Steyr SSG

The SSG 69 (''Scharfschützengewehr 69'', literally Sharpshooter Rifle 69) is a bolt-action sniper rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher that serves as the standard sniper rifle for the Austrian Army.

Adopted in 1969 (hence the designation), it was ahead of its time with the use of synthetics and cold hammer-forged barrels for durability. Aside from being the Austrian Army's standard issue sniper rifle, it is also used by several law enforcement organizations. It is extremely accurate and several international competitions have been won using an SSG-69 with accuracy being sub 0.15 mrad (0.5 moa).

There are several variants made with mostly cosmetic differences, the only anomaly being the SSG-PIV using a 409 mm barrel with a 1:250 mm (1:10 inches) twist designed to handle heavy subsonic ammunition in conjunction with a suppressor.

The bolt action uses rear-locking lugs (in common with the SMLE), rather than the more common front-locking lugs. This, and the fact that it is only produced in the 'short action' length, limits the chambering to non-magnum calibres, a legacy of a military weapon designed only to fire the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. It is essentially a target/police/military weapon, but with its caliber and inherent accuracy, it lends itself to hunting that requires longer distance shots.

The standard detachable magazine features a 5-round rotary design that fits flush with the stock, although a 10-round staggered box is available as an accessory. Both are transparent-backed, immediately showing remaining capacity. Even though spool magazines are unusual in military rifles, Steyr-Mannlicher produced Mannlicher–Schönauer rifles with one from early 1900s until 1972.

The Austrian military combined the SSG 69 with the Kahles ZF 69 6×42 telescopic sight as optical sight for their snipers. Later the similar Kahles ZF 84 10×42 telescopic sight was also offered. These optical sights on customer request can feature a Bullet Drop Compensating (BDC) elevation turret tuned for the ballistic trajectory of a particular gun-cartridge combination with a predefined projectile weight/type, muzzle velocity and air density at ranges. The Austrian military ZF 69 sights BDC was calibrated from in increments up to and increments from upwards with 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition.

In 2015 Steyr ended production of the SSG 69.

Users

* : Used by the Argentine Army.Jones, Richard D. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010''. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). .
* : In use by the Austrian Army and EKO Cobra.
* Gander, Terry J.; Hogg, Ian V. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 1995/1996''. Jane's Information Group; 21 edition (May 1995). .
* : Limited use in Sino-Vietnamese War.
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* : Used by the BSF ,ITBP and COBRA(CRPF).
* : Used by the Indonesian Army.
* : Garda Emergency Response Unit
* : Used by YAMAM in 1980s.
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* : Used by Republic of Korea Marine Corps
* : Marine Corps
* : Used by the Pakistan Army.
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* : In use with BORTAC (United States Border Patrol).

Gallery

File:Steyr SSG69.jpg, The SSG 69 with Kahles ZF 69 6×42 telescopic sight as issued to the Austrian military.
File:Steyr ssg 69 verschluss.jpg, The SSG 69 bolt-action.
File:Steyr SSG 69 PII.jpg, The SSG 69 PII heavy barrel variant.
File:Steyr SSG 69 PIV.jpg, The SSG 69 PIV silenced variant.

See also

* GOL Sniper Magnum
* SSG 82
* Steyr HS .50
* Steyr Scout
* Remington Model 700
* M24 Sniper Weapon System

References

External links

Steyr Mannlicher official page

Steyr SSG 69 manual



{{Steyr Mannlicher

7.62×51mm NATO rifles
Bolt-action rifles
Police weapons
Sniper rifles of Austria
Rotary magazine firearms