The Steyr AUG is one of those rifles that looks like something out Star Wars.
And it wasn't just futuristic looking; it was a very clever, very forward looking battle rifle--and one that was extremely compact: only 27" long with a 16" barrel. It turns out that very, very few of them were ever imported into the United States, and at least partly because they were incredibly expensive. This didn't prevent California from including it on the 1989 Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act list of banned weapons. It is hard to imagine that there had ever been a criminal misuse of one at the time. Since President Bush banned them from import at about that same time, I would even more surprised if there had been any subsequent criminal misuses.
Still, the design was so cool that filmmakers couldn't resist it. I recall seeing one film in which a sniper uses a Steyr AUG because the barrel is easily removed, making the whole package even more compact--enough to fit into a briefcase.
Well, the patents underlying the AUG finally expired--and an American company, Microtech Small Arms Research, is building a somewhat modified version called the STG-556. Peter Kokalis has a review of it in the March 20, 2009 Shotgun News. Among other interesting aspects of it: a 0.6 minute of arc group at 100 meters with the 16" barrel. That's extraordinary for a battle rifle.
The price tag is, as you might expect, absurdly high: $1953.86. But if you are one of those people who always wanted a Steyr AUG for its unique design, and have that kind of money lying around with nothing better to do with it (like some of you AIG executives who are now getting death threats because Senator Dodd wanted to make sure that you weren't suffering), I can think of worse ways to spend it! Here's their website. And here it is being offered at what I guess is the dealer cost of $1645--and as you might expect, out of stock!
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