The Firearm Blog

From the press release ...

Steyr Arms announced the acquisition of Merkel USA today. Merkel USA is the U.S. importer and service center for Merkel’s side-by-side and over/under shotguns, fine double rifles, drillings, combination guns, K1 single-shot stalking rifles, the innovative KR1 bolt-action rifle, and the exceptionally reliable SR1 semiautomatic rifle. Merkel Hunting And Sporting Arms was created in 1898 in Suhl, Germany, and its firearms have been available in the U.S. since 1991, two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Merkel USA is also the importer for Anschutz precision rimfire sporting rifles. It also imports Grulla’s exquisite line of Spanish-made sidelock side-by-side shotguns as well as Docter Optic sights and scopes.

Merkel USA is an importer and should not be confused with Merkel in Germany who manufacture firearms.

EmptorMaven has reviewed the NATO conversion kit for the Steyr AUG SA. The kit allows the use of STANAG (AR-15) magazines.

Steyr has always offered the NATO version as an option to military customers, but no country, as far as I know, has chosen to adopt it over the standard AUG.

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Brendan Leo, an Australian Army Cadet corporal. ]

As a corporal with the Australian Army Cadets, I recently had the opportunity to play with the Weapons Training Simulation System. As the name suggests, this is a fully featured simulation system. Trainees fire modified weapons at a cinema sized projection on a wall 10 meters away. Between the wall and the shooters are rocks, obstacles, and anything else you might find on a battlefield. Wind machines and lights provide for weather effects.

Army Cadets using the WTSS range.

The trainees usually fire modified F88 Austeyr rifles and F89 Minimi machine guns at the screen, but any weapon currently used by the Australian Army, as well as several of those used by an opposing force can be simulated. The scenario is controlled by a technician at a console behind the firing line, who sets the wind speed and direction, the weather, and even the number of round through each barrel. The weapon recoil is provided by a tethering line connected to a tank of CO2, and speakers in the butt replicate the sound. Everything down to magazine changes, and jams are simulated, and the weight of the weapon is almost identical to the real thing.

Reservists using a machine gun with the WTSS system next to 2 F88s.

The main utility in the WTSS system is in the many different scenarios that can be replicated, such as defending a position, quick reaction, and even the sudden appearance of a helicopter. The idea behind the system is that soldiers can be placed outside of their comfort zone, using their weapons against a range of targets in different conditions. Different accessories can also be used with the weapons, including but not limited to Ninox (night vision goggles), grenade launchers and reflex sights, in addition to the standard 1.5x scope on the Steyr.

Open day. Civilians loading the F88s.

At the end of the simulation, the simulated weapon is cleared in exactly the same way as the real thing; by locking back the bolt, removing and clearing the barrel, then replacing it and rendering the weapon safe. Scores are usually calculated by grouping, at the standard target range, the PASS mark for the Australian Army is a grouping of 200mm at 100m. A grading of sniper is achieved when a group of < 40mm is achieved with 4 groups of 5 shots.

Upon completion, a standard range declaration is carried out, and the trainees receive a printout of their score. The next detail then moves in to shoot. The convenience of having no brass to clean up and no targets to patch out is shadowed by the $15 million AUD price tag for each range.

I was incredibly surprised to open an email a few days ago and see photos of the mythical Australian F88T Austeyr. Quite a long time ago I had scoured the internet searching in vain for photos of this gun.

The F88T Austeyr

Note the subcaliber magazine insert - the only giveaway that it is chambered in .22 LR

Almost no information about this rifle is available online. This is very surprising because the rifle is currently in service with a major defense force.

The F88T Austeyr was developed by ADI Limited (now known as Thales Australia). It is, as far as I know, the only variant of the Steyr AUG chambered in .22 Long rifle. A page on the, now offline, ADI website described the weapon as:

ADI has developed a .22 calibre training rifle for use by the Australian Army. The weapon provides an economical training alternative, with very low ammunition cost, which can be used in environmentally sensitive training areas and indoor areas for special force training with reduced risk to trainees and instructors.

