Steyr AUG Military Version(Tokyo Marui)

by Lorne D. Gilsig

I am familiar with the real Aug and I had a chance to examine one in a gun store a few weeks ago (that was going for $3500. That was more than my first car cost, or my second car, or my third car...but I digress). Because the gun came without ammo (@%&*!) I thought I would offer a review of at least how the gun looks.

Examining the rifle using my highly scientific "looking at it from five feet away" test, the rifle looks great! Comparing my rifle to a picture of the real Aug I found on the web showed them to be identical. The outline of the rifle is correct and all bolts, buttons, and levers are in the correct position. The only thing that betrays the Air Soft gun is the "Tokyo Marui Co."on the rear right of the stock. As for weight the rifle is a bit lighter than the real Aug, but balance is the same.

Examining the rifle from muzzle to stock I found the following nit-picky problems. The finish on the flash-suppresser is not very wear resistant. In attempting to remove the orange paint from the flash suppresser (I swear officer, it just wore off!) I removed a bit of the finish. Black spray paint should fix it up.

Moving onto the barrel, it is very well done. Its a metal sleeve that fits over a brass inner-barrel that actually guides the BB. Marui has gone so far as to stamp a serial number and proof-marks on the barrel. The only problem is with the cooling fins. On the real rifle the cooling fins are machined into the barrel. On the Marui it appear that the barrel is cast and their are visible horizontal seam lines on either side. These seams are not to bad, the rifle did pass the five foot test after all.

At the rear of the barrel is a very nicely detailed gas system cover. The small silver cap has a spring loaded retaining tab and can be removed from the rifle. Pity it serves no purpose, but hell, it looks good. The pistol grip has two positions, up like a standard rifle forearm, or down to form a vertical pistol grip. If I am not wrong the real rifle has a third position, a 45 degree angle. The Marui Aug would not assume this position, well, it would not maintain it anyway.

The receiver section is well cast but has thin cast lines like the barrel has. The receiver mounts the charging handle, barrel removal detent, charging handle and scope/handle. The entire affair is executed quite well, but there are some minor short-comings. The spring that provides resistance for the charging handle is to light so it does not have the feel of the real gun. This is not unexpected as all the action of the charging handle works is the ejection port cover in the stock assembly. The retaining button on the charging handle is spring loaded, but serves no purpose other than looks.

The scope looks exactly like the Aug's, till you look through it. The real Aug has a simple circle as an aiming point. The Marui Aug uses a circle held in place by cross-hairs. This takes up more of the field of view and is a bit distracting. Further, the reticle is tilted to the left which is a little odd if you are right handed.

The trigger of the Aug is just like the real gun, meaning its got a long jerky pull to it. Pull it part of the way back and you get semi-auto fire. Pull the puppy all the way back and you get full auto. When I have ammo I let you know what the trigger does (@#$%!).

The stock is the exact color of the real Aug and has the same texture. At first I thought that Marui had used factory second Aug stocks. Just as on the real Aug there are ejection ports on either side of the stock. A rubber cover is provided that can be use on either port, not that you have to worry about being hit in the face by empties. The Marui bolt, visible through the ejection port, is stamped with the rifle's serial number and proof marks (nice attention to detail).

The magazine, on first inspection, looks just like the real Aug's. On closer inspection though there is a seam line on the front and rear of the magazine running vertically from the stock to the magazine's base plate. The magazine release works just as it does on the Aug.

The butt plate is a rubber piece made of the same material as the ejection port cover. Under the plate is where the battery is stored. Access is difficult and I would not want to try it while under enemy fire.

The rifle breaks down in a similar fashion to the real Aug. The barrel is removed by pushing the detent pin on the underside of the receiver simultaneously backward and downward. Pull the charging handle to the rear and rotate the barrel assembly about 20 degrees to the left and pull the barrel out. The reciever is removed by pushing the take down pin in the stock from left to right and pulling the reciever outward.

All in all the Marui its a very precise model of an Aug. I would be very worried if someone walked into a liquor store with one, and more worried if I was a cop waiting outside for said person! On a scale of one to ten I would give this rifle a nine. I would of given it a ten, but I didn't get a chance to fire it (#$@&!).