Steyr SSG 69 "green machine" picture thread (updated with new pics!)

[ghostie]

I recently had an opportunity to pick up a second green Steyr SSG 69. Something about these rifles, I just really dig these. The first one I bought is the one that is the darker colour of green. It is 1989 production and has the Schmidt & Bender 2.5-10x40. I am working on trying to get these 34mm Recknagel rings from Germany for that one so that I can mount a S&B 4-16x50 PMII on it. I am also working on getting an original sight hood for this one, and two more butt spacers which are a darker shiney black... just to get it looking as good as it can. The lighter (pale) coloured one is bone-stock and is 2004 production with all original parts including the Kahles ZFM 6x42. It is in totally brand new condition. Some pictures:

The case the new one came in:

All the SSG gear I have:

Interesting SSG marked cleaning kit:

The S&B scope is mounted forward because it has a somewhat longer eye relief:

Notice the way the older one is marked. 1989 production. Steyr Daimler Puch was split up just around this time.

With the classic gewehr of all time, the K98k:

 

[Clvland]

Very nice rifles! I have been considering one. Have you had any problems with the magazines?

 

[ghostie]

Very nice rifles! I have been considering one. Have you had any problems with the magazines?

The magazines are fine. You just have to make sure they are clean. When I got the first rifle. One of the mags was really dirty and another one was a bit dirty. They can fail to feed a round (if they are like that), but just keep them clean and they work fine. The 10 round mag in the one pic, I haven't used it that much. When I did use it, it worked fine, but it hasn't been to the range much.

 

[Brodie69]

Got any groups? Pretty nice collection you have there!

 

[Snowy Owl]

Naah ... !

Those are ugly, fragile and old technology rifles ... Anybody will tell you that those rifles are obsolete. Yeah, anybody but me !

Like the late Colonel Jeff Cooper used to say :"Well, I got mine".

My Steyr SSG PII (with sights) is currently the alpha long range rifle in my gun collection.

Welcome to the club and ... congratulations !

 

[Kayser Sose]

Nice collection.

 

[ghostie]

After about 4 and 1/2 months of waiting, I was able to get the 34mm Recknagel rings for the Steyr SSG 69. I also ordered some parts from Steyr in Austria through a very helpful guy in Ontario: Phil O'Dell from O'Dell Engineering. I can't say enough good things about Phil and his company. This is the guy who I bought the 2004 Steyr SSG 69 with Kahles ZFM package from, and now he has come through for me on my other Steyr project as well. Thanks Phil!

The idea was to keep the 2004 rifle bone-stock military issue style, but I wanted to try updating one of these with top notch modern optics to see what these rifles can really do off the bench when freed from the confines of 26mm rings and a 6x scope with T reticle. I have really been learning how to shoot my 6x Kahles ZFM, and I will post some 100 and 200 yard groups I've shot with it (that's as far as they have a my home range) - but I've been hanging around with Roger/Nemo/hippo too much... and I need to see how I can shoot when I don't have my equipment limitations to blame. Roger just bought a SIG SSG3000 out of Switzerland with a Hensoldt 6x, and was shooting about the same as what I can do with the Kahles 6x, so that made me feel a bit better! Those 6x military scope seem to be all about keeping a wide field of view, and keeping the design simple and rugged so that quick adjustments can be made to approximate distances... but when you go to a shooting range and shoot off a bench... it tends to get all about extreme precision in a hurry.

These are the 34mm Recknagel rings. They are almost comically large compared to the 26mm rings. You can get a Picatinny rail adapter for an SSG 69, but I'm not into stuff like that. I think a rifle should look as good as it shoots if possible.

And here is the finished product in all its glory. This is a S&B 4-16x50 PMII (which comes from sight sponsor Plain Sight Solutions, good guy to deal with). I did a lot of research on scopes before buying this - to make sure it would all fit together... including the height of the rings (they come in three different heights)... and it all does fit! (Thank God!) It is close with the iron sights, as my calculations told me it would be, but it all fits just nicely.

And here are the two beautiful Austrian siblings together again!

From this angle you really start to get a sense of how absolutely massive the S&B scope is compared to what militaries were issuing for their sharpshooter rifles in the 1960s and 70s (and they are about an equal measure smaller if you go back to WWII and the 50s, I would think).

I replaced the front sight hood on the 1989 rifle. You can see the porting here as well. While I would not likely be able to bring myself to port a classic rifle like this, and .308 doesn't need it anyway, I don't mind having it on there. I actually like it, and it does make a difference. The newer rifle with no porting tends to jump off the sandbag a bit. The ported one does not. I can show this in Youtube vids (the ones that are already up there) if I get around to it.