This paragraph sums up just about all the information available online! Because of the lack of information I was convinced that very few of these had ever been built, but I stumbled across the minutes of a meeting from an Australian Air Force conference where they discussed an order of 200 F88T's which were going to be used for cadet training. Presumably there are more than 200 in existence.

Australian cadets also train with .22 single shot bolt actions rifles.

I do not have any technical information about the gun. Most .22 semi-automatics share similar features. The gas system will be non-functional because a .22 LR cannot generate enough case to cycle an action. The action will be a standard blowback system. The barrel is probably the same as the regular Austeyr. While this is not optimal for accuracy I can't imagine it would have been worth the cost of producing dedicated .22 Long Rifle barrels.

I am sure that the owners of the civilian Steyr AUG SA, which went on sale this year, would love to have a .22LR conversion kit. Realistically, a third-party American firm is much more likely to develop a conversion kit than Steyr is too either develop their own or license the design from Thales Australia.

Many thanks to Jon for the photos.

Steyr Arms is now importing the original AUG A3 scope. The scope has a magnification of 1.5x and an objective aperture of 14mm.

On their website Steyr state that it has a “Crosshair/crosshair” reticle. I think this is a typo. I doubt they would have changed it from the military circle / crosshair configuration. The circle is sized so that a man sized object fits inside it at at 300 meters. UPDATE: Steyr have confirmed that it is indeed a circle/crosshair reticle.

AUG A3 with scope mounted (rifle is the Austrian-made military version)

It is not cheap at $799, but is probably as tough as nails.

UPDATE: Steyr have told me that Swarovski Optik no longer make their scopes.

I asked Dave, who blogs at LetsKillDave and is a reader of TFB, to take photos of the internals of his new civilian Steyr AUG A3 rifle and he was kind enough to oblige.

16″ barreled AR-15 vs. 16″ AUG. The bullpup length advantage is obvious.


AR-15 bolt vs. AUG bolt. Very similar design.

I highly recommend reading Dave’s blog post. I learnt a lot about the AUG design that I did not know before.

Thanks Dave.

The “2019 Detective Special” prop gun from the movie Blade Runner has been auctioned off for $270,000!

At first glance the gun looks to be some sort of auto-revolver. It is in fact a Steyr Mannlicher .222 Model SL rifle action and trigger group with some revolver parts tacked on. Note the double set trigger and Steyr’s iconic “butter knife” style bolt handle. It even retains the Steyr serial number.

Photo from a gunbroker auction.

Phil Steinschneider has a website detailing how be built a replica of the prop using a Steyr Mannlicher .222 Model SL action and a Charter Arms .44 Special Police Bulldog revolver.

Phil’s replica

Many thanks to Kevin for emailing me the Link.

UPDATE: Tam notes that this may still be classified as a firearm by the BATFE.

Steyr Arms, Inc., the US Importer for Steyr-Mannlicher products, are no longer importing Steyr pistols. In a press release Scott O’Brien, the CEO, says that the economic conditions and currency fluctuations mean they are not able to price them competitively.

Steyr Arms, Inc., which is the US Importer for Steyr-Mannlicher GMBh in Austria, has imported over 20,000 pistols into the US market over the last couple of years. Many of those pistols are still available for retail sale at various distributors and dealers across the country. However, current market conditions and currency fluctuations between the Euro and the US dollar have severely hampered the ability to produce the pistol in an economically viable manner. Unfortunately, these additional costs plus the traditional costs of importing prevent us from being able to sell the pistol at a commercially competitive price point at this time.

For these reasons, Steyr Arms, Inc is not importing any additional quantities of pistol that will be available on the wholesale market for the foreseeable future. However, we are in a research and development phase to see how Steyr can compete in the future without sacrificing the quality that has made Steyr so popular. Please know that Steyr Arms, Inc will continue to service and warrant all current model pistols and rifles as always. We will continue to service and carry parts and accessories for all M and S series pistols in all calibers.

Steyr Mannlicher M-A1 40 S&W

Steyr Arms have confirmed that the Steyr AUG SA A3 will be shipping in the first quarter this year.

