Post by longbow on Sept 10, 2005 0:18:59 GMT 8
Review: Tokyo Marui Steyr AUG Civilian By Chrispy
The Armee Universal Gewehr, (or Army Universal Rifle/AUG) was first made by Steyr (an Austrian company) in the 1970's, but still looks very futuristic today. Many people despise its looks, but just as many love it. It's a bullpup rifle, meaning that the magazine is located behind the trigger, allowing for a much longer barrel. Also, the AUG was designed to be very user friendly, with an ambidextrous magazine release, safety, fire-select method, among other features.
First Impressions:
The gun came in a typical Tokyo Marui box, complete with Japanese scribbles and a large "HOP UP" badge adorning the box. Of course, I didn't spend a whole lot of time staring at the box; I paid for the GUN!
After lifting off the top, I was greeted with the flat black of the Civilian AUG, but more obvious to me was the shimmering orange plastic tip. Before even touching any of the other contents of the box, I was bent on getting it removed and replacing it with the beautiful metal flash-hider included with the gun.
Finally, after unscrewing the orange flash-hider and replacing it with the gorgeous metal one, I examined the other items in the box. A BB loading tube is included (I think it holds about 50 BBs. Since the standard magazine included with the gun holds 70, it's worth it to fill the tube twice), along with 200 .25g BBs. These truly are more accurate than average .2g BB's, but much more expensive. The box also contained a red, soft plastic barrel plug.
Construction
After I got through the included accessories, I pulled out the gun for closer examining. This rifle is HEAVY. Supposedly, it is Tokyo Marui's heaviest stock AEG, and most of the weight seems to be in the back. This is offset by the full metal receiver, which spans from just over the trigger all the way to the muzzle. Despite this, the rear still pulls down, and several skirmishes (even with a sling) have proven this gun to be quite stressful on the arms.
A nice feature of this gun is the speedy takedown. There is a large metal pin in the midsection of the gun, and when pushed out, the receiver slides off the rest of the gun, revealing the Hop Up mechanism and barrel immediately.
I also found that one can remove solely the outer/inner barrels and vertical foregrip by pulling back the charging handle and sliding a small lever beneath the receiver back. While holding those two parts in position, a nice tug on the grip/barrel will slide those parts out painlessly. This leaves the receiver still in place, and is much easier to reassemble.
I also checked out the metal weaver rail that is included on the Civilian version of the AUG. On the Military edition, an integrated 2x15mm scope is used. Personally, I find that scope useless and not versatile enough. If your way-too-small integrated scope breaks, you're left without optics. (Also, that gun is now discontinued.) When I first bought the gun, I had no scope. I had my eye on a red dot, but until I could get my hands on one, I used the included flip-up sights. These sights are made of plastic, yet are very firm in both the up and down positions. They hook on to the weaver rail, and are tightened with a Phillips head screwdriver.
Hop-Up is adjusted in the typical Marui fashion, by rotating a small cylinder inside the gun with the thumb or forefinger. To access the Hop-Up adjustment, you pull back on the charging handle (located on the left of the receiver) and lock it into position, as you would with an MP5. This opens the chamber’s two hatches, one of which is situated on each side of the stock. The gun includes a rubber plate, which you can use to cover either hatch. This makes it so you can access the Hop Up from either side, making it perfect for southpaws.
Now, the most distinctive feature of this gun is the fire selector (or lack thereof). On this AEG you select between semi and full auto using the trigger. After about 4 lbs of force, a BB is fired in semi auto, and a distinct click is felt. With a bit more finger-pressure, fully automatic fire is engaged. Personally, I love this system and I find it completely intuitive.
The magazine is made of semi-transparent, brownish plastic, and this allows you to see how many BB's remain in the magazine. I’ve found changing mags to be much easier, as you reach down under your arm. It feels more secure to me, as I don’t find myself fumbling with magazines way out past my trigger.
One Note: the hi-cap magazines are made of a semi-transparent plastic as well, albeit a bit darker, making it difficult to determine how many rounds remain within.
Finally, the AUG includes a vertical handgrip, which folds under the gun at the base of the outer barrel. People have been reporting the handle as flimsy, and I can confirm these reports. It makes an odd, hollow “Twang” when its position is changed. I’d recommend not moving it up or down too often; I’ve kept mine in the lowered position, and so far it hasn’t had wobbling problems.
How's it Shoot?
This gun fired essentially the way I’d expected it to. People had talked about its long effective range, since it has one of the longer AEG barrels, and I was pleased to see that this was true. The accuracy was significantly better than my friend’s Sig 552, with the AUG achieving a 6” grouping from 50 feet (10 shots on semi) but a 7” grouping in a 10 shot burst on full auto. I used my BSA red dot to aim during this test.
NOTE: After a barrel-cleaning with the included rod and a swab of cotton, the groupings got down to 1.5" on semi, and closer to 2" on full. The piece of cloth was smeared a disgusting brown when removed.
The gun fires at about 280 fps, which is basically the same as the other Marui guns.
The motor is an EG700, which provides a nice rate of fire in its stock form.
