Looks like Steyr is ramping up for US production. Thought the AUG fans may want to know.

Story from AL Dept of Commerce

I hope it works out well for them maybe a updated nato stock and a improved line of their pistols. Markets in a slump right now I hope it doesn't go bad for them and they get cold feet for another twenty years like when the bans hurt them.

I too am hopeful for Steyr's growth and success, but for me this news rekindles a lot of long-standing questions.

It seems we really don't know all that much about how domestic AUGs are made and built. Safe to assume that there is some domestic production of components to fulfill 922(r) requirements for stateside sales, but I think most of us assumed they were being produced by Steyr's US arm. If Steyr Arms, Inc. currently has 15 employees, I have to assume they are not spinning up mills and lathes on a daily basis, if they even have them at all. This brings up the question of whether or not these parts are outsourced, and if so, to whom?

In the AR world, we have a good handle on who manufactures what and for whom, and to what material and testing specs. For the AUG, this is a giant question mark for most of us. Both my A3 and M1 have had to go back to the factory to fix silly small parts issues, and now I wonder if this was the result of outsourcing, or a case of good ole American "I'm going on break" manufacturing. It has made me wonder what dimensional and material specs those items should have been, as opposed to what they actually were that made them fail. I think the AUG knowledge base has a long, long way to go, but that's just my opinion.

Now that Steyr has a decade of domestic AUGs under their belt, do we have any idea of the true source of origin for all of the parts, and where there is deviation, who those suppliers are? Sure, we know we're looking at US made receivers and FN made CHF barrels, for example, and that some mags are claimed to be US-made, albeit without any markings to indicate it. What about the other bits and pieces? This issue came up long ago when the A3 came out; it was known that Steyr put out a gun that could not legally run Austrian mags. People stopped asking questions, perhaps smartly, and the issue quietly went away.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Steyr products as much as all of you and I think that 922(r) is stupid and borderline unenforceable, but it seems like Steyr has taken the stance of "prove it's not US made" rather than taking steps to avoid these questions. I understand perfectly well that a foreign parts can be marked as being US made and that doesn't mean a  thing, but for AUG owners, it's an act of good faith (or plausible deniability?) should the issue ever be raised. For better or for worrse, this is exactly why we've seen AR parts being branded/marked heavily. It verifies a source of origin and sometimes indicate specs, knock-offs withstanding.

I've got family in Alabama, next time I'm there I'll have to make a side trip and see if I can get a tour.

Steyr will tell you what parts are made in the USA by their subcontractors.  Steyr doesn't have 20 CNCs running all day.  They assemble.

Don't worry about 922r, the ATF doesn't.  How many B+T SBRs are there out there without 922Rparts?  Same goes for the 553 pistols.  All those owners are literally on record with the ATF of manufacturing a SBR that isn't 922r compliant.  

The cost of a worker in Alabama is going to cost considerably less than their counterpart in Austria.  Steyr USA has always struggled.  

Bullpup Forum will help with the knowledgebase part.  There's a good amount to read on lighfighter.

Well, 922(r) doesn't matter....until it does...and then there's a whole lot of sphincter puckering going on.

I work in the manufacturing sector in a company that is, apparently, 10 times larger than Steyr Arms, Inc., so I fully understand the differences in the cost differential of operations, but I also acknowledge that sometimes this comes at the expense of the quality of components. In this case, Steyr AL taking control of manufacturing small parts might just be a good thing as opposed to outsourcing them.

I've read Bullpupforum for several years, but to be honest, the majority of contributing posters over there are regulars here as well, so I haven't really missed anything. To be brutally blunt, the technical knowledge base simply isn't there. For example: do we know what type of steel is specified by Steyr in Austria for a bolt sleeve, or what testing methods are performed on bolts such as hardness testing, proof testing, MPI, etc.? Do we know what type of metal is spec'd to be used for the receiver's rail track grommets or end plate? I think you guys know what I'm getting at, and I can't be the only one who has pondered this stuff.

Well we already know that the barrels are made by FN on Steyr equipment and that the receivers are made (finished?) by VLTOR.  As far as parts in the stock, the ones colored black on green/mud stocks are US made.

I don't think it's strange to not know every intricate detail of the small parts on the AUG. We know the details of AR parts because they are made by tons of suppliers and it's one of the the most common guns in the country.

What issues have you encountered?

That's what I  was trying to say.  What else do you want Steyr to disclose?  Their Wi-Fi password?

The first part of your post I already acknowledged in my previous post. The latter part implies that you are content with us not having a clue. That's fine if that's how you feel, but I would have expected you of all people to be interested in the technicalities of the AUG.

