By Infrared







The Steyr AUG (Armee Universal Gewehr, or Army Universal Gun) is an odd looking but well-designed rifle from Austria. It's of a bull pup design, which means the weapon's barrel goes over the trigger and grip assembly and back into the stock, and the receiver and magazine are behind the grip rather than in front of it as on conventional rifles. This design makes the weapon a lot more compact while retaining a given barrel length to maintain accuracy. There are several variants of the AUG on the market including the AUG military (with a greenish stock and built-in scope), and the police version, which has a black stock and a weaver scope mount so one can attach whatever optics fit one's situation. There is also a 9mm version of the AUG. One can get different barrel lengths for the AUG from shorty barrels that barely stick out in front of the fore grip to long, heavy sniper/light machine gun barrels. Tokyo Marui has both the AUG Military and the AUG Police in its line of AEGs, and I will be covering the Military version in this review.



Appearance:



This Airsoft looks impressive as soon as you open the box. The magazine is a translucent brown color and has round count markings like on a real AUG magazine. The stock looks correct - it's got a nice dull olive drab finish to it, and comes with a reversible ejection port cover like the real one so you can change the rifle from right-handed to left-handed use. The finish on the foregrip perfectly matches the rest of the stock, as does the finish on the cocking lever. The finish on the metal is a nice even black, and the flash suppressor, gas regulator, and scope look fantastic. Also in this design are a couple of sling swivels which will accept any standard rifle sling. TM has done a great job detailing this Airsoft.



Function:



The AUG Military is heavy - almost as heavy as the real thing. That's because half of it is metal - the receiver, scope mount, long barrel, piston/motor assembly, and so forth. The AUG is back heavy, as are all bull pup design rifles, but this characteristic allows the AUG to be shouldered and aimed using one hand. If, for some reason, you want to run through a tournament with an AEG in each hand, the AUG would be a good choice. The standard magazine holds 75 rounds (I believe), and I understand there are 300 round hi-caps available, which would be handy. The Hop-up system is present on the AUG, but it's not as easy to adjust as on the MP5 series. On the MP5s there's a little lever poking up from the handguard on the left side. On the AUG, you have to pull back the cocking lever and lock it back so the ejection port opens up, and reach inside with the tip of a finger and rotate a plastic ring to adjust the Hop-up. The ejection port is reversible, like on a real AUG, by removing the cover from the left side of the gun and replacing it over the right side ejection port. The Hop-up is accessible through both ejection ports.



The scope on the AUG is a two-power Tasco model designed after the original AUG's optics (which are probably made by Zeiss). It has standard cross hairs but in the center where the cross hairs would normally meet there's a ring. This would help for fast target acquisition in skirmishing situations, but would not be the best for precision work such as long-range sniping or target practice. On top of the scope is a set of iron sights consisting of a front blade and two rear blades. If your scope is damaged or there's not enough light to use the scope, or even if you just want faster target acquisition, you can use these sights. The rifle seems to shoot a bit low at ten yards with the open sights when the rifle's scope is sighted in.



There is no fire selector switch on the AUG, just like the real one. The two-stage trigger determines fire control. If you pull the trigger halfway back, you get a single shot. If you pull the trigger farther back, you get full-auto. Pretty neat design, but you have to pull the trigger back quickly all the way if you want full-auto, otherwise you get that single shot and a split-second pause before the automatic fire begins. When being fired, the motor and piston noise can be a little distracting since this assembly lies just beneath your cheek if the weapon is shoulder-aimed. The safety is well thought-out, and is particularly effective if you're a right-handed shooter. When the weapon is on safe, the square safety protrudes from the right side of the gun and digs into your hand, providing instant knowledge of the weapon's condition. To put the weapon on fire, simply press the safety in with your hand and the right side lies flush with the stock and the left side now sticks out. To safe the weapon, push the safety on the left side with your thumb.



The AUG's takedown is relatively simple. I believe it follows the takedown of a real AUG, which is pretty impressive. You can remove just the barrel for cleaning or to switch if you've got another barrel, and you can remove the receiver/scope assembly from the stock for cleaning, upgrading, etc. The AUG military comes with the EG700 motor which is a step up from the MP5's EG560 motor. The 700 has more torque and generally a higher rate of fire but the rate of fire on the AUG hasn't changed because the piston is larger to account for the volume of air it has to displace in the long barrel in order to fire a BB. However, you can get a shorty barrel and a faster piston to upgrade your AUG, and give it an "irresponsible rate of fire" as one previous reviewer put it.



Accuracy:



The AUG's long barrel (around twenty inches) allows for good accuracy. With standard .2g BBs, The AUG was easy to sight in and was printing less than two-inch groups in semi-auto mode at ten yards. Adjusting the Hop-up too far I've noticed adversely affects accuracy and pellets start going all over the place. Once sighted in, a full magazine on full-auto chewed the center of the target nicely. And in semi-auto with .25g BBs, the AUG shot a nice tight group, but a bit lower than the .2g BBs. This can be corrected either by adjusting the Hop-up or the scope.



8.5x11" target fired at ten yards semi-auto, approximately 75 rounds .2g, sighting in(note: hits marked with diagonal lines are from group four, where the Hop-up had been adjusted too far)



8.5x11" target fired at ten yards full auto, approximately 75 rounds .2g



8.5x11" target fired at ten yards semi-auto, approximately 75 rounds .25g



Overall Impressions:



The AUG is about 20% more expensive than a "common" AEG like the MP5 series (just over $400 for a new one without battery, as opposed to $330 for an MP5A5 without battery at the time of this writing), but it's of overall nicer quality. It's got a lot of metal in it and is sturdily built. It's accurate and comfortable to fire, and maintenance is simple due to the level of takedown that can be achieved without tools. The AUG would be great for outdoor use, and it would be well suited to indoor CQB as well since it's pretty compact.



- Infrared