SnowyOwl had this picture of an SSG 69 sent to him from Steyr in Austria last year, which I find pretty amazing. I really dig that whole 60's-80's Cold War era vibe. Note the older-style Kahles scope and the leather sling:
I found a few other pictures online of the SSG 69 "in action" with the Austrian Army. You can see in the first pic that the guy has the plastic muzzle cap on his rifle.
Well, I've developed a major addiction for green SSG 69 rifles these past few years. One of the things I wanted to do is "build" a really old classic one like in the first picture in this thread. Recently I was able to buy a third SSG 69, which came from a very nice fellow in Quebec who I got in contact with through another website. I now have three of these beasts. The new acquisition is the 1981 rifle in the middle of these next pics:
Top to bottom:
1989 produced SSG 69 with S&B PMII 4-16x50
1981 produced SSG 69
2004 produced SSG 69 with Kahles ZFM 6x42
I'm not concerned about showing the serial numbers of the rifles online. The markings on each rifle are all a little different, and quite interesting.
This is the 1989 rifle that now wears that big S&B scope. Note the "NTD" date code, which is "March, 1989". It also has two kinds of Austrian proof marks on the receiver and the barrel, and the "upside down shield thing" on the barrel (anyone know what that means?)
These are the right side markings on the 2004 rifle. The date code is "COF" (October, 2004). The same proof marks are there, although they look a little different 15 years later, and the "shield" thing is a little closer to the other markings, and turned sideways now. This one has the calibre marked on the right side, not the left like the other two:
And this is my new acquisition. Note the way lower serial number, and the fact that there is no date code. I am guessing that Steyr adopted their "HK style" date coding system sometime after 1981, as these markings certainly suggest that this rifle was produced in July (Roman numeral 7) of 1981. The "shield" thing is also on this rifle, but it is further up the barrel... directly under the rear iron sight on the right side of the barrel.
Note that this 1981 rifle has U.S. import markings, which the other two do not. Both the 1981 and 1989 rifles are calibre marked on the left side of the barrel, the 2004 is on the right (see above):
Both the 1981 and 1989 rifles are marked like this on the left. The picture below is of the 1981 rifle. The 2004 is marked "Steyr Mannlicher MOD. SSG. 69", as the conglomerate Steyr-Daimler-Puch was broken up around 1990 (see below):
So here is my "new" 1981 rifle. The way the previous owner has the trigger set up is really really nice. It is very light. Too light for any kind of "real world" application (hunting, police, military), but seems like it would be fantastic for target shooting:
I took the stock off to check it over and clean it up a bit (although it was not really very dirty, it looks to have been well taken care of in its 31 years):
The stock is not really heavy enough for this to be a true target rifle, but I believe it is a trade-off for "carry ability" for the military application. The rifle is made of very light components, except for the reciever and barrel, which are very heavy (especially compared to a hunting rifle):
One thing that is interesting is that the 1981 rifle does not have the "Anschutz" type rail running under the front of the stock, which the other two rifles do have. The 1981 does have a bi-pod stud though. Note that the last of the pics taken from the Internet (above) clearly shows that, at least in the old days, the rifles issued to the Austrian Army did not have the rail in the stock.
So, getting back to my plan to "build" a rifle as close as I can to the one in the picture from Steyr at the beginning of this thread, last year I was able to pick up a very nice, old style Kahles ZF69 from a fine chap here on CGN. It is 26mm though, and I need a set of 26mm QD rings to make this project work. Phil O'Dell ordered some for me from Steyr in Austria, as I couldn't seem to scare up a set here in Canada. I thought I had a set, but they turned out to be 1 inch, not 26mm.
When put up beside the 2004 SSG with the Kahles ZFM, you can start to see the differences. This particular ZFM is the "new" style. It is a 1" tube, and it also has the "coin" adjustable turrets, whereas the old European ones are 26mm, and they have the "three screw" adjustable turrets - as in the first photo in the thread:
I'm hopefully that I can get this project together and out on the range soon. I think it will look pretty damn cool:
Once I get the 26mm rings I will just need the appropriate leather sling. I actually have another one of the "new style" green nylon slings that Steyr ships with the modern SSG packages (green or black, depending on your rifle). But I need something as close as possible to a 1970's Austrian Army sling. I have done some research on this, and apparantly the Army sharpshooters just used the Stg58 (F.A.L.) sling, as that is what Austria was using as a service rifle up until the late 1970s and the AUG. The sling must be 1" or 7/8". The opening for the sling on the rear of the stock is exactly 1" wide. I think I might be able to find a nice 1" Stg58/FAL sling. If not I know that I can get a nice 1" German G3 sling, which I think is basically the same thing. The other option would be a 7/8" K98-type sling, and just toss that rear part for the K98 stock. Some people online seem to think that this is very close to what was used in the Austrian Army.
Any ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated (maybe I should have posted this in the milsurp section!), and hope you ejoyed the pics and the work that went into putting up this thread.