The Sabre A3 suffered from an improperly heat treated receiver end plate, an oversized barrel latch nipple, or both. Herbert didn't know for sure, so he replaced both and that AUG soldiers on. This prevented the release of the barrel without using excessive force.





The M1 had two issues. The receiver guide sleeve was either improperly installed or it was not made to the proper dimensions. It dislodged from the receiver and was retained by the guide rod, so it did not cause any issues. The ejection port cover was also really soft and it would dislodge and fall into the action while firing, which caused malfunctions. Herbert replaced both and all is as it should be.



In sum, either these were craptastic parts straight from Steyr Austria, of there is some less than stellar suppliers conducting business with Steyr.

If these are all Austrian parts, then this is like getting struck by lightning...twice. If they are outsourced US made parts, then I guess that tells me something.

Most of the parts are made in Austria by Steyr.

Just a few are made here, barrel, flash hider, check nut, Receiver, receiver rails, trigger.

Pretty much everything else is brought in as Steyr AUG "parts set"  

Thanks Pete!

The reason you don't worry about who made what parts is because they're predominantly Austrian and made to a single spec, unlike the massive range of AR parts available from hundreds or thousands of companies.

Given my problems shown above, combined with Pete's post, this isn't necessarily true.

Pete's post supports mine. Other than the receiver and barrel (both made by extremely well respected manufacturers) the rest of the US parts are minor

Sorry, I'm not tracking you there; I'm not quite sure what you mean by the parts being "minor?"

With the exception of the receiver guide sleeve, the rest of the parts that have failed me thus far are, according to Pete, straight from Steyr in Austria. Now, it could very well be that my M1's receiver was milled incorrectly, resulting in the inability for the sleeve guide to take hold during installation, but a new sleeve seems to have corrected the issue. In the case of the ejection port cover, out in the real world, that type of malfunction would force a transition to a secondary weapon, or in a worst case scenario, get you killed. With the receiver plate, barrel nipple and ejection port cover all coming from Austria, they may have been made with * a spec* in mind, but they did not hit the mark, resulting in failures of those parts. The fact that the A3 has a brass colored receiver pate vs. the grey steel plate of the M1 indicates a shift in what exactly that spec is, which again, is something a technical knowledge base would have a firm grasp on. One day we may zero in on a true AUG TDP, if you will, but we're far off from that at this stage.

It's not my intention to derail this thread; the point I'm trying to make is that having better control of the overall quality of small parts and components is probably a big reason for this expansion. This would be to the benefit of the consumer, because there seems to be some areas where the "American" AUGs have not quite lived up to the legends of the European brethren. To say otherwise is to applaud the Emperor's new clothes. From the perspective of the consumer, we would all benefit from having an understanding of from what and how these parts are made and what sort of testing they undergo, lest we are just to consider these guns as hobby rifles and not guns that we should call upon to defend hearth and home.

On the other hand, there is the business side of the expansion. Anytime you sink over a million dollars for an expansion, you need to have the sales to support it. You have to have forecasts and data to justify it, and I wonder what that outlook is right about now. I wouldn't expect that AUGs are selling like hotcakes at the moment; in general the gun industry is in the doldrums and unless you have a Gov't contract to fulfill, things are not looking good. I wish the best for Steyr's US enterprise and while I think that more control over QA/QC benefits the consumers, the timing of this is questionable...unless there is another announcement coming soon.

You mentioned that the American AUGs have not been living up to their European brethren but the parts you referenced that had issues are all Austrian parts if memory serves me correctly.  Manufacturing is a fickle beast and it is impossible to 100% replicate perfect quality. It truly seems you were struck by lighting twice on those issues.

I know that Steyr has looked at locating some level of manufacturing in the US for a while now. Some of the reasons could include:

1) reliable supply. They are beholden to Austrian production and the US subsidiary takes a backseat to military contract work, faces increasing European export restrictions, etc.
2) innovation. I know they have wanted to offer new offerings but again, they are limited by what the parent company will produce at this time.
3) American expectations. Meeting expectations of US customers on things like thread pitch, etc has been tough because, again, parent company. Their own production capability would allow for such changes.

I hope this means we will see US made AUG/9 kits and rifles.

Steyr is VERY picky about the components used in their rifles. I have full confidence that any US made parts will be the equal of their Austrian made counterparts.

Looking at the pic above, it could have been a ham-fisted installation of the receiver end plate and the collar where the charging handle pin goes through (the collar may not have been flush when the receiver plate was screwed down)

+1. I would be all over that.

I've already got a 9mm AUG. But that would be awesome.

Not sure that would ever happen. Limited sales potential and all.

