Steyr AUG FAQ and Helpdesk

[Mike Obrien]

hey guys on a stock JG Gear set and mech box, how strong of a spring do you think it can handle? Right now I have a prome 120, I was thinking of uping to a 135.

Also I went through a whole process of an R-hop on my aug. I tried installing, had a guy who is a "professional" installer install it twice and no matter what it does not work right. It gets me range but it is inconsistent hop as in sometimes its raising 3 feet sometimes 1 foot sometimes straight line. So I decided to Flat hop it using a namazu... Consistent hop and consistent range of 200 feet "straight" line. So for anyone who is wanting a nice range upgrade I advise a flat hop, oh and also this hop up unit if you want to upgrade to a nice metal unit: http://airsoftcart.com/391-jj-airsoft-aug-hop-up-chamber-metal.html

Bought a metal nozzle from the same website, same brand. Haven't installed it yet, will let you know if it works out.

[imprzaWRC]

@Mike Obrien: I have pre-ordered my JG AU-3G and should be coming within 2 weeks or so. I have put off my upgrade purchase for a bit since I'm currently out of budget. But I have spare R-Hop & M-Nub that I've been meaning to install to it.Just curious, the one from jj-airsoft seems to be a copy of the G&P metal hop up chamber. Can you please describe what the other parts are made of? 

Redwolf carries the G&P version with what looks to be one yellow metal o-ring included in the set. If I'm not mistaken, the first page mention that the problem is the o-ring getting destroyed (PDC hop up is discontinued)?

And, there's also another metal hop up by Lonex. The Lonex claims to work with R-Hop. The picture is from a different angle, after reviewing it, Lonex version looks identical to G&P too.

 

G&P with one metal o-ring

http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airsoft/Accessories_AEG_Misc_Gearbox_Parts_G_P_AUG_Metal_Hop_up_set.htm

 

Lonex:

http://www.air-lab.co.uk/products/hop-up/lonex-hop-up-unit-ca-m14-marui-aug.html

[Hedganian]

When getting a metal hop-up unit,one of the important things is for the last ring that secures it all together to be metal. The reason for this is that that's that part that will crack (if plastic) through repeated removal and replacement of the barrel. (if you don't do this a lot, then it's not so important)

 

Out of all the metal hop-up units I've seen for the AUG, only the PDC one had all metal parts, including the ring most prone to breakage. If that is no longer available, then it would be worth someone's time to machine a metal replacement securing ring and market it to AUG users. (Fortunately, I bought about 10 PDC hop units a few years ago so my needs were met easily)

[Mike Obrien]

the PDC is discontinued, and the Lonex is like the G&P, a metal bodied stock unit. unfortunately the JJ airsoft one is also a plastic lock ring. On a side note, I don't usually have these break, I usually have the little tabs it locks onto on the body break.

AS for the lonex being able to do an R-hop, well yes, all of them can. you have to grind down the hop up arm to glue the M-nub to.

 

The JJ retaining ring is plastic, but it seems to be made of a slightly different plastic, seems sturdier.

 

So stock mechbox, gears, and motor. M135 max? or M120 max?

[imprzaWRC]

Hi, thanks for the update. Sorry to hear that no one has the answer for the maximum spring, I guess Mike will be the first one to test it out.

 

On a side note: I do 3D scanning, reverse engineering and 3D printing. Once I get mine up, I'll see if I can put it up on shapeways so that anyone can print the parts in metal. May have to include some modification since there's a minimum size that shapeways can print.

[Mike Obrien]

So I am about to go insane with this AUG.... So here is what I have done so far.

 

Attempted R-hop: R-hop "hop" is inconsistent some to high, some to low, some just right. I cant tell if it is the hop wheel isn't keeping the hop consistent or the install itself. It is using a Prome 6.03 barrel. I have used both a JJ airsoft hop up unit and a stock plastic ones, both seem to have the same effect.

 

Attempted Flat-Hop: Using a namazu flat hop nub, which I have learned does not sit well in the aug hop arm, you have to make the bump sit higher, you can't cut the arm to fit cause then the nub does not enter the barrel enough. This flat hop generally has a more consistent hop, but the barrel I am using, a jbu 6.03mm barrel, has TERRIBLE accuracy. I thinking it is the barrel. BB generally curves right, sometime straight and very sometimes left. this occasionally effects hop but it seems to mostly effect it horizontally as some of the rights are HARD rights. (I think the barrel, open to opinion). Again I have used both a stock unit and a JJ airsoft hop up and the effect is similar.

 

I am using .30 bioshot BB's shooting around 320-325. The hop unit actually effects it, the stock ones drop an average of 10 fps.
 

I am shooting at ranges of 200 feet, measured with a range finder. The 200 foot target is generally consistently hit or just shy by the flat hop though accuracy is , and the R-hop. well sometimes I shoot over the 200 foot target and way past it, sometimes I fall like 20 feet short.

