Ok, here's take 2 on the written range report...
I was able to take out my SSG-82 shortly after receiving her along with my custom Remington 700 build that I did myself. It was an unusually nice & cool day in central NC, 65 degrees and overcast with the whole range to myself. I brought along 3 types of ammo (Wolf 60gr FMJ, Wolf 60gr HP & Barnaul 55gr HP) to shoot paper @ 100, 200 and a 1/2 size steel silhoutte @ 300 yards. I would've shot paper @ 300 yards but because of the 4x scope it made it very difficult for a high amount of precision at that distance. For support equipment I was shooting off a very stable wood bench with a set of Caldwell front & rear shooting bags. I didn't bring along my shooting jacket...oh well.
The rifle itself is an extremely well made precision instrument. If it weren't for the low power scope I believe that this rifle would drive thumb tacks out to the extreme end of the 5.45x39 cartridge's limits. The only weak point in this whole system is the magazines. They are very flimsy feeling and completely "un-AK" like and unfortunately they are completely uncompatible. They don't "rock & lock" like an AK, instead they latch in more like my Rem700 with the AI magazine kit. If you think the rifle is rare then try and find spare magazines!! Luckily mine came with a total of 4 so barring any accidents I should be set. The stock is the most comfortable that I have ever put to my shoulder, and I have had owned or shot some very expensive and tricked out rigs. The rifle is extremely well balanced and doesn't feel no where near her 11 pounds. The barrel is 23" of hammer forged goodness that have a shiny deep plum color and a very attractive spiral pattern.
The trigger is the gem of the whole system. It is adjustable in 7 different ways and can be set up for ANYONE perfectly. Mine came to me needing not a single touch by myself and is by far THE finest trigger I ever laid a finger on. It's like magic. Very smooth & crisp with zero creep or any mush. On my Lyman scale she averaged 1lb 7 oz with a deviation of only less than 2oz in either direction! The scope is an excellent Zeiss Jena 4 power with the typical German reticle. Despite the low power it is extremely sharp and clear. The pictures just don't do it justice and also somehow reduces the magnification a little more than actually looking through it. I also took pictures through my SWFA Super Sniper fixed 16x scope that is on my Rem700 as a comparison sight picture between the two to show the difficulty to attain precision with this precision rifle. There is a 6x scope for thses rifles so maybe one day I'll find one and try it out.
I started at the 100yd paper target to get some sort of baseline and do a standard 5 shot accuracy test with the 3 choices of ammo. She printed about 2" high with all 3 types but the interesting thing is that the Wolf 60gr HP shot the best groups well under 1 inch (the pic shows my first group with the cold bore shot a little outside the other 4 rounds) while the same Wolf 60gr FMJ going right under 1 inch. I don't know why the HP shot noticably better than the same projectile except it is a FMJ is beyond me. The Barnaul 55gr HP shot about 1.5 inches and because the projectile is short & stubby they gave me some chambering problems out of the magazine. Moving out to 200yds I only shot the Wolf rounds and as you can see the HP rounds printed a 3 shot group right at 1 inch! I was very surprised how well it performed despite barely being able to see the orange 1" dot with the thick crosshair post. The 200 yard zero proved to be the best distance for this rig again because of the limiting low magnification scope.
Lastly I shot my 1/2 size steel silhoutte on the 300yd line. I painted 2 white kill zones which were barely visible in the 4x scope, but clearly visible in the 16x SWFA scope. With the Wolf 60gr HP rounds I was able to get 3 solid hits in the body kill zone with 1 round slightly outside and 1 round low on the silhouette. Not bad considering the constant 6 mph 1/2 value wind and using Kentucky windage for the 9" bullet drop from POA. My Rem700 was dialed in and landed all 5 rounds in the top left portion of the head into less than a 2" group.
I'm extremely impressed with the SSG-82 espically shooting the less than match quality Wolf ammo. I'm going to keep my eyes open for some of the Hornady Steel Match 60gr VMAX ammo as it's reported to be some real good stuff. Reports from some other SSG-82 owners shooting the RWS ammo printed groups in the .5" catagory so I'm going to chase that number myself. This is a match grade rifle, there is no question about that...the big mystery is the rifle's actual history and the myths & rumors behind it. Its been called a "Tower rifle", a "border guard rifle", a "Stazi rifle", an "airport security rifle" and even a "special forces rifle"...hell, no one really knows who made the thing! Some say that Steyr made them and others say Suhl (it does resemble the Suhl 150) but still no one knows for sure. I love the oddball & unusual guns and this one doesn't disappoint. With their prices rising and imported numbers around only 600 if the oppertunity presents itself you shouldn't pass up this rifle if possible. With the cost of surplus 5.45x39 still under 200.00 for 1080 rounds you can have a very accurate but cheap to feed precision rifle.