Heckler & Koch PSG-1

The Heckler & Koch PSG-1 is a semi-automatic sniper rifle. It is made by the German gun company Heckler & Koch. PSG-1 is a shortening of the German word Präzisionsschützengewehr-1, or literally the "precision-shooting rifle". It fires the 7.62x51mm NATO bullet. It is based on the G3 rifle. The Munich massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics showed the need for West German police and counter-terrorists to have a precision rifle, which West Germany did not have at the time.

The PSG-1 was extremely accurate for its time and it was semi-automatic. It was very expensive around $10.000. This was the case because of the need for very tight manufacturing tolerances to improve accuracy, this complicates manufacturing and therefore raising the cost.

However, its heavy weight, high price, lack of versatility, and its ease of jamming made the rifle not very practical, so it was eventually replaced by other sniper rifles. However, its unique look made it a popular weapon in video games. It appeared in games like the Metal Gear series, the Call of Duty series, the Rainbow Six series, and Resident Evil 5.

References

Category:7.62 mm rifles
Category:Rifles of the Cold War