I left the spring in my hi-cap compressed for about a week, and this gave me feeding problems. However, before I messed up the hi-cap, the gun fed flawlessly. The standard magazine still performs perfectly.
In Skirmishing
I took this gun to my first game two days after I had it fitted with a PDI 170% spring, along with the custom AUG battery from OnlyBatteryPacks. I found that with about 4 players to a team on a very large plot of land, two hi-caps served me perfectly. The 300 round capacity is definitely enough to keep you going in the field, and the magazine shape is perfect for most tactical vests.
By the end of the evening (about 1AM), the AUG felt like an extension of my body. Because of its back-heavy nature, the weight tucked against my shoulder felt completely secure. I've played many skirmishes with my G36, and with that weapon, I always feel like I'm swinging around the front end with the battery and magazine up there. The AUG, on the other hand, has highly superior target acquisition, which is fast and easy.
One flaw, though, is that the optics rail isn't quite high enough from the spine of the gun. With shooting glasses, the cheek elevation is perfect. However, since the majority of us play with paintball masks, I was disappointed to find that I had to cram my cheek up against my mask to glimpse my attached red dot.
Other players noticed something that hadn't even occured to me: This gun is QUIET, from a distance. You'd never guess this if you're firing it, since your head is right next to the gearbox, but the other players all remarked that they couldn't hear motor noise, and only the popping noise of the BB leaving the barrel (which I've since eliminated with a KSC silencer). While the P90 is often condsidered the quietest AEG, the AUG is arguably just as silent to those receiving its plastic rain.
Conclusions
This gun is rather back-heavy, but it’s the best I’ve handled. It easily lives up to my expectations with its accuracy, and the construction of the receiver and stock truly impressed me. Included scope mount, easy takedown, intuitive fire-select, and an immense barrel in a small package.. All the features work together to make one versatile, durable AEG.
Modification for Larger Batteries
One of the biggest gripes people have about the AUG is its lack of battery space. I've talked to many players who assumed the AUG uses a large battery because of its massive stock; this is not the case. Instead, we only get about an inch and a half in the back of the gun to put in batteries! However, there's a way to give yourself more battery space without any external modification!
When the gun arrives, there is a plate holding the gearbox in place. While this is a very important piece of plastic, the whole thing isn't necessary. We're going to remove this plate and cut off the areas highlighted in red:
Now, the inside of the buttstock should look like this:
With this work done, the fusebox and plugs can be shoved in there, and those awesome custom batteries from OnlyBatteryPacks will fit easily! Now, we get 9.6v 1950mAh batteries instead of 8.4v 1100mAh, which is the largest that the stock gun will hold. This is necessary for running larger springs or other high-level upgrades.
The Armee Universal Gewehr, (or Army Universal Rifle/AUG) was first made by Steyr (an Austrian company) in the 1970's, but still looks very futuristic today. Many people despise its looks, but just as many love it. It's a bullpup rifle, meaning that the magazine is located behind the trigger, allowing for a much longer barrel. Also, the AUG was designed to be very user friendly, with an ambidextrous magazine release, safety, fire-select method, among other features.
First Impressions:
The gun came in a typical Tokyo Marui box, complete with Japanese scribbles and a large "HOP UP" badge adorning the box. Of course, I didn't spend a whole lot of time staring at the box; I paid for the GUN!
After lifting off the top, I was greeted with the flat black of the Civilian AUG, but more obvious to me was the shimmering orange plastic tip. Before even touching any of the other contents of the box, I was bent on getting it removed and replacing it with the beautiful metal flash-hider included with the gun.
Finally, after unscrewing the orange flash-hider and replacing it with the gorgeous metal one, I examined the other items in the box. A BB loading tube is included (I think it holds about 50 BBs. Since the standard magazine included with the gun holds 70, it's worth it to fill the tube twice), along with 200 .25g BBs. These truly are more accurate than average .2g BB's, but much more expensive. The box also contained a red, soft plastic barrel plug.
Construction
After I got through the included accessories, I pulled out the gun for closer examining. This rifle is HEAVY. Supposedly, it is Tokyo Marui's heaviest stock AEG, and most of the weight seems to be in the back. This is offset by the full metal receiver, which spans from just over the trigger all the way to the muzzle. Despite this, the rear still pulls down, and several skirmishes (even with a sling) have proven this gun to be quite stressful on the arms.
A nice feature of this gun is the speedy takedown. There is a large metal pin in the midsection of the gun, and when pushed out, the receiver slides off the rest of the gun, revealing the Hop Up mechanism and barrel immediately.
I also found that one can remove solely the outer/inner barrels and vertical foregrip by pulling back the charging handle and sliding a small lever beneath the receiver back. While holding those two parts in position, a nice tug on the grip/barrel will slide those parts out painlessly. This leaves the receiver still in place, and is much easier to reassemble.
I also checked out the metal weaver rail that is included on the Civilian version of the AUG. On the Military edition, an integrated 2x15mm scope is used. Personally, I find that scope useless and not versatile enough. If your way-too-small integrated scope breaks, you're left without optics. (Also, that gun is now discontinued.) When I first bought the gun, I had no scope. I had my eye on a red dot, but until I could get my hands on one, I used the included flip-up sights. These sights are made of plastic, yet are very firm in both the up and down positions. They hook on to the weaver rail, and are tightened with a Phillips head screwdriver.
