Today The Giant Ginger and I hit the range, and did a bit of accuracy testing with the AUG. He also put it through its paces, loaned me an ACOG, and provided a smorgasbord of ammunition to see how this thing shoots and functions. Let's see how it did!
Optic Changes, and Range Time
As of now, the AUG now wears a TA31RCOM4 ACOG. This combo seems to be damned near ideal I must say. The only downside I would have to say is the eye relief. The eye relief on the TA31 is listed as 1.5". I find that when I shoulder the rifle from the standing position, I have to push my head forward from the natural position that I want to use. We will see in the coming weeks if I can get used to it, or not. From the prone position it works perfect though. Shooting from the wrong handed position though, the TA31 is not the greatest, due to how far back you have to place your head in order to not eat brass. The image is definitely boxy at this point, but it will work in a pinch. In the long run, I may end up going with the TA11H to take advantage of nearly an extra inch of eye relief (who couldn't use an extra inch afterall?).
Once at the range (in this case a dry lake bed) we setup a target stand at 100 yards, and two targets to zero the ACOG. The Giant Ginger spotted me while I used PMC 55gr FMJ to get an initial zero on the optic. This ACOG came off of a Sig 556, and the zero ended up being about 3 feet low and 1 foot right.
After the optic was zeroed The Giant Ginger started feeding the rifle ammunition that he had accumulated over the years. You always know it is going to be a surprise when the ammunition comes out of ziplock bags and is a mix of brass and steel! While shooting some of the mixed steel cased ammo, the rifle short stroked twice. After clearing the spent casings I switched the gas regulator to the adverse position, and it digested everything else we fired without any fuss whatsoever. Personally I liked the fact that the rifle decided to choke. What I liked even more is that it ran without a hitch with simply turning up the gas. Coming from shooting AR's and being around them for quite a while, I have found most of them either function with steel cased ammo, or they do not at all. Most of them are temperamental with steel cased ammunition. What is nice with the AUG is you can just change the gas setting and keep going, something that a regular direct implementing AR cannot do. Overall during the range session, the rifle was fed 220 rounds of various ammo. The ammunition was (from what we could identify) as follows:
Once at the range (in this case a dry lake bed) we setup a target stand at 100 yards, and two targets to zero the ACOG. The Giant Ginger spotted me while I used PMC 55gr FMJ to get an initial zero on the optic. This ACOG came off of a Sig 556, and the zero ended up being about 3 feet low and 1 foot right.
After the optic was zeroed The Giant Ginger started feeding the rifle ammunition that he had accumulated over the years. You always know it is going to be a surprise when the ammunition comes out of ziplock bags and is a mix of brass and steel! While shooting some of the mixed steel cased ammo, the rifle short stroked twice. After clearing the spent casings I switched the gas regulator to the adverse position, and it digested everything else we fired without any fuss whatsoever. Personally I liked the fact that the rifle decided to choke. What I liked even more is that it ran without a hitch with simply turning up the gas. Coming from shooting AR's and being around them for quite a while, I have found most of them either function with steel cased ammo, or they do not at all. Most of them are temperamental with steel cased ammunition. What is nice with the AUG is you can just change the gas setting and keep going, something that a regular direct implementing AR cannot do. Overall during the range session, the rifle was fed 220 rounds of various ammo. The ammunition was (from what we could identify) as follows:
- Wolf 55gr FMJ (Lacquer Cased): Two FTE, corrected after switching regulator to adverse
- Wolf 55gr FMJ (Poly Cased): No issues, ran on adverse gas mode
- Hornady Steel cased 75gr BTHP: No Issues, ran on adverse gas mode
- Wolf 62gr FMJ (Poly Cased): No issues, ran on adverse gas mode
- PMC 55gr FMJ (Brass Cased): No issues, ran on normal gas mode
- Lake City M855 62gr FMJ (Brass Cased): No issues, ran on normal gas mode
- Reloaded 55gr FMJ (Brass Cased): No issues, ran on normal gas mode
- Reloaded 69gr Nosler BTHP: No issues, ran on normal gas mode
Accuracy Testing
After a bit of impromptu plinking (including The Giant Ginger nailing a rock at 200 yards with his SBR UMP45....color me impressed!), we decided to shoot the AUG using the ACOG for groups with various ammo.
