Thought some of you might be interested in my Israeli Defense Forces Mauser M-66 SP sniper rifle in 7.62 x 51 (.308 Winchester). Almost all of these rifles were produced in 1980 on the commercial Mauser M66 short action. There were only 360 of these rifles produced. This particular one was used by the IDF and then sold to Springfield Armory who retailed a small number. I purchased this gun from the collection of actor James Earl Jones. This particular gun has the Nimrod 6x40 scope. It is also shown with a Zeiss Orion 80/I (Fero Z51) Night Vision Rifle Scope.
As a design the M-66 SP, like many sniper rifles traces its roots to a civilian sporting rifle. The action was designed in the 1950’s by Walter Gehman, world record setting German “Master Shooter”, expert ballistician, and small arms engineer. Mauser put Gehman’s creation, known in Germany as the “Gehman-Short Action” into production in 1965. In 1971, German police, like many other law enforcement organizations at the time, began to search for weapons, create tactics, and form units to fight terrorism. The bloody attack by Arab terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics caused Mauser to design a precision sniping version of the M-66. After eight years of development the weapon was ready to be put into production and was designated as the “SP” variant of the M-66. All M-66 SP rifles had to group five shots in a two-centimeter diameter group at 100 meters. Only 360 of these rifles were produced with almost all of them being manufactured in 1980. Mauser suspended production of all M-66 rifles in 1995.
As a design the M-66 SP, like many sniper rifles traces its roots to a civilian sporting rifle. The action was designed in the 1950’s by Walter Gehman, world record setting German “Master Shooter”, expert ballistician, and small arms engineer. Mauser put Gehman’s creation, known in Germany as the “Gehman-Short Action” into production in 1965. In 1971, German police, like many other law enforcement organizations at the time, began to search for weapons, create tactics, and form units to fight terrorism. The bloody attack by Arab terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics caused Mauser to design a precision sniping version of the M-66. After eight years of development the weapon was ready to be put into production and was designated as the “SP” variant of the M-66. All M-66 SP rifles had to group five shots in a two-centimeter diameter group at 100 meters. Only 360 of these rifles were produced with almost all of them being manufactured in 1980. Mauser suspended production of all M-66 rifles in 1995.
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