Steyr’s SSG 69: Only 1,000 Sniper Rifles Available in US

By Eduardo Abril de Fontcuberta

The Steyr SSG 69 (Scharfschützengewehr 69) is one of the best sniper rifles ever made, but time may be running out for you to own a new, unfired one. The Austrian factory has stopped manufacturing them after more than 40 years, and the last 1,000 rifles are in the U.S., where they’ll be distributed exclusively by CDNN. (CDNN made the order of the last SSG 69s through Steyr Arms.)

• RELATED STORY: Gun Review: Steyr Arms’ AUG/A3 M1 Bullpup

For decades, Steyr’s “green rifle” was considered the best sniper rifle around, not because it was an Austrian work of art or because it was adopted by armies all around the world, or even because it was many years ahead of its time, with a synthetic stock and a detachable magazine. The reason was simple: its accuracy.

SNIPER GRADE

Back in the 1980s, when just a few custom rifles were sub-MOA accurate, the mean, green SSG 69 rifle was consistently shooting 0.5-MOA groups. It also did so with most match ammunition.

Years passed and, sure, the SSG 69 lacked the ergonomics of newer rifles currently in vogue, with fully adjustable stocks and Picatinny rails all around, but it remained a very competitive design, and with little …read more

Source:: Tactical Life