 

[tiriaq]

A friend has an SSG Match. Relatively few of these were made, not many imported. Has many accessories. ZF69 and ZF84 scopes, Walther diopter aperture sights. Cycolac and walnut stocks. Single and double set triggers. 5 and 10 round magazines. These were intended for European 300m competition.

 

[gadget]

Curious why you did not just contact the Canadian distributor for the Steyr parts?

gadget

 

[Satain]

WoW!

Now thatz a rig and a half!

ghostie please PM me next time you take this bad boy up to the range.

 

[ghostie]

Curious why you did not just contact the Canadian distributor for the Steyr parts?

gadget

Do you mean North Sylva? They are the official distributor for Canada. I have never tried to contact them directly, as I have heard many times that they do not sell retail so don't bother.

There is also Wolverine and all the other dealers in Canada, but I believe that is basically just dealing with North Sylva through a middle-man (Which is fine. That is how 99% of everything is done in retail).

Then there is O'dell Engineering. I've bought a Steyr rifle from them before, and I have bought OEM Steyr parts from them, some of which they carry in stock, when no one else I could find even knew what I was talking about. And they came through for me again on some very specialized parts on a rifle that is not really even made any more (this model anyway). It was an easy decision to go with O'dell. 4 to 4 and 1/2 months is not bad compared to what some people in this country wait for stuff they special order.

 

[ghostie]

ghostie please PM me next time you take this bad boy up to the range.

I will be there on Saturday afternoon (28th). Roger is going to be helping me get it sighted in correctly - and if you see me there... bring some some factory .308 and fire a few rounds!

 

[Snowy Owl]

Do you mean North Sylva? They are the official distributor for Canada. I have never tried to contact them directly, as I have heard many times that they do not sell retail so don't bother.

There is also Wolverine and all the other dealers in Canada, but I believe that is basically just dealing with North Sylva through a middle-man (Which is fine. That is how 99% of everything is done in retail).

Then there is O'dell Engineering. I've bought a Steyr rifle from them before, and I have bought OEM Steyr parts from them, some of which they carry in stock, when no one else I could find even knew what I was talking about. And they came through for me again on some very specialized parts on a rifle that is not really even made any more (this model anyway). It was an easy decision to go with O'dell. 4 to 4 and 1/2 months is not bad compared to what some people in this country wait for stuff they special order.

I too have been dealing with O'Dell Engineering and their customer service is excellent - to say the least. A few days ago, I bought some more Steyr Mannlicher SSG parts from them and - how strange ! - Recknagel mounts.
Phil was most helpful all the way.

Trying to go the other way to get Steyr SSG rifles or parts is not even worth it. I know : I did try - for one year and through more than one dealer.

 

[odelleng]

Ghostie & Snowy Owl;

It remains a pleasure to deal with you guys and to "talk guns" in person or by email anytime. I also appreciate your kind words. Let me add a few notes of my own for everyone else:

North Sylva is still the Steyr distributor for Canada. They are a full time importer and wholesaler of guns and related volume items. If you are an Anshutz or Feinwerkbau owner you really do appreciate these guys for keeping those lines alive in Canada. They have to turn a profit daily and a lot of our stuff would never ever be considered "profitable" by an accountant.

That said what we are talking about here are some very exotic, low volume, and just plain old (okay Ann Margret old - still smokin' hot IMHO!) guns and parts. We got into Steyr when we were approached by the factory directly some years ago (I was a sales guy with Diemaco and having done enough shoot offs with Erwin we had become good friends as well as tough competitors) to handle warranty work, Military/LE and special orders. At the time Bob Nicholls was the main importer, now taken over by North Sylva. We continue to have a very good relationship with both North Sylva and the factory and we have a healthy supply of older gun parts in stock as well with my background I am very fortunate to be able to ask their engineers directly for help when I need it.

Our customers actually are global, within ITAR and UN restrictions we sell our parts literally around the world, so it you have to know there isn't a lot of business in Canada to justify a North Sylva sinking the dough we can into this because, for us, it really is as much a labour of love as a business. (Yes I am really lucky to be in that position!)

So if you need something weird for the old Schoenoers, SSGs, S/M/L/SLs, the big girls (50s), or the ###y AUGs and it is marked Steyr "etc." or hangs on a Steyr host please give us a call. If it is a current SBS , Pro Hunter, etc. your local gun guys should be able to get help from Dom and the guys at N.S. If you are in doubt feel free to contact me here or offline and I will try to put you to the right place.