Also, Phil O'Dell, if you are around and see this page can you send me a PM or an e-mail. I'll be trying to contact you anyway, but give me a shout.
I found a few other pictures online of the SSG 69 "in action" with the Austrian Army. You can see in the first pic that the guy has the plastic muzzle cap on his rifle.
Well, I've developed a major addiction for green SSG 69 rifles these past few years. One of the things I wanted to do is "build" a really old classic one like in the first picture in this thread. Recently I was able to buy a third SSG 69, which came from a very nice fellow in Quebec who I got in contact with through another website. I now have three of these beasts. The new acquisition is the 1981 rifle in the middle of these next pics:
Top to bottom:
1989 produced SSG 69 with S&B PMII 4-16x50
1981 produced SSG 69
2004 produced SSG 69 with Kahles ZFM 6x42
I'm not concerned about showing the serial numbers of the rifles online. The markings on each rifle are all a little different, and quite interesting.
This is the 1989 rifle that now wears that big S&B scope. Note the "NTD" date code, which is "March, 1989". It also has two kinds of Austrian proof marks on the receiver and the barrel, and the "upside down shield thing" on the barrel (anyone know what that means?)
These are the right side markings on the 2004 rifle. The date code is "COF" (October, 2004). The same proof marks are there, although they look a little different 15 years later, and the "shield" thing is a little closer to the other markings, and turned sideways now. This one has the calibre marked on the right side, not the left like the other two:
And this is my new acquisition. Note the way lower serial number, and the fact that there is no date code. I am guessing that Steyr adopted their "HK style" date coding system sometime after 1981, as these markings certainly suggest that this rifle was produced in July (Roman numeral 7) of 1981. The "shield" thing is also on this rifle, but it is further up the barrel... directly under the rear iron sight on the right side of the barrel.
Note that this 1981 rifle has U.S. import markings, which the other two do not. Both the 1981 and 1989 rifles are calibre marked on the left side of the barrel, the 2004 is on the right (see above):
Both the 1981 and 1989 rifles are marked like this on the left. The picture below is of the 1981 rifle. The 2004 is marked "Steyr Mannlicher MOD. SSG. 69", as the conglomerate Steyr-Daimler-Puch was broken up around 1990 (see below):
So here is my "new" 1981 rifle. The way the previous owner has the trigger set up is really really nice. It is very light. Too light for any kind of "real world" application (hunting, police, military), but seems like it would be fantastic for target shooting:
I took the stock off to check it over and clean it up a bit (although it was not really very dirty, it looks to have been well taken care of in its 31 years):
The stock is not really heavy enough for this to be a true target rifle, but I believe it is a trade-off for "carry ability" for the military application. The rifle is made of very light components, except for the reciever and barrel, which are very heavy (especially compared to a hunting rifle):
One thing that is interesting is that the 1981 rifle does not have the "Anschutz" type rail running under the front of the stock, which the other two rifles do have. The 1981 does have a bi-pod stud though. Note that the last of the pics taken from the Internet (above) clearly shows that, at least in the old days, the rifles issued to the Austrian Army did not have the rail in the stock.
So, getting back to my plan to "build" a rifle as close as I can to the one in the picture from Steyr at the beginning of this thread, last year I was able to pick up a very nice, old style Kahles ZF69 from a fine chap here on CGN. It is 26mm though, and I need a set of 26mm QD rings to make this project work. Phil O'Dell ordered some for me from Steyr in Austria, as I couldn't seem to scare up a set here in Canada. I thought I had a set, but they turned out to be 1 inch, not 26mm.
When put up beside the 2004 SSG with the Kahles ZFM, you can start to see the differences. This particular ZFM is the "new" style. It is a 1" tube, and it also has the "coin" adjustable turrets, whereas the old European ones are 26mm, and they have the "three screw" adjustable turrets - as in the first photo in the thread:
I'm hopefully that I can get this project together and out on the range soon. I think it will look pretty damn cool:
Once I get the 26mm rings I will just need the appropriate leather sling. I actually have another one of the "new style" green nylon slings that Steyr ships with the modern SSG packages (green or black, depending on your rifle). But I need something as close as possible to a 1970's Austrian Army sling. I have done some research on this, and apparantly the Army sharpshooters just used the Stg58 (F.A.L.) sling, as that is what Austria was using as a service rifle up until the late 1970s and the AUG. The sling must be 1" or 7/8". The opening for the sling on the rear of the stock is exactly 1" wide. I think I might be able to find a nice 1" Stg58/FAL sling. If not I know that I can get a nice 1" German G3 sling, which I think is basically the same thing. The other option would be a 7/8" K98-type sling, and just toss that rear part for the K98 stock. Some people online seem to think that this is very close to what was used in the Austrian Army.
Any ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated (maybe I should have posted this in the milsurp section!), and hope you ejoyed the pics and the work that went into putting up this thread.
Also, Phil O'Dell, if you are around and see this page can you send me a PM or an e-mail. I'll be trying to contact you anyway, but give me a shout.
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