The German firearms maker Mauser has a long and storied history with rifle development and many modern rifle designs can trace their lineage back to the legendary Mauser 98. Mauser has been an innovator in the German firearms industry for over a century now and they continue to build rifles today.

In the middle of the cold war during the 1970s, Mauser decided to enter the dedicated sniper rifle market and they began work on what is called the Mauser SP66, or it is also known as the 66SP. The base rifle that they started with was their already existing Model 66 Super Match target rifle, itself based on the Model 66 hunting rifle. They added a muzzlebrake of their own design and then mated it with a Zeiss 1.5-6x scope with BDC elevation knob.

The stock itself is something to behold. It is a walnut stock that is a pure target style stock that is highly contoured for target shooting and is adjustable in many different ways. It has a thumbhole pistol grip and is extremely comfortable, provided you are right handed. There was never a left handed version of the rifle made and it is unusable by lefties. The size of the wood stock is bulky and it does add considerable weight to the overall package.

The bolt action is a curious design and is nothing like a conventional two lug bolt action design that is so common on bolt action rifles. No is it like any Mauser 98 derivative. The stroke is short, as is the bolt rotation, and these attributes allow for fairly rapid follow-up shots, especially as the recoil is tamed by the muzzlebrake and the weight of the rifle which is near 13.5 lbs with optics.

The rifles were only chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Win) and the barrels were nearly 29″ (counting the muzzlebrake). Obviously, because they were based on a super match rifle, accuracy is very good and the rifles were marketed to both Law Enforcement and Militaries around the world. Israel was one of those customers that employed the SP66. The rifles stayed in production until the 1980s and was eventually replaced by the SR86.

We acquired our rifle seen here about seven years ago from a private party and it came complete with the matching scope. The eyepiece ring on the scope is missing in the pictures below, but we have it. This rifle was not one of the Israeli rifles brought in by Springfield Armory, which is where most of the rifles found in the USA today came from. Our rifle has been shot, it was certainly not a safe queen, but it is still in very good condition and the action is extremely smooth. It is very interesting to watch the bolt as you cycle it and marvel at the engineering that was involved. Perhaps it is more complex than it needed to be, but it worked. Our rifle is missing the Mauser logo on the right hand side of the buttstock, though you can see exactly where it used to be due to the lighter colored wood.

We really like this rifle as it kind of bridged the gap between the old generation and new generation sniper rifles. They saw action around the world and the build quality and accuracy was very high. We are proud to have this one in our Sniper Central Collection.

Estimated Value: $2800

15 Comments

Alvin Burns

Your estimated value is WAY off. An Israeli 66 SP with Nimrod and IDF carry case with exterior serial number brings $6,500. The other trashy 66 SP units that were imported disassembled and later reassembled bring less according to damage and wear and tear, but even the worst bring. More than your estimated vue.

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mele-02

Thanks for the updated numbers. There are not a lot of them that come up for sale, so it is difficult to get accurate numbers
MEL

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Paul

The one you have there appears to NOT have been “reconditioned” Stock stippling has not been touched by people who cannot cut a straight line and followed the original pattern. I was in Israel in the late 70’s and had the opportunity to shoot one of these rifles. Smooth action, I would have liked a bit more scope but it still shot well. If you had the scope eyepiece to someone who remembers that time the ability to just hold it for a while would be of value.

Geoff Robinson

Very nice example of a beautiful well thought out weapon. You have an example with one of the better scope and tripod set-ups. (as you probably know those components varied) Doesn’t the feel of the weight matched with the wide stock have a unique feel. I am glad you mentioned your rifle has been fired, probably quite a bit. The IDF only had about 100 or so of these. Any soldier equipped to use one of these as a sniper tool spent hours at a range fairly regularly just shooting to keep skills at 100%. Even though they were shot, they were carefully, lovingly, thoroughly cared for so they would function flawlessly when used. I know you appreciate what you have.
שלום חבריי

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Bud Chapman

Hello,

Let me know, if you change your mind. There are more bare stocks than complete guns, in the U.S. I’d like to have a stock, if you hear of one.

Thanks! Bud Chapman 720-205-4800

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Sam

“There was never a left handed version of the rifle made and it is unusable by lefties.”

Not true. A lefty can certainly use this rifle. Just not comfortably like a right-handed person could. But to say it’s unusable, is inherently false.

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mele-02

Okay, that is a fair point. It certainly COULD be fired left handed, but it would be extremely uncomfortable and you would have to do some impressive contortions to cycle it 🙂

MEL

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