getting it to fit pays dividends. The riser scope mount is an excellent add-on, but only if you wish to use Weaver mounts. The muzzle brake and bubble level are both nice touches, but the MEC butt hook is a real bonus addition. I can see why the Steyr is so popular, as it really works very well, straight from the box.