 

Also, I have noticed the entire outer barrel has a wobble to it, does anyone else have this? I remedied it by wrapping electrical tape around the barrel in two spots and now the barrel is very sturdy, minus a wobbly vert grip.

 

Yes both barrels have been cleaned.

[3vi1-D4n]

Use slivers of aluminium coke can sheets to minimise barrel wobble.  Telfon deforms over time and is not preferred.

 

Also ensure that the outer barrel is set at the dead centre so the inner barrel is also dead centre.  If the outer barrel is set with an offset, it will bend the inner barrel and will cause it to bend and veer off.

[Mike Obrien]

Use slivers of aluminium coke can sheets to minimise barrel wobble.  Telfon deforms over time and is not preferred.

 

Also ensure that the outer barrel is set at the dead centre so the inner barrel is also dead centre.  If the outer barrel is set with an offset, it will bend the inner barrel and will cause it to bend and veer off.

What way would I do this? On a side note though I have used multiple outer barrels. Also if the outer was bent and was affecting the inner would it not just take the grouping and center it well, off center? Where as my issue is inconsistency left, right, and then straight.

[3vi1-D4n]

If you look through the breech in a perfectly straight inner barrel you should see a series of concentric rings.  If it shows that the rings are distorted or not centre then it means a part of the barrel is bent and will lead to inconsistent accuracy. 

 

When you have the barrel removed from the outer/middle barrels (the AUG has a metal 2nd stage - middle barrel where it sits between the plastic outer and inner barrel.), you should apply this test.  Normally I hand pick the barrels that I install for accuracy set ups as I know I want the inner barrel to be perfectly centre before I start any work tuning the accuracy.

 

Then when you assemble the outer barrel (with the aluminium sheets) and inner barrel and look at the concentricity of the rings.

 

Then it gets more funky when you assemble the barrel assembly into the upper receiver, often the upper receiver will also apply pressure to the barrel assembly to bend the front section of the outer barrel out of place.

 

If any undue pressure in the outer/middle barrel or upper receiver pushes the outer barrel to the right it will veer off to the right, and conversely to the left.

 

That is why the AUG is a PITA platform for accuracy tuning.  But even with this issue its not impossible to get good accuracy from an AUG.  I outshot a tuned VSR at 550fps vs a tuned Steyr AUG at 400fps from 20-50m in terms of groupings.

 

Ideally the whole barrel assembly should be steel. 

[Jibbity]

Based on your description of the R-hop performance, vertical stringing, you may have an air leak. How consistent is the fps? Have you checked the compression of the whole system? 

[Baddbaz]

If you want to stabilise the barrel and stop flexing use a phantom kit on your aug. . That is what I did and it improved things massively

[3vi1-D4n]

Phantom kit basically free floats half the inner barrel, which is where the accuracy gains are made.

 

Concerns with free floated inner barrels:

- It depends on the material of the inner barrel.  a Steel or Titanium Nitride Barrel will work better than a Madbul aluminium or a Brass barrel (Brass isn't too bad but its the softness of the overall material)

- As a result, it may affect the accuracy of rapid followup shots.  Harder the inner barrel material the better it is (to a degree until physics of length and modulus no longer supports the barrel.

 

For a Steyr AUG I would rather spend effort aligning the outer barrel and barrel assembly, than free float the inner barrel, though the phantom kit does make the inner barrel impervious to knocks.

[Baddbaz]

With my phantom kit I find that it reduces inner barrel flex as you can pack the barrel with spacers its entire length very tightly . And it seems less prone to bending than a standard aug outer barrel . I took my ideas from the first factory / laylex hand built shadow Aug . Which seems to use extreme internal packing and sound deadening . To tightly pack the gearbox and barrel to remove as much movement and barrel resonance as is possible with the aug design . In standard spec the phantom kit does slightly improve accuracy . With the barrel spacers , longer barrel and tight packing the accuracy and range/ groupings have improved beyond recodnition when compared to the tm Augs original / standard outer barrel setup . I am now looking at having a metal backplate made up to replace the original plastic one as rearward gearbox migration is still a minor problem . With this sorted the gun. Should be faultless .( I hope )

[3vi1-D4n]

I just superglue a piece of hard rubber to the mechbox end of the back plate,  Works fine.

 

I don't rely on spacers as individual spacers can push the barrel off its alignment.  Seen that happen with too many guns, phantom kits included.  It does minimise the variability bit it actually introduces its own systematic error into the equation.

 

Hence why if phantom kits are used, the least error method is to free float a straight, hard and dense inner barrel, rather than rely on spacers.

 

But if no phantom kits are used, then outer barrel and trunnion/barrel assembly tuning and alignment is a must for consistency and accuracy.

