The Steyr Pro THB 6.5 Creedmoor Rifle Tackles 1,000 Yards With Ease

Steyr Pro THB 6.5 Creedmoor review, rifle, Lauren Young range — Packed with features found on rifles costing four times as much, the Steyr Pro THB stands ready to take you to 1,000 yards and beyond.

Steyr Pro THB 6.5 Creedmoor review, rifle test — Ever check out the Steyr SSG 08? The Pro THB has the exact same trigger.

Steyr Pro THB 6.5 Creedmoor review, rifle, Lauren Young aiming — Guess what else is identical to the SSG 08? The barrel. The 25-inch, cold hammer-forged barrel has a four groove, 1-in-8 twist that comes factory threaded in 5/8-24 RH threads.

Many of us dream of owning a 1,000-yard gun. We would love to be able to reach out on a deer hunt or start competing and take that leap into long distance shooting. Inevitably, cost and lack of flexibility in the design, keeps us from pulling the trigger — both literally and figuratively. This is where the Steyr Pro THB 6.5 Creedmoor comes in.

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On Target

I recently got my hands on the new Steyr Pro THB (Tactical Heavy Barrel) chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor at the 2018 Athlon Outdoor Rendezvous in Montana.

Within 20 minutes, Mike Nischalke from Hunter Outdoor Communications had me consistently dinging a 12×18-inch steel plate at 1,000 yards. I shot from a Caldwell Lead Sled on a portable, DOA Shooting Bench.

In my last sniper training, we took five days to get out to 800 yards. This was impressive.

SSG 08 Similarities

The THB Pro is the evolution that began with the Steyr Pro Hunter. Almost unassuming in its appearance, it comes with features that are identical to Steyr’s top of the line sniper rifles.

Ever check out the Steyr SSG 08? The Pro THB has the exact same trigger. They list it at 3 pounds 8 ounces, but the one I shot averaged just below 3 pounds on an incredibly crisp, two-stage.

Guess what else is identical to the SSG 08? The barrel. The 25-inch, cold hammer-forged barrel has a four groove, 1-in-8 twist that comes factory threaded in 5/8-24 RH threads.

The outside of the barrel is contoured, then hammers forge the steel around the mandrel. The barrel is cut to length and it is manually chambered.

Steyr’s legendary quality comes from the consistency in its machining and production. Nischalke talked about getting different rifles from the factory, taking the scope off one and placing it on another and finding it was nearly sighted in with zero adjustments.

Endless Features

The Pro THB ships in a polymer stock with aluminum pillar bedding. It has spacers to change the length of pull, but not a lot of other features. This keeps it light which is nice if this is going to be a long-distance hunting rifle.

If you want a few more bells and whistles, both Manners and MacMillan have tactical stocks in production that offer moveable cheek rests and heavier platforms.

The four-round magazine on the Pro THB has two positions. The first position keeps it in the gun, but sits too low for the bolt to pick up a new round when it is cycled. This position allows a shooter to thumb in individual rounds. Want it to feed automatically? Just click it the rest of the way in and you are good to go. Steyr also has a 10-round adaption kit if you think four rounds won’t be enough.

2+1 Position Safety

Steyr calls the safety the 2+1 Position Safety system. It is mounted on the tang behind the bolt so it is naturally ambidextrous. All the way forward, you see the red dot for “fire.” One click back, you see a white dot for “safe,” but the bolt can still be worked.

One more click back and a gray button pops up on the safety. This locks the bolt. A light push down on the bolt handle takes the Safe Bolt System slightly out of battery and acts as a drop safety so a round can stay in the chamber. Simply push down on the gray button as you work the action and the bolt can be removed for cleaning the gun or storage. Sound complicated? It is intuitive in about 30 seconds.

Other features include a 60-degree bolt throw, four locking lugs, a full body bolt, and a collet inside that absorbs the energy in the event of overpressure. A 20 MOA Picatinny rail comes standard. It can be replaced with an SSG 08 A1 rail if you want to attach night vision.

Packed with features found on rifles costing four times as much, the Steyr Pro THB stands ready to take you to 1,000 yards and beyond.

MSRP on the Steyr Pro THB is $1,595.

For more information, please visit SteyrArms.com.