I have finally made the time to write a full review of this superb "toy" which I have now owned since just after Christmas 1997. In the normal manner of a UK player I have never seen, let alone handled the "real steel", so all my remarks concerning similarity to prototype are based on second-hand information. Courtesy of MFI in the US, a picture that shows the current set up used by me. Just to give you the full run down, I am chronically short-sighted, so a 4 x 40 scope gives me the ability to track the shots etc enjoyed naturally by those with normal vision!

There can't be many visitors to this site who don't know what a bullpup rifle is but for their benefit, this is a good article on the real AUG. It's actually about the military version, but they are identical apart from the sight.

On opening the box, with the joy of ownership providing a misty pink glow, I was struck by the futuristic styling of a rifle designed in the 1970's, Designed by Austrians, who do not IMHO, normally enjoy an enviable reputation as stylists (apologies to any who feel slighted here!). The balance and feel of the gun are just superb, all the weight is in the butt and there was no feeling that the barrel would drop if one were careless or tired, as I have felt with an AK and M16. The detailing was magnificent, the bits that move or function on the real weapon being faithfully reproduced, regardless of any functionality on the model. One might well ask why the gas regulator works on an Airsoft gun; why the heck not? Why would you want to field strip the gun? Because I can. Why remove the barrel? That's another story. What else did I notice? There were no sights as such immediately obvious, just a Weaver Rail on the receiver, where the sight is on the military version. Of course, I did strip it down quite soon, out of curiosity, it's very easy to do, and (well military version any way) you get this: -

pretty good for a toy? You don't get a hammer group to remove, or a bolt mechanism, but otherwise much as reality.

Charge battery, with vague thoughts at the time of, "how long will this puny little thing last?" Put battery into gun, cunningly hidden in the area reserved for the cleaning kit on the real thing. Removing the rubber butt plate is easy, but I had the instructions, and am not too proud to RTFM! Charge up the standard magazine with BBs, safety off and pull trigger. Grin inanely; repeat process but pulling harder for full auto and grin even more inanely. At this stage I experimented with the plastic sights supplied to fit the sight rail until you add a red dot or 'scope. Not much use to me, for eyesight reasons. I can spot a BB to range if the light is right, but that's not usual, especially against a light background. Simon has a 4 x 32 'scope that we fit to see what difference it makes. For me, it's the clincher. A target some 6 inches by 4 inches at 25 meters becomes a viable 6+ out of ten without practice plink. I must get one of these. As for the plastic sights, back in the box!

The gun sports a decent home made sling, adjustable for hip or shoulder firing, BTW any ideas how the real gun is slung?. The default set up has a Tasco 4 x 40 'scope mounted and a 330 round skirmish mag in place. The standard mag is carried in a pocket, with several film pots of spare BBs scattered around other pockets, together with a spare battery. Experience has shown that the mini 600MAh batteries have limited staying power but two and access to a fast charger will keep me going for a day, in which I may fire up to 3000 or so rounds. A third battery would be nice, the car racing fraternity have some of the same size but higher capacity, at a price. Battery changing in action takes 30 seconds or so, but our team's pairing system ensures cover for this most risky of operations. Cock your pistol first! The gun's accuracy seems to be above that of the normal hire guns used by many other players, as does the range which can reach 50+ meters and into an upstairs window if you allow a bit of loft into the shot. This is better than some SG1's I have seen. The gun is new and not worn, so this may degrade over the months. When the HOP is properly set, i.e. not just after the gun has been oiled, the trajectory is flat up to 30 meters or so, and does not harm accuracy until 40+ meters. A SIG551 owner has passed comment that my grouping is still within a torso shape at max range of the SIG, so I must have something good here. At these longer ranges the BB has little impact and may not be noticed by someone in thick clothes. The site I normally visit, Airsoft Adventures, has a lot of CQB in buildings, and powered up guns are bad news at 5 meters or less, so I have not uprated anything.

• The front grip has a metal spine, which is aluminium tubing and not solid steel. If you are clumsy or unlucky and knock the fore grip the spine can break. I have not tested how much or little knock is required, I only know about enough! I got a spare part. Maybe if the spine were made of steel the mounting would go instead.
• The grubscrew keeping the barrel in place in the fore grip mounting needs checking. If it works loose the barrel shroud falls off. Remove fore grip and check regularly. It's a hex key job and small with it.
• The plastic sights supplied can fall off. Keep an eye on them, or tighten them up, but it won't go into the box with the sights on.

Don't treat the above as dire warnings of doom. I am also quite rough with the thing. Climbing in and out of windows, crawling a long way, the gun gets a hard time, so may be the AUG is tougher than many others.

Make night fighting simpler by putting luminous (glow in the dark) paint on your standard sights. Unless you can get the expensive radium (?) based stuff then the glow will not last too long, but a simple charge up from your torch (under your hat or whatever) restores that shine.

Really work hard at getting that HOP dead right, the difference it make justifies the time spent.

Practice your quick change for the battery. Thirty seconds or less is a good time to aim at. Do it in cover with a cocked pistol to hand.

Short bursts are easy. Pull the trigger all the way and release. The whole process takes a second and fires three or four rounds.

Having found a source of other barrels the 14" SMG barrel has got to happen. The quote so far is USD90 with shipping, so find my plastic. A magnifying red dot and laser set up for night work or darkened indoor scenarios is also desirable. As for the HBAR set up, time will tell, the far side of the TMP I suspect.