From the press release:

Currently, the AUG is in the final stages of product development and is expected to hit the shelves of Steyr Dealers in 1st quarter 2009. In fact, the veryfirst units are already in endurance testing as of the date of this article. Most companies run 1-2,000 rounds through their guns to test them, not Steyr-Mannlicher. The Steyr rifles have at least 10,000 rounds run through them while continually testing for both durability and accuracy.

The Firearm Blog reader Edward contacted Steyr about pre-ordering the AUG SA (civilian semi-automatic model) and was told it would $2995.00 $2295!

Wow! If you want to buy one you had better start saving. It makes that $500 Steyr AUG SA NATO stock (allows use of AR-15 magazines) not seem all that expensive!

Thanks to Edward for the info.

UPDATE: Edward just emailed me to say Steyr linked to PJs which is listing the price as $2295.00. That sounds much more realistic.

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Steyr is finally releasing a civilian semi-automatic AUG (AUG SA) which should be out in January next year (2009).

Sabre Defense Industries will be producing the rifle.

The newly produced AUG rifles are expected to be ready for distribution by January 2009. “We were honored to be selected by Steyr-Mannlicher, Gmbh to manufacture the AUG in our state of the art facility. In the process of making this icon of assault rifles, we have blended the proven and classic features with modern manufacturing techniques to make this what we believe to be the best AUG ever produced.”

The design appears to be an AUG A2 with a A3 style top rail.

Currently AUG magazines are available in 10, 30 and 42 capacity and cost either $35 or $38 depending on capacity and color. With possibly of another assault weapon ban you will probably want to budget for a lot of magazines.

Steyr also sells a AUG SA NATO stock for $499. This allow the AUG to use AR-15/STANAG magazines. If you already own a AR this may be a cheaper option than stocking up on AUG magazines.

UPDATE: It will cost $2995.

Hat Tip: Ahab

Matt recently comment on this post about the Australian AUG A4 (ADI Austeyr F88 A4):

To clear up “125″ issues and confusion the A3 varient is to be upgraded to allow the firing of GLA and underslung shot gun attachment with the trigger finger. There is much speculation on INF 2012 weapon systems and the steyr will look marketly different. What is concrete is that what changes happen to the weapons system the it must have the same range or better and must not be any heavier than current weight with modifications. There is a photo around of an ugly australian modified A3, this is not the new rifle and was a test bed system and was a demo only. The ADF rumour mill is leaning more to the AUG A4 design as now Australia owns the rights of all world wide styer production and also pattened designs from Austria.

I had not idea that the A4 existed. I did some Googling and found some photos in a brochure from ADI, the Australian arms and ammunition manufacturer. They may be the “test” A4 that Matt mentioned in Matt’s comment.

I think it’s a pretty ugly design. It looks like someone attacked an AUG with a hacksaw, screwdriver and a few picatinny rails. Especially in contrast to the AUG A3 (from steyr-arms.at):

Where is the grenade launcher trigger?

I would be surprised if the Australians upgrade their A1/A2 AUGs to use the M203 when the M320 will go into production later this year (according to Wikipedia).

M4 with M320

From MP.net:

However, although the 13,000 Steyr rifles which have been in service for 20 years, would not be replaced, they would be a significant part of the upgrade programme.

The study would look at modifying about 3000 of the 13,000 5.56mm rifles so they could take more fittings on the top rail, instead of the factory-fitted 1.5 magnification sighting system

The Australians already use a mixture of the AUGs with 1.5x sights and the ‘railed’ AUGs. I have always thought that the 1.5x scope was a bad compromise on an assault rifle. The target acquisition speed is less than a non magnified red dot sight (I have no experience with magnified red dot sights) but lacks the benefits of a more powerful scope. It must be working for the New Zealanders because they are only thinking about converting 23% of their rifles.

Australian Solider in Iraq with ADI Austeyr A3 that
comes fitted with a rail.

Steyr have published a press release, of all things, detailing their history in the US. I think this was nothing more than an attempt at getting some attention during SHOT Show. I am mentioning it as it may interest some readers.

Read the press release here.