For accuracy, I shot the AUG from the prone position using a shooting bag to rest the front of the rifle on. To do so I had the foregrip of the AUG folded into the horizontal position. There are a few things I have noticed when shooting the AUG from the prone position that I thought I would share:
For accuracy, I shot the AUG from the prone position using a shooting bag to rest the front of the rifle on. To do so I had the foregrip of the AUG folded into the horizontal position. There are a few things I have noticed when shooting the AUG from the prone position that I thought I would share:
- The AUG seems to be a bit easier to shoot from the prone position than the AR. It is very comfortable in the prone position to shoot. The small hook on the buttstock to the rear of the magazine release works great for placing your off hand and supporting the rifle. Shooting an AR with a 30 round magazine can be somewhat awkward. The AUG with a 30 round magazine is not an issue. With a 42 round magazine it feels similar to an AR with a 30 round magazine, as the magazine touches the ground slightly.
- The slope of the trigger guard works great to get the proper elevation from a bag while shooting prone. Pushing the rifle forward with the trigger guard on the bag raises the rifle, as sliding it to the rear lowers the rifle.
- Be aware of where the gas regulator is on your bag. Due to how the gas vents, it will poke a hole in your shooting bag.
- Wolf 55gr FMJ (Steel Cased)
- Hornady 75gr BTHP (Steel Cased)
- Reloaded 69gr Nosler BTHP (Brass Cased)
- Reloaded 55gr FMJ (Brass Cased)
- Lake City M855 62gr FMJ (Brass Cased)
Accuracy Results
For group measurements The Giant Ginger and I have decided that to properly gauge the accuracy of a weapon, at least a 5 shot group must be fired to really see how the weapon will shoot. Once we measure the 5 shot group, we then measure the best 4 shots, writing one round off as a flyer to see if that makes much of an improvement. Still, in the idea of fairness we do take into account the total 5 shot group size (for consistency) and list that along with the 4 shot group. We measured the groups from the outside of the holes of the two rounds the furthest apart, and then subtracted .224 for the bullet diameter. All of these groups were shot from 100 yards.
- Wolf 55gr FMJ: 5 Shots in 2.48", 4 Shots in 1.11"
- Hornady 75gr BTHP: 5 Shots in 2.31", 4 Shots in 1.03"
- Reloaded 69gr Nosler BTHP: 5 Shots in 1.34", 4 Shots in 1.25"
- Reloaded 55gr FMJ: 5 Shots in 1.9", 4 Shots in 1.32"
- Lake City M855 FMJ: 5 Shots in 1.4", 4 Shots in 1.36"
Wolf 55gr FMJ
Hornady Steel Cased 75gr BTHP
Reloaded 69gr Nosler BTHP
Reloaded 55gr FMJ
Lake City M855 62gr FMJ. Ignore my dyslexia for the 4 and 5 shot group sizes.
Some Afterthoughts
- My AUG A3 shot better than most reports I have read online. There is not much information I have found for 100 yard groups, but most people were reporting around 3-4 inch groups varying between 3-5 rounds for their group size.
- Against most things you read on the internet, my 1/9 twist barrel seemed to like the heavier bullets. This was a pleasant surprise.
- Even using a 4 power ACOG and the fact that the rifle has an 8 pound 10 ounce trigger, I was able to keep most groups below 2MOA.
- I really do think that I may be able to turn in a group below 1 MOA with this rifle. In a few weeks when I go back to Elko County I plan on taking the same ammunition out and re shooting the groups using a 1- power optic from a bench.
- All of these groups were acceptable for a combat weapon, especially with the optic used. I am pleased by these results, and feel confident in being able to hit what I am aiming at.
- To show off how well balanced the rifle was, I was able to hit a bowling pin at 100 yards within 3 rounds by just having the rifle shoulder on my right side.
- The trigger has a little bit of creep, but the break is very predictable. We will see if it works in within a few hundred more rounds.
- Until I get more rounds through the rifle to loosen it up, I will be using the adverse gas setting whenever firing steel cased ammo. The rifle eats it up like candy on this setting.
- The rifle now has 220 rounds though it without cleaning...and will stay this way until it does not want to run anymore. I did pull the rifle apart, and the bolt group still looks like it was just cleaned. There is a bit of oily carbon residue on the bolt thruster, but that is the only signs of anything being dirty at this point.
- My AR has taken up residency in the far corner of the safe, it is a bit jealous right now.
