Sauer SSR prototype with offset feed ramp

I’m curious if it actually works properly….

Additional images of action taken out of the stock.

B.

Looks like a George Barris product.

biggymu said:

Looks like a George Barris product.

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Who is George Barris? Thanks.

A famous car customizer who made the Batmobile out of a Ford Futura and other notable Hollywood cars.
IE to me it looks like a factory sniper that was built up with welds, some of which are cracked.
Who knows if factory or post war? Mount screws look good. Unless it can be proven genuine…..
Edit: Why wouldn’t they use a brand new receiver without the notch machined in front of the bolt stop?

bruce98k said:

Additional images of action taken out of the stock.

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The two pins are not in a line, the front one is placed a bit more upwards (different to the base that Dave has showed in his post with the base to it). The rear pin is blue on the inside. It is a bit of a headscratcher to me as to why the screw heads are polished bright; I'd expect them to be blued from factory. The receiver rail inside makes me wonder if the base once had been pulled and reinstalled with newly made bases and pins (maybe during refinish?).

Hi all

First I know nothing about German sniper stuff…US stuff definitely and classic muscle cars definitely…so don’t take this wrong…

If I think about factory experimental items… cars or guns… I don’t expect to see serial numbers ( or VINS) for one offs… Why would a factory.. German or otherwise build an obvious experimental example then number everything like normal production? To me factory numbering implies serial production and yet this sounds like the only example.

Possible explanation is they pulled a rifle off the line…but when? After it was fully built? Why not just use a blank receiver to build up? I collect what I like and know so German snipers aren’t my thing…but for me this rifle would be something at best with a BIG asterisk by it

IMO the only way this passes is if factory documentation with a serial number shows up… regardless of how it looks

mrfarb said:

I’m curious if it actually works properly….

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It would be interesting to draw the receiver with the scope mounted with the offset feed ramp in Solidworks or AutoCad and do a 3D simulation of the complete function of the rifle and see if it passes the test.

biggymu said:

A famous car customizer who made the Batmobile out of a Ford Futura and other notable Hollywood cars.
IE to me it looks like a factory sniper that was built up with welds, some of which are cracked.
Who knows if factory or post war? Mount screws look good. Unless it can be proven genuine…..
Edit: Why wouldn’t they use a brand new receiver without the notch machined in front of the bolt stop?

Click to expand...

I don’t think the welds are cracked, what your seeing is the seam for the thumb slot insert. Almost like they just spit welded it in place.

You can see the weld seam across the bridge for the new stripper clip guide.

As you stated, it makes no sense to not start with a fresh receiver if this was the concept. Pulling a partially finished receiver would be much easier for several reasons for welding, machining, and finishing.

The work looks in line with what one would expect for a prototype experiment from the era, but I also have a hard time without a chain of custody or any other documentation-- bearing in mind such documentation may be lost to time if it ever did exist.

These sort of things happen. I have reference books full of "official" examples of Swiss (with the benefit of never being occupied and ransacked) prototype rifles that have A) No serial number, B) standard serial numbers, and C) Specific ranges of set aside serial numbers. Some of these examples are mundane and some of them are really bizarre. It really just depends on the situation-- someone got an idea and either planned it out from inception to be a set aside project, or it's an ad-hoc solution to a problem. I have personally witnessed the same type of things at the Army Research Lab in modern times and they have an extensive collection of past prototypes as well. Without documentation they would look like a real talented "bubba" project. As silly as a necessity to feed from stripper clips may seem to us now, it was always a real concern for people in the region. You need only to look at the development of the Swiss ZFK 55 to see how much work people were willing to put into making it work out. I also remember reading original German training material that made a point to say not to remove the scope from the rail in order to reload via clips. So this adaptation makes sense as to me as something they would try out, but that doesn't mean it's not post-war tinkering or outright faking, too.

The internal photos don't paint this rifle as well the external photos. Seems kind of odd looking at the finishing under the stock line. May have been an original Sauer SSR at one time. It's hard to guess when all that changed.

Let’s pretend you actually wanted to test this concept at a factory that makes guns for a living. Is this what you would do? This looks more like a mock up than some kind of experimental version. Like car designs made from clay, but instead of being made by engineers, made by designers. I think my initial feelings have been validated with these photos.

mrfarb said:

Let’s pretend you actually wanted to test this concept at a factory that makes guns for a living. Is this what you would do? This looks more like a mock up than some kind of experimental version. Like car designs made from clay, but instead of being made by engineers, made by designers. I think my initial feelings have been validated with these photos.

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perhaps its what you do when faced with a big shot who has a ‘big idea’ & won’t take no for an answer. I like the concept, its a PITA to load a scoped over the bore rifle. Wonder if a curved guide & clip might work.

Do I understand correctly that Sauer didn't manufacture receivers (I am not an expert but read this recently on another post)? Could be a case of the place that doesn't manufacture the receivers but builds sniper rifles wanting to do an experiment.