Hop-Up is adjusted in the typical Marui fashion, by rotating a small cylinder inside the gun with the thumb or forefinger. To access the Hop-Up adjustment, you pull back on the charging handle (located on the left of the receiver) and lock it into position, as you would with an MP5. This opens the chamber’s two hatches, one of which is situated on each side of the stock. The gun includes a rubber plate, which you can use to cover either hatch. This makes it so you can access the Hop Up from either side, making it perfect for southpaws.
Now, the most distinctive feature of this gun is the fire selector (or lack thereof). On this AEG you select between semi and full auto using the trigger. After about 4 lbs of force, a BB is fired in semi auto, and a distinct click is felt. With a bit more finger-pressure, fully automatic fire is engaged. Personally, I love this system and I find it completely intuitive.
The magazine is made of semi-transparent, brownish plastic, and this allows you to see how many BB's remain in the magazine. I’ve found changing mags to be much easier, as you reach down under your arm. It feels more secure to me, as I don’t find myself fumbling with magazines way out past my trigger.
One Note: the hi-cap magazines are made of a semi-transparent plastic as well, albeit a bit darker, making it difficult to determine how many rounds remain within.
Finally, the AUG includes a vertical handgrip, which folds under the gun at the base of the outer barrel. People have been reporting the handle as flimsy, and I can confirm these reports. It makes an odd, hollow “Twang” when its position is changed. I’d recommend not moving it up or down too often; I’ve kept mine in the lowered position, and so far it hasn’t had wobbling problems.
How's it Shoot?
This gun fired essentially the way I’d expected it to. People had talked about its long effective range, since it has one of the longer AEG barrels, and I was pleased to see that this was true. The accuracy was significantly better than my friend’s Sig 552, with the AUG achieving a 6” grouping from 50 feet (10 shots on semi) but a 7” grouping in a 10 shot burst on full auto. I used my BSA red dot to aim during this test.
NOTE: After a barrel-cleaning with the included rod and a swab of cotton, the groupings got down to 1.5" on semi, and closer to 2" on full. The piece of cloth was smeared a disgusting brown when removed.
The gun fires at about 280 fps, which is basically the same as the other Marui guns.
The motor is an EG700, which provides a nice rate of fire in its stock form.
I left the spring in my hi-cap compressed for about a week, and this gave me feeding problems. However, before I messed up the hi-cap, the gun fed flawlessly. The standard magazine still performs perfectly.
In Skirmishing
I took this gun to my first game two days after I had it fitted with a PDI 170% spring, along with the custom AUG battery from OnlyBatteryPacks. I found that with about 4 players to a team on a very large plot of land, two hi-caps served me perfectly. The 300 round capacity is definitely enough to keep you going in the field, and the magazine shape is perfect for most tactical vests.
By the end of the evening (about 1AM), the AUG felt like an extension of my body. Because of its back-heavy nature, the weight tucked against my shoulder felt completely secure. I've played many skirmishes with my G36, and with that weapon, I always feel like I'm swinging around the front end with the battery and magazine up there. The AUG, on the other hand, has highly superior target acquisition, which is fast and easy.
One flaw, though, is that the optics rail isn't quite high enough from the spine of the gun. With shooting glasses, the cheek elevation is perfect. However, since the majority of us play with paintball masks, I was disappointed to find that I had to cram my cheek up against my mask to glimpse my attached red dot.
Other players noticed something that hadn't even occured to me: This gun is QUIET, from a distance. You'd never guess this if you're firing it, since your head is right next to the gearbox, but the other players all remarked that they couldn't hear motor noise, and only the popping noise of the BB leaving the barrel (which I've since eliminated with a KSC silencer). While the P90 is often condsidered the quietest AEG, the AUG is arguably just as silent to those receiving its plastic rain.
Conclusions
This gun is rather back-heavy, but it’s the best I’ve handled. It easily lives up to my expectations with its accuracy, and the construction of the receiver and stock truly impressed me. Included scope mount, easy takedown, intuitive fire-select, and an immense barrel in a small package.. All the features work together to make one versatile, durable AEG.
Modification for Larger Batteries
One of the biggest gripes people have about the AUG is its lack of battery space. I've talked to many players who assumed the AUG uses a large battery because of its massive stock; this is not the case. Instead, we only get about an inch and a half in the back of the gun to put in batteries! However, there's a way to give yourself more battery space without any external modification!
When the gun arrives, there is a plate holding the gearbox in place. While this is a very important piece of plastic, the whole thing isn't necessary. We're going to remove this plate and cut off the areas highlighted in red:
Now, the inside of the buttstock should look like this:
With this work done, the fusebox and plugs can be shoved in there, and those awesome custom batteries from OnlyBatteryPacks will fit easily! Now, we get 9.6v 1950mAh batteries instead of 8.4v 1100mAh, which is the largest that the stock gun will hold. This is necessary for running larger springs or other high-level upgrades.
