Steyr SSG 69... Provenance? Information? Advice?

[ChrisBCS]

Hi everyone. This thread is for a friend. His grandfather was an antiques collector with an specialization in firearms. One of the gems that was passed down to him was a Steyr SSG 69, his favorite of his grandfather's rifles by far. He's asked me for help finding information and potentially backstory to the rifle. He only ever saw his grandfather hunt deer with it, once. So I've come here in the hopes that you erudite gentlemen and ladies may be able to steer me in the right direction.

I don't know much more than what's commonly available; their reputation for accuracy especially.

He's also particularly interested in finding a guide or manual for the scope, or info on the turret adjustments.

Thanks all in advance!

 

[nashlaw]

Chris, good post and pics, but the better forum might be " Bolt Action Rifles." Nice rifle.

 

[ChrisBCS]

Thanks nashlaw. I will. I posted here first since this is by manufacture a vintage military and police sniper rifle.

 

[buffalowinter]

There are several for sale on Gunbroker and Guns International. Asking price is $2000-$2500 with the ZF Kahles scope.

 

[nashlaw]

Definitely a high end rifle. Had 22-250 in a wooden stock. Shot like a house afire.

 

[MescaBug]

From what I know (and remember)..

That SSG69 was produced in March 1980 (380). Early Steyr used a letter code for date, but was later changed to numbers for easier identification.

I dont believe this is a military issued rifle because it has the double trigger set. That was available on commercial rifles for target shooting. Way too light, and hard, if not impossible, to use with gloves. Remember this is an Autrian rifle that may see winter combat. Most military rifles had the green stock, this one's black.

Its hard to tell from the pictures:

- Does it have the folding sight?
- Buttstock with spacer system?
- Trigger guard is aluminum or plastic?

Definitely a very nice rifle.

 

[HD-Ghost]

I have the manual for the ZF 84 and 95. PM me with email and I'll send it to you. The adjustments may be similar.

Never owned one of these but have been tempted a number of times over the yrs. Most of my sniper collection is USGI.

 

[95LTZ]

They were used as Police Marksman rifle. I believe that they were the first mass produced rifle with synthetic stocks. Mine was amazingly accurate with almost any ammo you chose to put in it. I don't remember the weight of the set trigger but it was very light. A wonderful rifle than never gave me a moments grief.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Your friend is very lucky... extremely nice rifle and very nice scope. Technologically... dated today but at the time it was state-of-the-art. Tack driving rifle.

Built as police SWAT teams were really starting to take off in the late '70's and early '80's. Munich and the waves of terrorism in Europe were creating a need for a police specialized rifle. The set trigger is an interesting feature to put on a police rifle. That must have taken some training! Today, my bet is that the liability of a set trigger makes that feature a non-starter. Great on the target range, but I would not want to mess with one during an evolving situation.

Thanks for posting! You are definitely in the right section here in Vintage.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[JFK52]

I own a SSG 69 in 308. I have found the weak part of this rifle to be the factory tupperware stock. I replaced it with a McMillan and have been very happy with the result. It is an extremely accurate out of the box shooting rifle. The plastic rotary magazines can be a little touchy sometimes. I had one 5 round magazine just fall apart on me for no apparent reason. I am fortunate to have several 10 round magazines for the rifle. The down side is the ridiculous price that these 10 round magazines now command. The double set triggers are okay but I rarely use that feature. Great on the bench, but not so handy in real life tactical or even hunting situations. When I bought the SSG 69 years ago, I saw it as a way to get a decent 600 -800 yard rife without having to spend the money it cost to get a GAP or other high end custom made rifle. The Kahles fixed 6 power scope that came with it has been replaced with a Schmidt and Bender 2.5x10x50 scope.

 

[Graham]

The Cyolac stock cracks easily. The proprietary rings aren't the best design. The barrel/action is heat-shrunk attached and therefore not removable. They are worth $1400-1800 today. Not a bad rifle in its day, though.

 

[Gary Smith]

I have a very early Steyr Grand Rapids, Minn. import, pre Gun South SSG-P1, green stock,
Khales ZF-69 6X scope in Q.D. rings. single trigger. Mine has been expertly tuned by
Derrick Martin, Accuracy Speaks in Mesa Az. and it is utterly dependable, winter or summer.
Had him install a stud on forend for a Q.D. bipod.
From 500-800yds it is deadly on coyotes here in S.D. , the iron sights are dead on @ 400yds.
I love mine.

 

[Jäger Wilhelm]

Here is the manual for the zf84 + zf95 in both 6x and 10x. Eseentially the same scope. I had a green SSG69 with the zf69 scope that I bought in Italy in 1984. Wihtout the set trigger. Loved it for many years!

http://www.kahles.at/fileadmin/kahles/englisch/pdf/Anleitung_ZF95_ZF84.pdf

 

[Pinecone]

I wanted one of these in the 80s. NICE rifles.

 

[d762nato]

Very accurate rifles for sure as I've owned a couple of the green one's with kahles scopes and also the black one with the short barrel that was made for a suppressor with a hensoldt. The weak link for me was like mentioned the magazines for some reason they just fell apart. If someone would make the bottom and mags out of metal that would be great. They shoot pretty dam accurate from the one's I've shot and owned.

 

[TorF]

CDI now makes dropin bottom metal for the SSG69. AI mags in your SSG:

Regarding vintage guns; I always have a quote from an old Norwegian book about coastal defence batteries in the back of my head. Under a large picture of a 11" muzzle there is this text: "The fact that this 28cm gun is made in 1897 does not help the ship that is hit by a 250kg(app 500ibs) shell arriving at over 700mps(2000fps)". This costal battery sunk the 12000 ton german cruiser "Blucher" 9th april 1940 with two 11" shells and two torpedoes. Here's a link: Battle of Drøbak Sound - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this perspective the SSG69 is as current as any rifle shooting 308. In some types of competitions, especially with weight limits or with mobility, the SSG69 outperformes most other tactical rifles with its light weight and shootability.

 

[ChrisF]

When the NZ Army trialled the SSG PII , back in 1991 , they noted 2 things , one they seemed to have had trouble with a shifting POI between , the rifle being dry or wet , anyone who knows what Waiouru is like weather wise , its 4 seasons in one day , and other than summer , its bloody Wet .
So the team decided to keep the SSG WET all the time to increase consistancy , the other thing noted , was the weak stock , as it broke on them during a stalking phase , Opps .
I have just gotten a few SSGs , and almost all the mags are cracked in the rear see thru plastic , and although mine are OK , their trigger guards seem easy to crack when you screw the stock back on, if you have removed it .
As the SSG was designed to use a rotary mag , to me , a better and more streamlined approach to this short coming , is not a AI mag thats been designed for a Rem700 action , BUT a copy of the original magazine using maybe something more like a Ruger mag , ie steel lips & plastic body that is not brittle , and making the trigger guard out of steel .