mebiuspower
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The rifle is still heavily being used in all current middle east conflicts...
Steyr SSG question
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You have a nice rifle,enjoy!
I too have one of these delightful "relics". If I were 20 and rich I might be able to shoot it enough to need a new barrel, but , alas, I am old and far from rich. I would be most interested in hearing details about fitting the Syria bottom metal and how it works for you. The plastic mags can be a pain to get in and out of the rifle for my old hands.
I too have one of these delightful "relics". If I were 20 and rich I might be able to shoot it enough to need a new barrel, but , alas, I am old and far from rich. I would be most interested in hearing details about fitting the Syria bottom metal and how it works for you. The plastic mags can be a pain to get in and out of the rifle for my old hands.
The original P1 is still a rifle for young hands as well. The m24 is several pounds heavier and the AIW (308) is more than 50% heavier than the SSG 'Pl' .... not a big deal until you add all the other weight a soldier carries ... add that to the thin air of mountain operations and the Steyr looks pretty good. And if the worst case you are giving up 1/4 to 1/2 MOA against an AI. (which I doubt is that much in most practical situations)... big deal.
r34skyline
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The ai is less susceptible to extreme shifts in weather conditions and has a more reliable magazine system. On top of the superior accuracy.
But you are correct in certain conditions the lighter weight ssg69 would definitely be the superior option. Personally the ssg69 with the 16 inch barrel imo is still the best option for police snipers
The styria bottom is very well done, although quite heavy piece of kit. Fit and finish is very good, function once installed was flawless.
Installation instructions are very brief. But good enough. The only trick was that there are bunch of metal spacers with the kit, they are supposed to go under the front action screw such that you can finely regulate the distance between the inserted mag and the bolt face. If you don't use any it might be the case that the bolt will jam against the magazine lips especially if you apply upward pressure to the magazine bottom by holding or resting you rifle on the mag. It does not happen all the time as I understand, but with my stock it was the case. Putting washers I mean these spacers in fixed it once and for all, so it was functioning perfectly.
However if you are removing bottom metal from the stock, they will suddenly fall off, cause you totally forgot about them )
Other than that styria bottom metal is a flawless piece.
Knives are heavily used in countless conflicts between people all around the world. Has nothing to do with amazing abilities of the blades, but rather accessibility of them, don't you think?
Anyway SSG 69 is a decent rifle, but apart from mystique, emotions and legends it does not compete with current offerings. The bolt is neither smooth, mine in fact was quite gritty, no exceptionally well done, bolt disassembly is hard, reassembly is hell, tooling marks are apparent inside the action, bolt face can rust very rapidly without even seeing any elements, safety is very stiff, base stock is very outdated plastic, base magazine and bottom plastic is just horrid.
mebiuspower
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mebiuspower
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If you watch this video
Of course the SSG has another distinctive feature which facilitates this sort of mounting arrangement and that is a long barrel tenon to engage a similarly long section of receiver. I presume this is done to better secure the barrel from being driven off under pressure from the fired cartridge and also to provide a very solid 'joint' . In fact this is also different from the other Steyr Mannlicher rifles (M,L,S, SL) designed with rear locking lugs which have a much shorter tenon and whose barrels are threaded into the receiver. Apparently some talented gunsmiths/machinists have machined the SSG action to accept a standard threaded shank barrel. Although it begs the question: does this result in as capable a rifle?
Owned several Steyr-Mannlichers, shot with at least 1/2 dozen owned by other people, fondled some more, and NEVER, not once, I have I ever seen or heard of a complaint about gritty actions and/or tool marks (poor manufacturing). Until now, that is.
Agreed ... in fact, if anything, the 4 Steyr's I own are probably the slickest actions of any of the rifles I own. Certainly no unusual tool marks evident. But not arguing that the plastic stuff couldnt be better executed. Although -- it is one of the reasons that the Steyr manages it weight very well!
Yup, it's true. We went to the Steyr factory to collect our twenty SSG69, and watched it all happen. The action is heated and the barrel is cooled - one inserted very quickly into the other, and voilá!
In mitigation, the .308Win/7.62x51 barrels DO last a long time. The day before I left the Army, I took one off the rack to our unit range [100m] and duplicated the factory test group of just under 20mm/5 with Hirtenberger 150gr factory stuff. It was quite a moment, as I'd actually seen it fired for grouping back in 1980.
According to the log, that particular rifle had had over 12,000 rounds down it.
Apart from the bendy stock - by today's standards - and the horrendous price of magazines, I'd have one of my own in a heartbeat.
tac
In mitigation, the .308Win/7.62x51 barrels DO last a long time. The day before I left the Army, I took one off the rack to our unit range [100m] and duplicated the factory test group of just under 20mm/5 with Hirtenberger 150gr factory stuff. It was quite a moment, as I'd actually seen it fired for grouping back in 1980.
According to the log, that particular rifle had had over 12,000 rounds down it.
Apart from the bendy stock - by today's standards - and the horrendous price of magazines, I'd have one of my own in a heartbeat.
tac
mebiuspower
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The 308 barrels are tested to last 10,000 rounds.
You are right - and with many more rounds to go on top of it.
Some years ago, I asked Mr Oliver Bauer at STEYR MANNLICHER GmbH about the SSG 69 barrel life and also about their supposedly chrome plated barrels. Here is his response (email - 09/22/2008) transcribed verbatim :
"Dear Sir,
About 25 years ago some SSG 69 CHAMBERS (and only the chambers) were chrome lined.
All the newer SSG 69 rifles feature a cold hammer forged barrel for outstanding accuracy and lifetime. Our internal test show a lifetime of around 15,000 rounds (with proper care and handling, the use of high quality ammo ......).
All the best,
Oliver Bauer
Sales Manager"
Well, its all in the eyes of the beholder. Tikka receiver for instance is better machined and polished than SSG 69. SSG 69 bolt will have scratches from the action very soon as you cycle it. Does it matter that much? Not really, but it is what it is. Outdated and hence discontinued.
Are we still talking about SSG 69? Pro-hunters, scouts, SSG 04s 08s are totally different actions.
I don't really want to spoil this fun club, by all means if you like it enjoy it. But for amount of money one needs to invest to make it all cool it is not a reasonable choice, all I'm saying.
An 'M' an 'L' a '1950' and a 300M 'SBS" ... all very slick. The M and L are identical in design to the SSG69... although the M is a longer action ... the only thing differentiating the SSG69 and the M/L (other than action length of the 'M' - in fact the SSG69 and the 'L' magazines are interchangeable) is the longer tenon - which has no bearing on the the balance of the action, distance of bolt travel or design of locking. And yes I have fired and examined numerous SSG 69's
