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Practically Shooting

Steyr SSG


BarryinIN

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I've just about managed to replace all the guns I never should have traded. High on the list was a Steyr SSG-69 PI that I traded off when my old gun club closed down and I lost a 300-yard range. I regretted that most immediately. I had some others I thought would do the job, but I was wrong.

I started looking for another, and found rumors of their demise. I've heard several times that Steyr was dropping the old SSG in favor of the SBS-based (Scout action) SSG 04 and SSG 08. They are probably nice, but I wanted the old green monster.

Except they aren't green anymore. And the barrel is heavier. And finding one with iron sights is uncommon.

I found that finding any wasn't very common. I found the 16" P-IV model, but I didn't want that. I have enough short .308s.

I thought I wanted the 20" model for a while, but further thought and the fact I couldn't find one changed my mind.

My new one came in yesterday, a P-II. Black stock (the only choice now) with 25.6" barrel. The rings came in yesterday afternoon, so the recently purchased US Optics ST-10 10x44 scope went on it just before dark.

Off to the range today.

I got 20 rounds off before I broke it. Well, I broke one of the scope rings, not the rifle.. I'm sure I broke it before round 20, but I found out about it on the 20th round when the crossbolt's nut landed on my hand because the bolt threads were stripped. I thought the groups were oddly horizontal, but I thought the groups were because it must not like the bullet.

Looking at the ring crossbolt, it was only engaging the nut by about a thread.

The rings were Steyr rings, so I emailed them. Past experience has shown that while their stuff has astronomical pricing, they jump to help when there is a problem. I've broken stuff through my own stupidity and asked how to order a new part and they just send it.

Sure enough, they emailed back within an hour. Not a "We have received your email and will contact you shortly" type of thing, but someone giving a contact number and saying to call him, and if he's not there to call this other guy.

As it turned out, I had left the range by then and didn't want to investigate the problem over the phone until I got home and had the rifle in front of me. That took longer than expected, so by the time I called, they were gone for the day.

I'll keep you posted.

I almost didn't get the rifle because the gun shop almost sent it back ("Oh, you ordered that?") but that's another story.

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Steyr likes to talk up their hammer forged barrels, but I've read a lot of "experts" say a good button or cut rifled barrel will shoot just as good. Maybe so, and I have doubts about it myself, but I'll say this- The hammer forged barrels sure clean easily.

Powder fouling is going to be there with any barrel, but the AUG and SSG barrels both clean quickly because there is very little copper fouling. With most guns, I can get them seemingly clean then run a patch of copper solvent in, leave it for five minutes or less, and the next patch comes out green-blue. I can repeat that several times with the same result. With the SSG, it takes one. The rest are clean and just waste solvent and patches. That's one smooth surfaced barrel to do that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

312 rounds now. There probably won't be many more until August when the kids go back to school. Range time gets scarce in the summer for me.

I've got a lot of 4+1 groups, with four going into a neat little hole then one an inch away. That's me. Bench shooting is an art and skill, and I don't have it. I was gradually getting better though, and keeping five together more often.

I have workable loads with 155, 168, and 175s. The best 175 load is only around 40 fps slower than the best 155 load, so there is little reason to not use the 175. The tables show it supersonic well past 1k yards. I was unsure how the 1-12 twist would handle the 175s, so didn't load many at first, but it worked fine.

It's maybe not very useful, but I threw five rounds at the target using a 110 grain screaming fast (3000+ fps) bullet. It not only shot well, but cut the aiming plaster so I can use the same zero, at least at 100. I'm not sure when I can expect to need that, but I guess I have it.

It hates the FMJ practice load I use in everything. Hates any FMJ load I tried.

That's too bad. Oh well, it's not a rifle I will ever just blast away with, so I don't need to use the cheapest bullet. I can cringe and shoot match bullets if its just five at a time. My data book shows sessions of 22 rounds, 34 rounds, etc, instead of counting by the 30-rd magazine.

I realized I had the whole Steyr family at the range today. Well, the part of the Steyr family I have.

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  • 2 months later...

I've only got to shoot the SSG twice this summer. Such is the life of a stay home dad.

I got to go to my friend's "range" (soybean field) last weekend. With the crop in, we couldn't shoot the long way, and had to shoot across it's short side (300 yds).

When I shot the Savage there the first time, I used the data from trajectory tables to get on target at 200, then 300. With the SSG, I had to go right to 300, but still got on quicker. First shot actually. Life is easier with better equipment.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 10 months later...

It took a while for confirmation, but the rumors were true. The SSG-69 has been discontinued per the following email I received from Steyr USA last night:

The World Famous Steyr Sniper Rifle to be Retired in 2015

The World Famous SSG 69 is set to be retired after 40 outstanding years in service, however we are pleased to announce that one of our distributors decided to buy 1,000 units before the production line stopped. If you are interested in one of the last of these iconic pieces, you can contact CDNN Sports in Abilene, Texas at 1-800-588-9500 or online at

http://www.cdnnsports.com/firearms.html?brand=1253.

The last 1,000 units were produced in 12 different models PII and PIIK (some are the first ever with threaded barrels). They will be offered in single trigger, double trigger, green and black stocks. They each come standard with a factory mounted 20 MOA picatinny rail.

Also, do not fear if you are the current owner of an SSG model, SAI will still both warrant and perform factory service on all models and have spare parts available.

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