The AUG, short for “Armee-Universal-Gewehr” (universal army rifle), was designed in 1977 and was adopted by the Austrian Army as the StG 77 (Sturmgewehr 77) in 1978.

Time flies and to honor the 40:th Anniversary, Steyr Arms Inc. are releasing the STG77 for 2017.

Only 400 rifles of this exact will be produced. The barrel, receiver and the optic will all match.

The AUG uses the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge and the standard 1:9 rifling twist. There’s some criticism as some prefer the 1:7 twist instead.

There are also some other news present at SHOT Show 2017. Like a new rail, for instance.

The bipod is from Steyr as well.

And a new muzzle brake. Looks like it’s possible to put a sound suppressor over it.

With 40 years of service in many armies it will be interesting to see what the next 10-20 years holds and how successful the new RS556 will be.