SSG-69: Steyr's Cold War Sniper Rifle 

First time I got issued the SSG 69 I managed to get 57 out of 60 rings on first try. (you can single load a cartridge and attach the magazine giving you 6 rounds) It speaks for itself if a conscript with minimal experience can get shots on target that easily and this further enhances the military value of this rifle. The trigger feel of the military version is also great. I am still looking to snatch myself one of the military pattern rifles for private use, but they only rarely show up for sale and are pretty expensive.

The SSG-69 seems really *nice,* but it's unfortunate that we don't see this more often. Hopefully they make a more modern model something along the lines of the "SSG-420."

As I recall those rifles were only US$600 (without scope) in 1976. All of them came with a target that had been shot using that particular rifle at 100 meters. All the holes made one slightly larger hole. None larger than two calibers. They were kind of "exotic", "bleeding edge", "the cats pajamas", "your euphemisms here" back then.

From 98 to 69. This rifle is aging backwards, it even looks younger than before!

Henry and Josh just did a shooting review and practical accuracy demo over on the 9 Hole Reviews channel! It’s awesome the videos got released at the same time!

I had one of these as my main hunting rifle for 20 years. Really precise and accurate, it had the smoothest action of any bolt gun I have ever owned. The only weakness was the magazine, and while I had no problem with mine I know others did. The AICS upgrade would have been a great addition. Wish I still had it.

Been collecting these since i first pulled trigger on one in 1986 during us army trials on Ft. Benning. One of the best sniper rifles ever made!!

I have two. An SSG69 with double sets and an SS69PII with a single trigger group. Both are extremely accurate. With the hand loads under 1/2" MOA is possible.

My personal SSG69 has a wooden target stock and a ZF69. It shoots about 3/4 moa with handloads and under 1 1/2 moa with surplus 308 machine gun ammo

Former (retired) shooting colleague had one, shot remarkable well (shot it myself on a number of occasions out to 400m) but I specifically remember the plastic magazine as being the most delicate part (2 broken in just a 5 years); 10 round metal magazine do exist (in theory) but were nowhere to be found/ordered in Europe.

It's impossible not to love rotary magazines. So awesome.

I'm a Steyr fan. I wish they would market their pistols better in this country

I have an hunting version of it, Steyr Luxus with french set trigger, same light barrel profile, but in 7x64 with wooden stock, made in 1974. And i have the civilian Kahles 6x42 on it, awesome combo 👌

This weapon is so nice I can't help but stop and steyr

My local hunting fraternity (I don't know the correct english word) as a SSG-69 on the range. Damn I love this gun! Sadly the're rather rare on the second hand market in Germany and when I find one it's often for a price double of that what a new Steyr rifle would cost.

taking the bolt out and looking down the barrel to bore sight it is always a good idea when shooting a new rifle for the first time 😁 i can zero my rifles at 100 or 200 yards right off the bat by just bore sighting it first then making adjustments after seeing the impact. saves alot of ammo and time 😁 works great on bolt guns and ar15s 😀

Wearing a CZ Cap and firing a Steyr is a great combo

That is crazy to think that the barrel is just shrink fit into the receiver, and with rear mounted locking lugs, the chamber pressure is acting directly on that shrink fit joint. That must be a heck of an interference fit to withstand a 7.62x51 trying to rip it apart.

Awesome rife, revolutionary given the 1 moa and reliability at the time. Relatively speaking maybe one of the best sniper rifles ever made!

I worked a CTR-Terrorism gig in Saudi working to modernize some of their training methods. One of the course we taught was for snipers. They were still using SSG69s (although they also had Accuracy Internationals). The SSG69 is a great rifle. It may be old, but it works.

Very happy to see this episode. Have a .308Win PII since the early '90s topped with a Kahles ZF84 in Steyr rings complete with Parker-Hale bipod on handstop spigot mount. Awesome rifle. Always happy to see this rarity shown on infrequent occasions. IIRC, there was an episode of Magnum PI where he used one with the double set trigger. Can't remember if it was a PI or PIII. The PIII was the PII with double trigger.

I used one of these many moons ago and found it to be supremely accurate and very user friendly. The one I used had thr polygonal rifling, an interesting detail and one I am a little surprised Ian didn't mention. I can't believe mine was in any way a "one off".

I have an 80's vintage Weatherby (made by Sako I believe) and it's remarkable how much things don't change in gun design.

