The Steyr HS .50 is a .50 BMG single-shot anti-materiel sniper rifle manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher. The rifle is also available in the proprietary .460 Steyr round, developed for markets where ownership of the .50 BMG by private citizens is banned, but .46 rounds are not, such as California and Australia. This version is known as the HS .460.

The rifle made headlines when Steyr sold up to 800 rifles to Iran in 2005. There was a large amount of concern in the United States, United Kingdom, and, to a lesser extent, other European countries that the rifles would find their way into Iraq and be used against the Iraqi Army or Coalition forces. Nevertheless, the sale was approved by the Austrian government in November 2004, citing Iran's declared intention to deploy the weapon with anti-terror and counter-drug units.

In February 2007, The Daily Telegraph reported that American sources claimed to have recovered more than 100 of the rifles from insurgents in Iraq. The first American soldier killed with one occurred within 45 days of the shipment. However, according to Steyr CEO Franz Holzschuh, nobody has contacted the manufacturer to compare serial numbers and verify if the weapons found in Iraq really were part of the Iranian shipment. According to Steyr, patents for the HS .50 ran out years ago, and fraudulent copies are produced in several countries of the world. The Daily Telegraph admitted in April 2007 that it was not able to verify the story.

The U.S. Central Command announced late 2007 that no Austrian rifle had been found or seized in Iraq as reported by the Austrian journal "Wiener Zeitung" on March 29.

References

External links

• Official page

See also

• Steyr Scout
• Steyr SSG 69