The Steyr Monobloc is a new breed of hunting rifle with a single-piece barrelled action, European contours and unique features which will appeal to the connoisseur of fine firearms. This rifle has a most intriguing feature: the barrel and receiver are made in one piece. Steyr reasons that this will create a more rigid and accurate firearm, and the results of our testing indicate this is true.

The Monobloc is also a modular rifle and Steyr implies you can switch calibres: one bolt and one stock and one trigger suffice for different bolt heads, magazines and barrelled actions. However, as the serial number applies to the entire barrelled action, Steyr’s suggestion isn’t valid under Australian registration laws.

Instead, what you have is a rifle whose appearance can be highly customised with different stocks, inlays and other components. The Monobloc offers a degree of modularity. All the leather inlays can be swapped for different coloured ones: sand, orange, brown and black. Even stocks can be replaced for a change in colour: black, green, brown and an off white; several grades of walnut have also been introduced. Not unexpectedly, groups all gave a good indication that this rifle was an Austrian tack-driver.

Big Red W’s Match load shooting the 150gn MatchKing bullet provided the smallest group of .629”, but the 168gn Super Suppressed ran it close with .730. This is a special load, optimised for rifles equipped with suppressors and engineered for noise reduction, decreased fouling in suppressors and reduced recoil. Winchester’s simon-pure hunting loads also surprised: Deer Season 150gn Copper Extreme Point, a mono-metal bullet with a large plastic tip and hollow nose cavity designed to accelerate expansion and deliver maximum lethal effect on deer, averaged just under an inch; and Super-X 180gn Power Points averaged .930.