DESIGN
The AUG was designed in the late 1960’s to
replace the FAL in use with the Austrian
army. AUG stands for ‘Armee Universal Gewehr’
or ‘universal army rifle’. The decision was
made to use the new 5.56mm NATO round. Also
a second important decision was made: the
new rifle would have a bull-pup design. That
means that the trigger and pistol grip is
placed in front of the magazine. The bull-pup
design has the advantage of a long barrel
and a short overall length. Like other new
5.56mm weapons, the AUG used a lot of plastic
instead of metal. Plastics are lighter, do
not corrode, are cheaper, easier to manufacture
and they don’t get as cold as metal in artic
conditions. One of the special features of
the AUG is the trigger group, or the lack
of it. There is no selector to switch between
semi-auto and full-auto. If you squeeze the
trigger a bit, a single shot will be fired,
when you squeeze harder it will fire fully
automatic. There are four versions of the
AUG. The only thing that is different is
the barrel length and gas system. There are
two versions of the 5.56mm AUG. The A1 and
A2. The A1 has a 1.5x scope, which cannot
be removed. The A2 is also fitted with the
same scope, but it can be removed and replaced
with a Picatinny-rail, which can mount any
scope or sighting system. Later an AUG was
developed for the police and law enforcement,
using the 9mm round. It is much more accurate
than a normal 9mm SMG, like the UMP and UZI,
because of its bull-pup design and thus longer
barrel. |
| The AUG 9mm is often called AUG Para. It
isn’t designed for the paratroopers (like
the Minimi Para), but it is called Para because
of its 9mm round, the 9mm Parabellum. It
uses the same plastic housing as the AUG
and uses a magazine adapter for the 9mm magazines.
Any 5.56mm AUG can be converted in 10 minutes
to the AUG Para. The AUG Para has some drawbacks:
the magazine holds only 25 rounds, the rate
of fire is quite low and last but not least,
the Para has no open iron sights. |
| The AUG fitted with a 13.8” barrel. The name
‘Commando’ is not an official name, but it
is used a lot to distinguish it from other
AUG’s. This variant is not seen often. It
is only 5cm shorter and a lot less effective
than the AUG Carbine. The Commando’s lower
muzzle velocity than the AUG Carbine makes
a silencer more effective on the AUG Commando.
The more common AUG with a 16” barrel is
called AUG Carbine. It is used by vehicle
crews and other non-combat personnel. A grenade
launcher cannot be fitted, but a silencer
can. |
| The basic infantry rifle, using a 20” barrel.
It can be fitted with a version of the M203
specially made for the AUG. The long barrel
makes a silencer useless. The AUG Rifle is
the most common version, while the Carbine
is only 10cm shorter and has a much shorter
range. |
| The AUG fitted with a 24.4” barrel. The 24”
barrel has a bipod attached to it. This version
is designed as a light support weapon, but
the A2 version is also used as a sniper rifle.
Depending on the source H-Bar or H-BAR means
Heavy-Barrel or Heavy-Barrel Assault Rifle. |
PERFORMANCE
The AUG is a fine weapon. It is quite accurate
and the trigger system allows the user to
quickly adapt the rate of fire to the situation.
The translucent magazines allow the user
to see how much ammunition is left. The magazines
are strong and won’t cause any jams. Changing
a barrel and thus changing into an other
variant is very easy. It’s bull-pup design
makes the weapon very small, the AUG H-Bar
is 10% shorter than the M16! One of the problems
with bull-pup weapons is that they are less
controllable while firing full-automatic
than their counterparts. That problem troubles
the AUG even more because it is not very
comfortable to hold.
USE
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named Stg.77 (Sturmgewehr 1977) Standard
army rifle. |
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used by Dutch special forces, because the
FAL was too cumbersome. When the Diemaco
C7 and C8 were introduced, the old AUG’s
were put out of service. |
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US Coast Guard |
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