In 1969 the British Army were still using the Lee Enfield No4(T) in .303'', they didn't adopt the L42 until 1972.

I own a Steyr THB, and people have given me crap for spending as much as I did on a brand most of them have never heard of. They shut up after they fire it. Very cool to see that the internals here look pretty much identical to their modern rifles.

That bolt throw looks really nice.

A friend of mine had one here in the UK in 7.62 it was BEAUTIFUL to shoot.

I have always liked the SSG 69. Also, I love and own that Swarovski scope. Very good for long range, but not the best.

I get the feeling, with the cocked trigger, a slight variation in the earth's magnetic field will be enough to fire it.

Our club captain has one of these. Absolutely gorgeous.

Proud owner of a P2. It'll pretty much put rounds through the same hole on a bipod at 100. Love it!

3:47 Oh, that's super-neat! This is the rifle used by the character Jacques LaFleur in 'Harry and the Hendersons', a favourite movie of mine as a kid. When I got interested in firearms as an adult, I thought that little detail was an error, as he famously goes into a gun store looking for '458 Magnums' in one memorable scene, and I always thought the SSG-69 was exclusively built as a .308. I don't think the actual screen-used rifle was a .458 (the mag looks way too short) but that's still really cool to know the character absolutely would have used this. Thanks, Ian!

After 15 minutes of this video was uploaded, a new video about SSG-69 appeared at 9-Hole Reviews... This is a diversion! 🤔

If the action and cocking shroud of this rifle look familiar in a way you can't quite put your finger on, but you're a fan of science fiction films...go take a look at the pistol from Blade Runner. It'll click in a second. The top end of the prop gun was made from a Steyr model SL action, which is a design that shares some features/aesthetics with this SSG69.

I’ve lusted after one in the P1 configuration like that one since seeing it in the Chuck Norris movie Lone Wolf McQuade. But it’s always been outside of my budget. The passing years induced scarcity and value haven’t helped. But it’s still at the top of my wish list.

Kahles ZF84s were not 10x40, they came in 2 variants: 6x42 and 10x42. There was another upgrade late to Kahles ZF95 also 2 variants: 6x42 and 10x42

Bought mine in 1988 and still shoot it competitively. Mine seems to prefer projectiles of 155gn, such as SMKs or Nosler CCs. The trigger guard and mags are indeed flimsy. My original trigger guard disintegrated, not helped by exposure to the bore cleaner I was using at that time.. Steyr apparently realised the shortcomings of their original design as the replacement I obtained featured steel inserts for the action screws. A better option is the alloy trigger guard made by Styria Arms which takes AI mags. I'm told barrel replacement is possible by any decent gunsmith. Push out the old barrel with a hyraulic press, chill new barrel in dry ice and insert by hand into warmed action.

I owned a Steyr SSG P2 Police sniper rifle. Single trigger, heavy hammer forged barrel, no iron sights.... it was a supreamly accurate rifle from 200m and 600m in 7.62x51mm (.308") BUT those 5 round plastic magazines WERE CRAP! rounds would stick, tilt, and rarely feed more than 3 rounds without jamming! I had 5 magazines and they all were bad. There was a plastic 10 round stacked (not rotary) that were slightly better..... the steel magazine and trigger guard upgrade looked great BUT the cost was nearly 75% of what I paid for the rifle new in 1988 (£ 1,050).....

Another excellent video. One of the few guns I still somewhat regret letting get away was a green stock, single trigger SSG-69 that I brought back from my tour in Germany in the mid-’80s. Due to my lack of bench shooting skill and ignorance of ammunition selection at the time my precision results were poor and I assumed it was the rifle. I can only hope that whoever owns it today has been able to do it more justice.

I have several Steyr rifles and they are amazingly accurate. I absolutely love them. I bought one years ago that was on sake not knowing what it was and after shooting it couldn't believe how accurate and comfortable it was. I have the Steyr THB and know where I out the crisshairs that bullet is going

When Ian cocked the first trigger back and then barely touched that second trigger where it broke like glass I bout came.

It genuinely looked pleasant to shoot.

This is one of the most impressive firearm designs that I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing it Ian!

I had that 308 version of this rifle, with the double trigger, I bought it back in 1984 while stationed in Germany

Thanks Ian. Great vid as ever.

Amazing piece, had the loan of one for driven boar a few years ago. Once zeroed they are deadly.