Again, to Ghostie and Snowy Owl, its a pleasure to know you guys and we are privileged to help with your projects. Ghostie I do have some 10 rounders for the SSG in stock and info is coming to you direct.

Thanks all.

Phil O'Dell

 

[ghostie]

Thanks Phil! I look forward to seeing some of the other rilfes you are planning to bring in.

I said I was going to post some targets...so I'll do that now. Please keep in mind that these are just a sample of some shooting I did with these rifles, and is not the product of developing the optimal load, and then showing only the very best of the results. This is just some general reloads and some factory ammunition. Also keep in mind that I am not an experienced precision rifle shooter. I only started anything remotely like this last October. Before that the most "precision" rifles were .223 carbines: a Swiss Arms 14.3" and a 14.5" AR-15 (or Steyr Scout in .308 with a fixed 2.5x, now that I think of it).

Starting with this rifle, the 2004 production rifle with the 6x Kahles scope, shot off a sandbag on a bench like this:

Keep in mind the reticle is a very old-school design from the 1960s and 70s -
very similar to what the Germans used as far back as WWII! When combined with only 6x power, it takes some getting used to - and, although I believe you can learn to shoot it well, it will never compete with more modern optics for accuracy.

When I first started taking it out. I was shooting like this. This is at 100 yards. Nothing special:

Then I started figuring out how to adjust the scope fully (!!). Sad that I didn't realize that right away, but... I was trying to pick the centres of these circles at 100 yards, and doing an "o.k." job I think:

With some practice I was able put up 1" groups at 100 yards with very good regularity...but found it very hard to do any better than that:

I tried some at 200 yards as well. I found that I really had to struggle/concentrate to keep the "triangle" point of the reticle on my desired point of impact (the middle of the circle... and those circles look a lot smaller out there at 200 yards through a 6x scope than some of you might imagine!) ... and it shows... although the second group here is really decent in my view:

O.k., now switching over to the big 16x scope on the 1989 produced rifle. The tightening up is immediately obvious. This is one of the very first times I shot this set-up for grouping on the first day I took it out (and was still working on adjusting the rings!)... and it printed as 1/2 MOA at 100 yards with factory match ammo right away:

Shooting a few more 100 yards groups the second day I had it out to the range:

This one was was Hornady 168gr. A-max factory. Point of impact was a bit higher than my reloads:

Then I tried putting some groups together on 200 yards. I was starting to run out of ammo for the day, so I don't have that many groups to show. These first two are from when I was trying to sight the rifle in to be able to drop shots into the middle of the outline of a pill bottle (which is 1 and 5/8" across) at 200 yards. By by the third attempt I was able to do it. Not bad, huh? Keep in mind I have never shot groups at 200 yards -except with these two rifles over the last two months.

So, what can be learned from all this. Not much, except that it seems that these rifles have all kinds of accuracy potential... and that with more practice and working up some better reloads, I see no reason why I can't get ragged hole groups at 200 yards and beyond with the16x scope.

Even with very little experience, and a limited amount of time shooting these rifles... it seems that it was pretty easy to shoot 1 MOA with the 6x scope, and closer to 1/2 MOA with the 16x scope.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Ghostie,

Not bad for an "old technology" factory rifle without any modifications or tuning. Not bad at all ! I guess that the best has yet to come. I have seen the capability of the SSG (PI) once : 6" at 600 yards, no bench, no sandbag, no sling, no bipod, prone on a small berm, 5 shots. Impressive.

It took me an eternity to make up my mind about a scope for my SSG PII and I have finally chosen a US Optics scope (SN-3 1.8-10X) with some whistles and bells - and now I wait patiently.

As long as Phil is in business, all is well. Thank you, Phil !

 

[Vimy Ridge]

Okay I really like those.

 

[Dosing]

These are the 34mm Recknagel rings.

This is a S&B 4-16x50 PMII (which

Nice choices, I love the Recknagel catalogue, its great to see the quality products you can still find out there. And nice choice of glass, very elegant looking piece.

 

[SRSA311]

I have been fortunate to know Phil and his family for a number of years now. All round good guy with a ton of knowledge.
SRSA311

 

[Leg]

Beautiful rifles, very envious.

Wish they made a SSG 69 PI with a 20" barrel, would make a great all round tactical/hunting rig.