Steyr GB
[6] The Barnitzke system uses gas pressure from the ignited cartridge and feeds it through a small port in the barrel in front of the chamber to retard the rearward motion of the slide.[9] The GB was designed as a full-size military sidearm with the goal of replacing the ageing Walther P38 and Colt P11 from the army stocks, as well as the Belgian FN M35 used by Austrian police.[10] The original design introduced numerous novel features never before combined in a handgun: double-action mechanism (without safety); a gas-bleed delayed-blowback system; fixed barrel (that theoretically yields greater accuracy); polygonal rifling; and a reduced number of working parts.During the development phase, the pistol was given the working designation "Pi 18", meant to refer to the magazine capacity of 18 rounds, which was above average for a handgun in the 1970s.Its trigger guard was altered to a more jagged look, with redesigned controls such as safety and slide release, as well as a Sterling-style crinkle-finish on the pistol frame.Rogak was either overwhelmed and/or unwilling to adequately follow the correct dimensions and/or get the required materials to make a product comparable to the original Austrian "Pi 18".After releasing to a strongly negative reception, Steyr came to realize that Rogak P-18 would harm their GB, which they were eyeing to launch in the American market.[3] Well-known secret services were also interested in the GB, including the Ministry for State Security of the DDR, which procured around 100 pieces from the USA.[15] While much appreciated by users trained in and familiar with the weapon, and well received by customers who understood the mechanism, which was intended to result in a robust, accurate, reliable, and functional weapon when used with standard military (full metal jacket) ammunition, the anticipated civilian sales remained low while major official (police) sales never materialized: between the American military's selection of the Beretta 92F, coupled with European military and police forces' selection of the competing SIG-Sauer (P226 full-size and P228 compact high-capacity pistols—the latter adopted by the US Army as the M11) led to a cessation of manufacture of the Steyr GB in November 25, 1988 after a total production of between 15,000 and 20,000 pistols—most of them commercial models.