Ssg 82

The Scharfschutzengewehr 82 (SSG 82) or "Sharpshooter's Rifle, 82" is a rifle chambered in the 5.45x39 Soviet cartridge built in East Germany at the end of the Cold War.

Very little is known about this weapon and very few examples have been imported into the west, with famed importer Century International Arms having imported around 600 at the turn of the century. There has been much speculation as to why this rifle was built and which company built it. Many believed that it was possibly used by the Stasi as a sniper rifle to pick off people who tried to escape over the Berlin Wall in to the west. This seems doubtful since a machine gun would have been much more effective, and more powerful sniper rifles like the SVD Dragunov were already in service.

The design is reminiscent of a European-style biathlon rifle, but lacking sling attachment, it seems unlikely it would be used for this purpose. The shape of the stock makes it uncomfortable to use in the prone position, the small caliber would make the rifle a poor choice for most hunting scenarios, and its lack of shared design characteristics with any other military or police rifle used at that time in East Germany would make it a poor training tool. It is equipped with a 4-power scope made by Zeiss Jena (in the original Zeiss plant that was captured by the Soviets at the end of WWII) which is numbered to the rifle and mounted using a quick detachable base.

pecifications

* Caliber: 5.45x39mm Soviet
* Overall Length: 43"*
* Barrel Length: 23"
* Weight: 11 Pounds
* Open Sights: None
* Optics: 4x32mm,
* German-style reticle

External links

* [http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn40-e.htm "SSG 82" at Modern Firearms]
* [http://www.ssg-82.de "SSG 82-deutsche Seite]