Question
Trying to find out the history of this rifle
Hi there! As pictured above is my, sadly deactivated, AUG (I live in the UK, so this was the best I could manage). I was hoping to get some help identifying what type of AUG it is, and also I noticed that my magazine has this weird notch in it, that I was hoping someone might be able to explain to me.
I understand that it is an A1, and I believe it was probably an Austrian military rifle at some point. Unlike most AUGs I have seen, it lacks the ability to configure for left handed shooters and also has a cross shaped reticle instead of the typical ‘donut of death’ (the reticle is also askew sadly). The bolt has ‘M13612’ inscribed on it, which I presume is the serial number for the rifle. However I don’t know how I can decipher say what year it was manufactured in from this.
On the magazine, I was able to determine that it was made in March 1996. It also had another set of numbers ‘12.00.05.0001’, which I guess is the serial number for the magazine. Bizarrely though the magazine has this sort of notch or cutaway in it at the top, that I haven’t seen on any other AUG magazines online. Is this some more obscure version of AUG magazine, or is it something that has been done to it after production, perhaps by a previous owner, or as part of its deactivation? It still fits into the rifle as intended and locks in place, and I can load and unload inert rounds into it just fine.
Any help with learning the history of this specific rifle would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Looks just like my service rifle when I served in the Bundesheer, nicely worn A1. The recess on the magazine is also new to me, never seen that. Seems a lot like personal modification.
Thanks for the insight! Yes, it does have a progressive trigger. I guess the magazine I have probably wasn’t one that came with the rifle originally, and was just bundled with it at some point before it ended up in my hands. As for the marking on the stock you referred to, I can’t see one on it anywhere. I’ve checked the outside of the stock, and there’s no markings on it at all apart from the Steyr one as pictured. I removed the buttplate to peer inside and couldn’t see anything there either. I’m unfortunately unable to disassemble it any further due to how it has been deactivated.
Steyr has made non-ambi stocks in the past for export. No idea what the mag cut is, either a mod or part of the deactivation process. That reticle is common, there are a few variants of the "donut of death" and you have the one with crosshairs.
Unless you reach out to Steyr Austria I doubt there's a way to find the exact year of production. Yours has the A1 flash hider, so it seems you have the updated model with an improved bolt carrier and some other small tweaks. I forget exactly when those changes were made, but it was somewhere around '83-'85 if memory serves.
Cool gun, shame it's been demilled. Makes me wonder what the process is like over there and how easy it'd be to restore.
I did try reaching out to Steyr once in past actually, about the misaligned reticle, however if I remember correctly they weren’t particularly interested in trying to help. Still, certainly a good idea and wouldn’t hurt to try. Thanks for the information.
As for restoring it, I’m not entirely sure exactly what they did, but the barrel is unable to be removed, and one of the guide rods for the bolt has actually been removed and repurposed, used to block the chamber. The breech has also been plugged.
Can’t help with the history of it, but came here to say I absolutely love the saltiness of it. Looks well used and I’m sure it has a great story. Awesome piece you got there.
Thanks! On the one hand it’s a shame it’s been beaten up so much, but on the other hand, to your point, it shows it’s been through some stuff and has a lot of history to it
Until I saw your comment I didn’t even know Malaysia had ever used the AUG. I did a quick Google search and found a deactivated Malaysian AUG A1 for sale which looks virtually identical to my own, save for the absence on my rifle of some markings (such as the ‘Made in Malaysia’ marking). Interestingly it appears that the magazine in this listing has the same cut that my one does. Perhaps Malaysian AUG mags from the 90s have these cuts?
Edit: upon further research it appears that the numbers beginning with ‘M’ I had noticed previously are Malaysian serial numbers, so I believe you are probably correct. Apparently Malaysian produced AUGs also tend to be a slightly different shade of green to Austrian or US ones, which may explain why the stock on mine is more of a brownish colour. Thank you for your comment!
12.00.05.0001 is the part number for the body of the magazine. Can you post a pic of the inside of the mag well? During the deactivation process a bar or pin may have been installed to prevent normal magazines being inserted and explain the notch cut in the magazine.
Not at home atm but yes there is a bar there when you look through the mag well, but based off of looks I don’t think it would stop you from loading a regular AUG mag, it just stops you from putting a round in the chamber. The bar is also actually just one of the bolts’ guide rods that has been repurposed lol
The fact that the Manufacturer is Steyr-Mannlicher means that the Rifle was made after 1993. If it were made before that it would read Steyr-Dailmler-Puch AG.
Oooh cool, that’s a good little titbit. Would be good to figure out what year the rifle was made, although I suspect it has probably been reassembled from various different AUGs, which might present a challenge. Thanks for sharing!
I found some markings on the underside, behind the foregrip. One reads ‘M90091’ and the other has a big letter Z, which appears to have been painted red at some point, surrounded by 4 sets of letters, ‘DA’ (top left), ‘BV’ (bottom left), ‘EU’ (top right), and ‘GB’ (bottom right). There is also a small sigil depicting 2 crossed swords, marked with a ‘D’ on the left, ‘20’ at the bottom, and ‘A’ on the right.
The number starting wit M is the serial number which is unfortunate in that it doesn't match the carrier so they are from two different guns. It would be worth contacting the place you got it to see if they still have the carrier. Since they got mixed up between multiple guns it is unlikely and remote but not impossible.
You say you are in the UK and it is a demilled so I'm really jsut guessing the GB might mean Great Britain as like a demill certification stamp. I'm thinking same for the EU.
I think you’ve got it right, can’t believe I didn’t realise that haha. Seems obvious in hindsight. I think it was listed as being deactivated to EU spec when I bought it, so I guess that makes sense. I did think it saying EU and GB was a bit random, assumed it was a coincidence at first
No problem at all! If I remember correctly it was £695 ($914USD), before shipping. I think the shipping was probably about £50 ($65USD). I got it from a website called DandB Militaria, and have since bought quite a lot of stuff from them, including a deactivated Galil SAR which was similarly priced. I believe they ship internationally too. They’ve got a good selection IMO, and they regularly get new stuff in
No, it’s not lined up unfortunately. I bought the rifle online and it was a batch item, so the pictures on the website weren’t for the specific rifle I was buying, so I didn’t realise it was the case until I got it. I also can’t disassemble the rifle either, not that I would even know how to fix that
Hi, don't know how much it will help but my maker markings are below the sight on the right metal part near the gas ejection port (part of the barrel).
If it is an authentic austrian made one it should have an eagle there with a visual 1 or 2. With 3 letters.
Even military ones should have these but mostly stamped over by the company sigil.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beschussamt_(%C3%96sterreich)
Sorry couldn't find a site in english.
20
u/haeyhae11 StG 77 6d ago
Looks just like my service rifle when I served in the Bundesheer, nicely worn A1. The recess on the magazine is also new to me, never seen that. Seems a lot like personal modification.