[5] The heart of the SSG 82 is a cold-hammer forged receiver and free-floating barrel with a semi-bull profile and features a target crown.

[2] The detachable 5-round box magazine is based upon center feeding for maximum reliability as well as precise positioning of the cartridge into the chamber.

The SSG 82 wooden stock resembles that of the Small bore Standard rifle 150 with a raised comb and a stippled pistol grip and forearm.

The rifle has no iron sights but is equipped with a 4×32 telescopic sight ("Ziel4/S" 4×32 scope, reticle 1) with mounting rails made by VEB Zeiss Jena (in the original Zeiss plant that was captured by the Soviets at the end of WWII) which is numbered to the rifle and mounted using a quick detachable Suhler claw mountbase.

[3] This was a basic model of the VEB Zeiss Jena telescopic sight line as 6×36, 6×42M, 8×56M and variable 1.5–6×39, 1.5–6×42M and 3–12×56M magnification variants were also available.