Damn, those double treats between 9-Hole & Forgotten weapons are great ! Thanks.

I remember back in the 90's when Steyr Mannlicher was propping this rifle and four other variants with/without set triggers, bull barrel and carbine option for around I think $2800.

Something about that whole package speaks to my soul.

You and 9-Hole Reviews on same day. Awesome

Swarovski, now famous for jewelry, built some solid commercial Opics in the Past. Have a few on them on Huntingrifles. Most favorite Rifle of my dad, a Steyr-Mannlicher "Bergstutzen" has an 4-12x on it, 40 Year old Rifle with a german trigger (double set) and it is awesome.

I've been waiting for years now, and finally Ian has a Blade Runner blaster on his table. At least half of one.

Ian, thank you for confirming that going in 2" deeper is "quite a bit."

Thanks, Ian. I inherited a ssg 69 p2 and was unable to find a lot of info other than a wiki page. Really enjoy mine. Have shot it at 300 yards with very good groups with a mediocre scope. Love the dual trigger setup once I got used to it.

As soon as I’m done here, learning about the history of this rifle, I’m heading over to 9-Hole Reviews to see them do the shooting!

With the locking lugs and bolt handle on a rotating collar behind the bolt body this must be the ultimate evolution of the Vetterli action

Thanks for the info. I just inherited one and have been researching for information on it.

I've seen a hunting version of this rifle( same action, different cal. ), and I realized that the striker can be fired even if the bolt is not completely closed.

The SSG 69 P4 is an amazing rifle. Thank you for this review 🇺🇸🇺🇸

A "nice" rifle

Good job, good video, Ian. I like the metal trigger guard/ magazine box/metal mag. If I owned that rifle, the stronger parts would be installed and I’d never look back. The group size on your 100 yard target looked fine to me. Different bullet brand and grain weight could easily print tighter. As in Sierra 168 gr. BTHP

Essentially the same action but with a lighter barrel profile and stock is called the M Professional and in it's day was pretty much one of the first modern synthetic stock weather resistant hunting rifles. Still good guns today they are known for their accuracy with that rear locking action of theirs...

I do have to disagree that the guard is the most common failure point. It is actually the magazine. There is a very small plastic connection that likes to break. That's why 5 round magazines are basically non available, you can find 10 rounders which are double stack for a few hundred bucks. I found out the hard way.

Impressive. Very nice. Let's see Paul Allen's sniper.

I knew I recognised the bolt and bolt handle from somewhere... it was used as part of Deckard's pistol in Blade Runner, and also the .223 pistol/That Gun in the Fallout series.

yes finaly a video on this rifle !

As a i hunt with a SSG08 in .300wm, it is nice to watch some history of it's grandparent👍

We have this gun in England in 22-250. Insanely accurate. Easily gets hole on hole shots at 300 yards.

Oh man, that first group, I could never compete with that! 😄 While you're still on European rifles, one that I think you should definitely cover, simply because of the channel name, is the R93 Duo Hamed. It's basically the Fuchs Fine Guns double bolt action rifle, but as a straight pull with manual cocking. It's been so far left behind in the past, it's even mostly forgotten in Germany!

Pretty cool to see the early hammer-forge barrel ripples. I think its a cool look

Thank you , Ian . 🐺

this gun is literally in every single country

Argentine Guardia Nacional we’re using that rifle back in the ‘90s when I went there on a deployment. Wood stock, double set trigger. Beautiful rifle.

Nice

Thank you for your videos.

A couple of additional things I can add... the factory rotary magazines and the plastic receiver are fragile even when new and are not mil spec in any way. If you improperly clean the gun and solvent (especially copper solvent) saturates the receiver or the plastic latching mechanism on the magazines, the plastic becomes brittle and literally disintegrates. Clean this gun from muzzle to breach if you have the factory receiver/mags. The best solution is to buy the metal receiver that accepts AW .308 straight mags. The ABS stock is not affected by chemicals like the receiver/mags by the way. Another issue are the scope rings and trust me they are in no way "Quick Detachable" as designed. Only the factory dovetail rings will work... which are fine if they are installed properly. The screws for the rings are a proprietary flat head... which can be difficult to cinch down tight enough of you don't have screw driver with a small enough head that can also provide enough grip/torque. They are easily buggered up if you are not careful. The last issue is the aluminum accessory slot at the bottom of the foregrip. It is very fragile cast aluminum... and a slotted adapter with a sling stud and set screw is used to attach bipods and other accessories. The problem being you have to really screw the set screw in tight so your bipod/accessory doesn't shift and move under the recoil of the gun. Barely overtighten the set screw and you will crack and blow out the rail. I went through two of them before I had a local machine shop make me one out of steel. Not perfect out of the box, but overcome these issues and it really shines. Mine shoots 1/2 MOA all day long with factory match grade ammo... shoots slightly under that with hand loads.