 

 

There is a 3rd option which I do not recommend, is the free float of the inner barrel within the existing Steyr outer barrel by removing the front portion of the middle barrel/aluminium tube, while keeping the rear end, and using a hard and dense inner barrel.  It does give good accuracy results on the bench.  This was my first mod, which was good, but until you have sorted the outer barrel free float, there is a chance on rapid fire the inner barrel will whip and BBs actually hit the inside of the outer barrel.   The other issue is if you push the outer barrel, the same can happen.

[Baddbaz]

I can see where you are coming from . Originally I had a madbull barrel and this caused endless problems with the very issue you have just highlighted , after switching to a Lonex barrel most of the problems were solved . My main problem was then resonance on the longer barrel length I decided to use . This plays havoc with groupings . On single shot it wS not so bad , if auto was used the groupings went haywire. Since packing out the barrel along its full length the grouping improved dramatically . Getting a decent airseal with the aug platform is a major headache due to the amount of flexing / movement possible in the Airsoft versions design . Maybe its the plastics used in the receivers / guns construction and the wAy the gun can be dissasembled , this causes more trouble / airseal problems than anything else , as once you disassemble it you have to spend ages trying to align everything as tightly as possible to stop any internal movement . This gets worse with age on these guns

[3vi1-D4n]

Yeah it does get worse unless you tune it right the first time.  If the mid section outer was metal it would solve some issues. The resonance will always been an issue, as is the flimsiness.  

 

I sold mine not because accuracy was getting worse (I was hitting a 1inch coin at 20m consistently).  I was getting 450fps on an m120 out of a stock CA nozzle and hop unit.  I find that the more simple the solutions the better and longer term it is for its effectiveness.

 

I sold mine because it wasn't fit for purpose.  I use an AUG at work and limitations of the AUG ergonomics in close range engagements plus fixed ejection is another thread I could get into. Don't get me wrong, love the AUG as a pioneering infantry rifle but for modern use it is a bit out of date.  I could never aim as fast as I could between 0-30m as I could on an M4 or even the Minimi.

[Baddbaz]

As far as I know the only manufacturer who almost got it right was laylex / first factory . As they used a cnc front end and packed and wrapped everything into the gun before sealing the two sides of the receiver together. .a gun techs nightmare to work on as it takes hours to even remove the gearbox let alone the barrel . A friend had one many years ago and I wish I had took it off his hands , they are like rocking horse pooh to find nowadays . And way too overpriced in the first place !

[3vi1-D4n]

Perhaps someone start making one piece barrel sets for Marui AUGs?

[Baddbaz]

And the Stanag mag receivers would be nice as well !!

[3vi1-D4n]

How about a GBBR AUG?

 

One at a time

 

Wish I had some money and was in China right now.  Could get those things made.

[Mike Obrien]

Not sure I entirely understand what your saying on the construction of the outer barrel, and the locations of the aluminum sheets. I believe you have the front of the barrel (where the flash hider screws on and the vert grip area) then you have the screwed in plastic piece behind the block with the vert grip and behind that the barrel would screw in. Are you saying inside that plastic piece there is a metal part used to stabilize the barrel? When I mentioned the barrel moving I meant the whole unit, and I was putting tape around the the outside to stabilize it in the upper receiver.

 

I will be using a prome inner barrel so steel is the barrel material.

 

And I believe I said it earlier I have an FPS variation of about 5 fps. 320-325. The variation I am certain comes from the nozzle as it is the stock JG nozzle, no o-ring, and I dont think fully seals against the bucking.

 

I never had these issues prior to trying to do all these hop up mods, which is why I feel the fault has to be somewhere in there. prior to this my grouping at 100 feet was about the size of an apple.

 

Sidenote: WE is making a GBB AUG, not sure what version, but it is supposed to be released the end of the year I believe.

[imprzaWRC]

Can't find any reviews on the 5th Gen JG AUG JG0446A (one with the M82 Anti Tank outer barrrel). Anyone has/had it?

[Mike Obrien]

Oh and another thing other then my grouping issue... My TM AUG A2 and JG A2, the rail for scopes and such appears to be a weaver rail... as all picatinny accessories won't fit... such as my EOTech... anyone know where I can buy picatinny rail that will fit?

[Mike Obrien]

So as for the grouping thing, I figured it out. Tried a brand new prome 6.03 with my flat hop, and my grouping is pretty good. at 100 feet I have a consistent grouping in a space that's about 6x6, and I can hit targets consistently at 200 feet, not sure on grouping as I am shooting my neighbors shed three houses down. distance measured by rangefinder by the way, not just guessing.

 

Not sure what is wrong with the JBU barrel, I tried cleaning it with silicone, alcohol and just plane barrel swabs. It looks fine inside no easily seen abnormalities. Now I just have this weaver/picatinny rail issues....

[Jibbity]

If you are just talking about the slot spacing for the rail, your best bet is to just use a small file to cut an extra slot where you need it. But, there is also the issue of not enough clearance under the lobes of the rail that prevents many accessories from attaching properly.