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Steyr SM 12 SL

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Pivot Mounts without Bases
One Piece Pivot Mounts
Pivot Mount Bases

The History of Steyr

The story of Steyr Mannlicher began in 1821 when Leopold Werndl, a blacksmith, started manufacturing iron parts for firearms in the city of Steyr. His son Josef Werndl took over his business and founded the 'Josef und Franz Werndl & Comp. Waffenfabrik und Sägemühle in Oberletten ' in 1864. In the following years, he played a crucial role in the development of several rifles, including the straight pull-rifles M. 85 and M. 86. At the beginning of the 20th century, the engineers Ferdinand Mannlicher and Otto Schönauer developed the Original Mannlicher Schönauer, a legendary hunting rifle, the production of which took place until 1973. The company grew over the years and reached a production capability of 4.000 firearms per day before World War I. After the War, Steyr was prohibited from firearm manufacturing after the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed. To avoid going bankrupt, they used their knowledge and machinery to manufacture cars, bicycles, motorcycles, tractors, trucks, dynamos, electric motors, and other things (they were not allowed to resume firearm production until 1930). In 1926, the company’s name was changed to Steyr-Werke AG. It merged with Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke AG in 1934 to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG. Both Austro-Daimler (previously a subsidiary of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft) and Puch (founded by the Slovenian inventor and mechanic Janez Puh) were active in the automobile industry, with Puch also manufacturing bicycles, motorcycles, and mopeds.

They even employed Ferdinand Porsche for a time – he made several contributions to the company – one of them was designing an air-cooled 3.5 L V8 engine for the Steyr RSO Raupenschlepper Ost tracked vehicle. Steyr is known for modifying Fiat cars and adding their engines to some of the models (Steyr-Fiat 1100 Mod E and Fiat 1400, for example). In 1972, they cooperated with Mercedes in the design of Puch G, also known as Mercedes Benz G-class.

During World War II, the company focused on firearm, vehicle, aviation engine, and ball-bearing production for the German military. After a short firearm manufacturing ban after the end of the War, Steyr resumed the production of arms in 1950. In the years that followed, they presented many innovative firearms such as StG 77 (also known as Steyr AUG), an assault rifle with a bullpup design; SSG 69, which was ahead of its time after its release in 1969, and many others. In 1989, Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG broke up into different sectors; Steyr Mannlicher AG became independent. The company has strived to be internationally oriented, so it changed its name to Steyr Arms in 2019.

Steyr SM 12 SL Rifle Review 

Steyr introduced the SM 12, a rifle of the bolt-action type, in 2012. Its steel receiver houses the unique Safe Bolt with four frontal locking lugs. There are grooves on the side of the push-feed bolt body so that it continues to operate smoothly in adverse conditions. A patented safety bushing encases the extractor, additionally contributing to the safety of use. There are multiple gas ports on the bolt.

The SM 12 is equipped with Steyr’s Hand Cocking System which allows the user to manually cock the internal firing mechanism using a thumb. The trigger is smooth, adjustable, and secure. It can be pushed forwards to activate an even lighter trigger pull. The magazine holds four rounds, except for the magnum versions which have a 3-shot capacity. The non-magnum models’ barrel length is either 508 mm or 558 mm (depends on the variant), while the magnum SM12 rifles’ barrel measures 635 mm.

steyr sm 12 sl

Figure 1: Steyr SM 12 SL in .223 Rem. (SL model) (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9VWxbZJQWo)

Steyr SM 12 SL Calibers

The SL (Super Leicht) model is chambered for the following calibers:

  • .222 Rem.

  • .223 Rem.

Steyr SM 12 SL Variants

The rifle is available in the following variants:

Mountain and Mountain SX*

*SX models come with a polymer stock.