@12:00, The stock needs to be shimmed properly to the new replacement metal receiver. That is why you had trouble inserting the Arctic Warfare single stack magazine when the bolt was closed. The rear dovetail scope ring also needs to be set further back like an 1/8" to completely clear the ejection port.

The box magazine conversion is made by Styria Arms.

I remember handling a Steyr SSG in Field & Stream in 1980s plus. Fantastic trigger. Should have bought one. The one I looked at had a single trigger. Don't remember the stock though.

tbh, I have been trying to think of a rear locking bolt action design but couldn't really think of a really good one with the best one is mauser inspired but this design blew me off, again your content shows me what I look for in a long time, your channel is absolutely golden

So many similarities to my 270 luxus and the bolt internals look identical. The single set trigger i use on every shot iv ever taken over the past 30 years. It takes some of the guess work out of the guess work in the field and would not be without one. You should have shown them on how to unset the trigger it with the safety on or off :) Keep up the good work.

9-Hole Reviews just posted a video on this rifle as well this morning.

At the shop we had a green stock, with a spare rotary mag in the rt side of the stock. Normall double set triggers in .308. She drove tacks. We also had a Steyr millennial anniversary Mannlicher stocked hunter with a claw mounted scope. Much better than the picala la modern stuff

These rifles were also available with a wood stock to the commercial market because at that point in time many potential buyers viewed the synthetic stock as cheap plastic.

The evolution of plastics from the sixties to now is an amazing thing and few people understand just how much materials technology has progressed. We have cheap, light semi-structural plastics now that once absolutely required other materials.

I have one on my shop. Green stock, updated trigger, updated steel triggerguard and steel magazine.

Why am I having flashbacks to the late Jerry Ahern's series of books from the 1980's about Dr. John Thomas Rourke?

I mean, the Remington 788 was also a rear-locking design, but it was legendary for it's accuracy, thanks to a stiffer receiver thanks to a smaller ejection port and a ridiculously short lock time

Some years ago I got the chance to shoot the SSG with the green stock and period correct bipod and scope. The trigger is so sweet! And despite that scope was really old, everyone who shot it that day got really close groups.

mine is almost identical. i also had a remington 788. it was their economy rifle in the sixties. the action and bolt are the same design and was the most accurate rifle remington made.

Great video

SSG-69 from 1969. Nice.

Ian Hawk: "What I do is I try and like take my hat and turn it around and it's like flipping a switch. And when the switch goes on I feel like another person, a machine."

That SSG-69 is a very nice looking rifle, I can see why people like it.

Thanks

Wow I like the set trigger. The only rifle I have with a set trigger is my black powder muzzleloader. When I use the set trigger you just breathe on the trigger and it will fire.

I‘m in the lucky position to own one as my primary hunting rifle. Mine has a wooden benchrest stock. It‘s very precise, kicks like a horse and brings meat to the table. I‘m very lucky to own it and keep it in honor since it was the benchrest rifle of a friend and his deceased father.

To the best of my knowledge, the Steyr SSG was only available with one receiver size and in .308 and .243. The hunting variants, could be had in all popular calibers from .222 to .458. As Ian and many commenters rightly remarked, the synthetic parts are its greatest weakness, as they are aging with use (sunlight) and possibly also without. The police of Berlin had them in their arsenal, until the stocks lost their ability to hold the screws. It was availabe with a similarly looking wooden stock, though. One of its biggest drawbacks is the practically almost impossible rebarreling, when the barrel is worn. Steyr claimed a maximum spread of 70 mm at 300 metres with sniper grade ammunition.

Love these rifles

My go to hunting rifle for the last 30 years is a green stocked P1 with the Kahles 6x. It is bullet drop compensated for Federal 168g Match ammunition. I also have a SSG Match rifle with the wood stock, set trigger, and diopter sights. Picked up a P2 a few years ago when Steyr discontinued the original receiver and went with the safe bolt system. They make an average shooter look like a great shot.