If you ask any soldier who served in the Soviet (Russian) army what a conventional army weapon should be, he will either not understand the question, or he will describe the device of a Kalashnikov assault rifle - a rigid barrel of a certain length with an awesome front sight, a stock for shooting from the hand, a magazine chambered for a certain caliber and size, trigger, butt. At the top is the aiming bar. On the side is a switch for fire modes. What is there incomprehensible here!
Well, you can still remember the American M-16, where the front sight is not attached to the barrel, and the barrel can be replaced with another one, but nothing fundamentally changes. And the fact that an assault rifle (rifle) can be completely different cannot even come to mind.
Well, for example, a replaceable barrel that turns a rifle into a carbine, a sniper or a light machine gun, a magazine adapter that turns a machine gun into a submachine gun that shoots pistol cartridges …
And if there is still a magazine behind the handle with a trigger and the complete absence of a front sight, but a standard sight, consisting of an optical tube with a circle and a crosshair, in which it is enough to catch a human figure and press the trigger? You don't have to cover one eye for this. There is no switch for the fire mode either: incomplete pressing - single shot, full - automatic fire, while the finger presses the trigger. Che-t, I'm inventing some kind of fantastish … It can't be like that?
How can you!
And this fantasy is called - Steyr AUG (Armee Universal Gewehr - army universal rifle), a whole complex of small arms developed in 1977 by Steyr-Daimler-Puch. The company is still alive today, only today it is called Steyr-Mannlicher AG & Co KG.
The rifle, especially its first version, the AUG A1, is truly futuristic. Eerily similar to a six-legged alien insect.
By the way, only one of the variants of this weapon complex with a 508-mm barrel, which can be replaced with another one in a matter of moments, is called a rifle. On the left side of the block there is a latch that fixes the barrel in the receiver, and below under the block there is a hinge on which the front folding handle is attached to hold the weapon. The same handle is used to replace the barrels. A slotted flash suppressor is located on the muzzle of the barrel.
Constructed by talented Austrian gunsmiths in a Bull-Pup scheme, with the magazine and bolt assembly located behind the trigger and fire control handle, the Steyr AUG has become the de facto standard of military weapons for a small non-belligerent country. It is suitable for both army and police and special anti-terrorist missions, generally showing itself in practice as a reliable and unpretentious weapon. And subsequent upgrades "entered" this rifle even more into the world arms market.
“Steyr AUG is in service with the Austrian army and police … Adopted in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Oman, Malaysia, Morocco, Bolivia, Ecuador, France, Ukraine, as well as in law enforcement agencies of many countries, in including the US Coast Guard, the police of some US states and the special forces of Great Britain (SAS) and Germany (GSG-9). (Wikipedia)
That's it … Australia, Ecuador, USA, Ukraine … I will keep quiet about Europe. Even in Russia, the civilian version of the Steyr AUG can be bought for a measly $ 3000.
It seems - everything is like everyone else's …
Caliber: 5.56 mm NATO.
Length: 805 mm (with 508 mm barrel, also available with short barrels 350 mm, 407 mm or long barrel 621 mm).
Weight: 3.8 kg (with 508 mm barrel).
Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute.
Effective firing range: 450-500 meters with a 508 mm barrel.
The magazine is two-row, with a capacity of 10, 30 or 42 rounds, made of transparent plastic.
So what is so good about this rifle, as if it came off the screen of a science fiction movie?
First of all, by its versatility.
Three Austrian designers - Horst Wesp, Karl Wagner and Karl Möser - tried to take into account all the tasks that small arms solve as part of a platoon (task group), and combine the incompatible in one army gun. car. A standard rifle can be easily converted into a light machine gun by changing to a longer barrel with a bipod. The same rifle is easily transformed into a short army carbine for sabotage operations (the Austrian paratroopers are armed with this weapon by default) and a submachine gun for a pistol cartridge for conducting “sweeps” in dense urban areas. And it's all the same "device"! All this transformation is done by simply changing the modules. Fantastic!
The advantages of this weapon "designer".
1. The bullpup layout scheme allows to reduce the length of the weapon while maintaining the same barrel length.
2. The displacement of the mechanisms to the butt has a positive effect on the accuracy of fire.
3. The center of gravity shifted to the butt allows the fighter to quickly transfer fire along the front and into the depth, the weapon, resting against the shoulder, easily turns around.
4. Quite high reliability of units and mechanisms.
5. Possibility of changing the rifle according to the tactical task - from a submachine gun to a light machine gun (sniper rifle).
6. Possibility of adaptation for both right-handers and left-handers by transferring the extractor window.
7. The translucent plastic magazine allows you to see the amount of ammunition.
8. Simplicity of disassembly-assembly. In case of incomplete disassembly, sufficient for cleaning the weapon, the rifle is disassembled into only 6 parts.
However, the first decade revealed some of the shortcomings of this "complex".
1. Highly positioned sights force the shooter to rise higher from cover when shooting from a prone position. The specific location of the magazine makes reloading much more difficult, especially when firing from a prone position, the soldier has to raise the weapon, losing the target.
2. The specific location of the magazine makes reloading much more difficult, especially when shooting from a prone position.
3. The location and specific design of the system of mechanisms can lead to failure of the weapon when attempting to fire after removing the machine from the liquid mud.
4. As a result of the use of a light cartridge 5, 56/45 mm NATO as ammunition, the combat effectiveness in rough terrain and at close distances has been significantly reduced. In order to remake a rifle for shooting with 9/19 mm cartridges, you need to change 3 parts: the barrel, the bolt with the bolt carrier and add an adapter for the magazine for the pistol cartridge.
However, the developer and manufacturer is trying to compensate for these shortcomings with additional upgrades. The second modification of the Steyr AUG A2 differs from the basic model in the presence of a universal mount for NATO standard sights (Weaver rail) and a folding front handle. The sight is lowered down to reduce the overall height of the weapon and the convenience of shooting from a prone position.
In 2005, Steyr-Mannlicher introduced the third modification of the AUG family - A3. The main differences between the AUG-A3 are:
1. Lack of a standard optical sight, it has been replaced by the "Picatinny rail", a modern universal mount for any additional devices.
2. Removed the standard front handle and replaced with a picatinny rail.
3. There are also picatinny rails on the sides.
So, you can “hang” the AUG-A3 from all four sides!
Based on the design features and tactical and technical characteristics, we can say that the AUG, especially the A3 model, is the most suitable weapon for a small professional army, groups of mobile special forces for delivering lightning strikes and special police units. According to the rating of the American television channel Military Channel, the 10 best rifles of the 20th century, the Steyr AUG rifle took an honorable 7th place.
By the way, our Kalashnikov assault rifle still occupies the first place in this rating of small arms.
