Let's talk about the AUG.

[LittleLebowski]

The ballistics are hard to beat. However, I have to think about brother Sean M's eyewitness account of an SA80 kabooming. That being said, I've never heard of an AUG blowing a guy's face off.

[Dagga Boy]

The ballistics are hard to beat. However, I have to think about brother Sean M's eyewitness account of an SA80 kabooming. That being said, I've never heard of an AUG blowing a guy's face off.

I have heard of two. One a blank induced incident you likely couldn't repeat, the other one with a bolt rusted into to chamber so it couldn't unlock. Both guys lived with fairly minor injuries. I am less afraid of my AUG after actually researching this than my AR's.

[Failure2Stop]

The prices I've seen on the A3 are making me seriously consider picking one up. There's always a place for a short, effective option, even if it isn't funny immediately ambidextrous.

[ReverendMeat]

I would like to extend a heavily sarcastic "thanks" to the OP and thread contributors (Nyeti, I'm looking at you). I have other things that I should be spending money on and all this thread has done for me is make me think about buying a stupid AUG. But I have never shot one and my last "special snowflake" gun was a Robinson Arms XCR (which I really liked by the way, but it's not a bullpup) so I've been wondering a couple things.

Regarding the AUG A3 specifically,

1) The charging handle seems pretty stubby and seems like it was designed for tearing one's fingers off on the rail when manipulating it. Also would seem to make locking the bolt to the rear trickier if using the variant without a separate bolt catch. Training issue or non-issue?
2) I've had a couple people tell me that it was unpleasant to shoot due to the feel and noise of the action reciprocating so close to your face. Seems like it'd be the AR "sproing" multiplied by ten. Valid complaint or whining?
3) Are there any known or foreseeable downsides to the "NATO" variant outside of "the rifle wasn't originally designed for it"?

[1slow]

Having had 2 early AUGs, 1 Norinco 86s Bullpup AK, High Standard 10A and 10B (12 Gauge) and shooting a buddies Tavor a bit I have these conclusions. YMMV.
1 handed carbine work while damaged or carring/moving other people is easier with a bullpup.
Confined spaces, cars etc... are easier to move in and around. As nyeti stated an AUG (etc...) does not stick out farther than a pistol.

You have to answer the question if for your purposes these advantages are more important than full ambidextrous use.
I have done a lot of drills doing 1 hand carbine work LH and RH to include reloads, stoppage reductions, positional changes standing, kneeling prone , supine etc... and a bullpup would have been easier than an AR, AK IMHO.

Might be the ultimate bedside gun with an X400 and a T1.

Currently I have none of the above but am contemplating an AUG or Tavor.

[Dagga Boy]

Regarding the AUG A3 specifically,

1) The charging handle seems pretty stubby and seems like it was designed for tearing one's fingers off on the rail when manipulating it. Also would seem to make locking the bolt to the rear trickier if using the variant without a separate bolt catch. Training issue or non-issue?
2) I've had a couple people tell me that it was unpleasant to shoot due to the feel and noise of the action reciprocating so close to your face. Seems like it'd be the AR "sproing" multiplied by ten. Valid complaint or whining?
3) Are there any known or foreseeable downsides to the "NATO" variant outside of "the rifle wasn't originally designed for it"?

1) Just have to know how to do it, and it isn't a function you use a ton. If it is an issue, multiple very good after-market solutions.
2)Whiners.......Harden the F*#K Up. Hearing the action of my carbine next to my ear laying hate upon my enemies and awaiting the lamentations of their women is like ballistic Viagra.
3)Personally, just a recipe for everything that has ever gone wrong with many things in the gun world......making stuff into things they are not. I have "heard" the are not as reliable, and not as user friendly on the mag changes. Again, I just bought another 10 mags at under $20 a piece that are one of the most proven and reliable of all the polymer mags..........I could see maybe owning a NATO stock for an Armagedon thing, but I like mine the way the Austrians designed and for the mags that were designed for it.

[Sean O]

I have always wanted/liked bull pups, and this thread is not helping me save money. If I go forward and pick one up, it is between the AUG and Tavor. The main attraction for me with the Tavor is the mag commonality with our AR's, especially when we take classes. I know you can purchase the NATO stock for the AUG, but honestly if I choose the A3 I would rather pony up the dough and grab mags that were designed for the gun.

Hopefully I can find someone who has one of each try, because how it shoots will most likely be the decider for me. Damn you P-F, costing me money yet again...

[Beat Trash]

I am in the same boat. The current pricing of the Tavor and the AUG A3 is close enough to make it a wash between the two.

I am not inclined to get a platform that doesn't take AR mags, only because I am well stocked in them. I hear mixed comments on the NATO stocked AUG. Some have no issue, some claim to have issues with them.

The concept of a bull pup does have some merit, as Nyeti often points out. I can understand Nyeti's fondness for the AUG as he has so much time invested in the platform.

But I would be interested to hear from anyone who owns both a Tavor and a AUG. And their thoughts comparing the two platforms. If starting anew in the world of a bullpup which one to go with, the AUG or the Tavor?

[John Hearne]

But I would be interested to hear from anyone who owns both a Tavor and a AUG.

Good overview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfxzrwmMJ2o

[Kyle Reese]

Hearing the action of my carbine next to my ear laying hate upon my enemies and awaiting the lamentations of their women is like ballistic Viagra.

Sig line material right there.