All other SM 12 action lengths:

There are six holes for mounting purposes on SM 12’s receiver, 3 on the front, and 3 on the rear mounting surface. There is no difference in height between the surfaces.

steyr sm 12 sl

Figure 2: The receiver of Steyr CL II SL (B: 56 mm) – the mounting surface is the same as with Steyr SM 12 SL (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1J3OwY64LE)

Skica dimenzij

A1: 11.84 mm

A: 10 mm

B: 56 mm

C: 11.84 mm

C1: 10 mm

BHU: 0 mm

Ø: 6-48

R1: R35

R2: R35

Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Steyr SM 12 SL

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Steyr SM 12 SL

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension. Rifles that have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Steyr SM 12 SL are the following:

  • Steyr Pro Hunter SL

  • Steyr Classic SL

  • Steyr CL II SL

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Steyr SM 12 SL

For two-piece scope mounts to be interchangeable, the mounting surfaces of the rifles must match in every dimension except the action length which can vary. This is because the distance between the two pieces of the mount is not fixed. Rifles that have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Steyr SM 12 SL are the following:

  • Steyr Mannlicher Classic SL

  • Steyr Mannlicher Classic L

  • Steyr Mannlicher Classic M

  • Steyr Mannlicher Classic S

  • Steyr CL II L

  • Steyr CL II M

  • Steyr CL II S

  • Steyr CL II SL

  • Steyr SM12 L

  • Steyr SM12 M

  • Steyr SM12 S

  • Steyr Pro Hunter SL after 2003

  • Steyr Pro Hunter L after 2003

  • Steyr Pro Hunter M after 2003

  • Steyr Pro Hunter S after 2003

  • Steyr Pro Hunter S before 2003

  • Steyr Pro Hunter M before 2003

  • Steyr Pro Hunter L before 2003

  • Sako A7 S

  • Sako A7 M

  • Browning A-Bolt LA

  • Browning A-Bolt SA

  • Browning A-Bolt II LA

  • Browning A-Bolt II SA

  • Browning Eurobolt LA

  • Browning Eurobolt SA

Should you have any additional information regarding possible mount matches, please contact us. We will gladly accept your help and expand our database accordingly.

Best Scope Mounts for Steyr SM 12 SL

Fixed Scope Mounts for Steyr SM 12 SL

MAKfix Rings are the most suitable fixed mounting solution for Steyr SM 12 SL. They are simple to install, reliable, and recoil resistant.

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Steyr SM 12 SL

This two-piece, steel pivot mount made by Recknagel is a perfect choice for SM 12 SL (Super Leicht).

Picatinny Rails for Steyr SM 12 SL

When choosing a Picatinny rail for Steyr SM 12 SL, you need to keep an eye on the distance between the holes on the rail. There are a few manufacturers which produce Picatinny rails for Steyr SM 12 SL (B distance of 56 mm). EAW's steel Picatinny rail is an excellent choice as it perfectly matches SM 12's steel receiver.  

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu  

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VIDEO

Pivot mounts are a special kind of repeatable mounts that are especially popular in Europe and mainly produced by European manufacturers. Most notable among them are German Companies like EAW (Ernst Apel Wurzburg), Recknagel, Henneberger and MAK. These Companies were also among the first to produce mounts of this type. Non German companies like Rusan are also following this trend.

Main benefits of pivot mounts, or swing mounts as they are sometimes called are:

  • 100% repeatability,
  • very quick and easy detaching and reattaching,
  • extremely durable; most mounts of this kind are tested on 10000 or more reattachments,
  • size and weight; light and small, elegant.

There are also some minor weaknesses that such mounts posses and they are: they are usually more expensive than other types of mounts, the installation on the rifle should be done by a skilled gunsmith and most of these mounts are higher than 14 mm.

A distinct feature of pivot/swing mounts is the way the scope attaches to the rifle. The front foot of the mount on the scope is inserted in the front base under a 90 degrees angle to the barrel. Then the entire scope is pivoted around the front base until it is locked into position by the rear base.

Pivot mounts of all types enable windage correction on the rear base at the time of the mounts installation. There are three main types of pivot mounts which are distinguished by the type of the rear base:

  • EAW style rear base: produced by EAW and Rusan,
  • Dovetail rail base: produced by Recknagel, Henneberger, MAK and others.
  • Leupold type rear base