History of the AUG
The AUG History
Steyr, located in Austria, has been a large manufacturing corporation since its founding in 1894. Though they started out producing rifles, Steyr also expanded into bicycles, automobiles, motorcycles, and tractors.
During World War II, the factory became one of the Third Reich's major producers of both firearms and vehicles. They used slave labor from the concentration camps to increase wartime production of vehicles, firearms, and aircraft engines.
After the war, the company continued its manufacturing various products, and throughout the years, branches of the company were split up.
In the 1960s, Steyr designed the AUG, a closed bolt, gas piston operated bullpup rifle chambered in 5.56. With six interchangeable assemblies and a quick change barrel, Steyr designed the AUG to be modular. It can be easily configured as a rifle, carbine, submachine gun, and can even be converted to a full-auto open bolt gun.
An Australian soldier with AUG variant
By U.S. Army photo by Spc. Audrey Ward - https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4515209/ttv-night-shoot, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70311108
Adopted by the Austrian Army in 1978, the AUG replaced the StG 58 (a licensed FN FAL). Since then, the AUG has undergone several iterations. The A1 was introduced in 1982, the A2 in 1997, and most recently the A3. Currently, variants of the AUG are standard issue for Austrian federal police, Australia Defense Force, and for the Irish Army.
AUGs were first imported into the United States in the 1980s. But, in 1989, President H.W. Bush signed an executive order banning the import of many firearms, including the AUG. The company made design changes to circumvent the ban, and in 1995, U.S. consumers could once again purchase AUGs. The changes included transitioning the pistol grip to a thumbhole stock and an unthreaded barrel.
The import ban has since ended and U.S. consumers can once again enjoy everything there is to love about the AUG.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steyr_AUG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steyr-Daimler-Puch
https://www.themccluskeyarmscompany.com/feat-of-the-week-gunsmithing-blog/feat-of-the-week-tiger-striped-ar-10