AUGs are not the only products that Steyr offers, and they could be trying to break into those other markets such as sporting and precision rifles (the SBS and SSG lines) and handguns.  Given the recent quality issues coming out of Remington, they may see this as a chance to carve off a piece of the market by providing a US made high quality bolt action rifle...that's safe and actually has a barrel that's bored properly.

Having owned 6 Augs over the years I have never had one issue, that said I have yet to get my hands on my STG 77.

Dude.

Chill.

You got a Sabre AUG. They fucked up BAD.

CHILL.

Call Steyr.

They will make it right.

You have an awesome vocabulary of technical terms. Please don't write off the platform.

If they made a new american generation of the L9A1 that addressed the issues I had with the gun I would definitely check one out. Never thought about the sporting arms part but I guess that's true. I kind of figured it was a small market and with howa, mossberg, savage, ruger, reminington, weatherby, browning, tikka, etc it would be pretty saturated though especially because well I could be wrong but those into hunting don't need to buy a new bolt action rifle every year especially those that aren't into guns otherwise.

The Sabre got fixed a long time ago im pretty sure. I think I remember the thread. Hes just asking valid questions. Its true we don't know as much about the AUG platform as the AR. It hasn't been the US issue rifle for decades, and the only english speaking country that issues Steyr made and not a home brew licensed version with changes the producing nation implemented on their own accord is Ireland and I doubt there are many members from their actively posting to share any knowledge they may have on it. Also given the relative scarcity of the AUG in America and the relative recentness of Steyr bringing the AUG back to the market in the US after seeing the demand being filled by other companies there is still a lot to learn. I hope he keeps asking questions and getting answers that's the point of tech forums.

Maybe it will bring prices down some as well.

I bet its the Steyr AR15 . Seems they are making a run on them . . .

That's what has my interest.  Styer can be.... slow to change.  Having more and more US control over configurations (which may or may not be on the table), may mean things like 1/8 twist barrels, US standard muzzle threads, trigger designs that appear better to the US Semi-Auto based market (i.e. not just an adaptation of a full-auto trigger)., etc.

This could be potentially quite cool.

Thanks for posting this, I appreciate that you get what I'm trying to say! I am still a huge fan of the AUG, or else I wouldn't have bought the second one for a trunk gun to supplant the AR platform that I know like the back of my hand. I believe in the platform that much, but I am also realistic and luckily I make it a point to prove out my weapons before entrusting them with my life. My posts and comments are indeed in reference to technical specifications and issues that I have personally experienced, and gone through with repairs on. This is indeed a tech forum and unfortunately, a lot of this data is non-existent or scarce, and we should all be interested in changing that as we move forward.

To be objective about all of this, which I believe I am, I am also a huge fan of the MP5 yet a lot of the tech specs for that platform are also absent, aside from the basic dimensional requirements and the like that are found in Armorer's manuals. That's more of a playtime tool for me, though, whereas I have a bit more at stake with the AUG and want them to be the best they can be.

...and a 300BO barrel easy swap.

A few weeks back Steyr teased a picture of an AUG next to some .300 BO cartridges. Didn't provide info with the picture from what I remember but it seems like they's a cookin' a sumthin up.

They are working on a 300 black out AUG.

Not sure if they got it cycling correctly yet.

Yep...saw that story.  But I don't want a whole gun.  I just want the ability to swap out a 300BO barrel on my 5.56 AUG.

+1

A barrel assembly swap would be ideal, I might be Ok with a new carrier group but it's much less attractive...

Why would you need a new carrier group?

Pure speculation on my part since Steyr was described as "trying to get the rifle to cycle" and .300 BO is well known to need careful tuning between gas volume and recoil dampening.

I was wondering if the issue was that Steyr would want the owner to install them as a unit...barrel with its dedicated bolt...especially if one is going to swap back and forth occasionally.  I have both a Tavor and AUG, so I'd just want my AUG to be a dedicated 300BO.  My AUG is not a high round count, so I'm not that concerned about bolt wear and the barrel lug interface as long as headspace isn't a problem.  Now...I'm thinking along the lines of how the AR15 BCG and barrel interface, so I may not be on target with the AUG's protocol.

What you have mentioned are the most critical parts of a firearm.
That makes this gun a US made.

I couldnt agree more with you. I don't think the problem is the parts from Austria. I think the Austrian parts are fine. Maybe it is the US made parts that arent cutting tight with the European spec. I can't be certain but what I think is happening with your AUG is that Bessemer location is having a serious quality issues with their assembly process; after all, all they are doing is putting the parts together. (Because assembling involves some machining and fitting)
The problem doesn't sem to originate from parts and their quality. It's the half ass assembly work that impinges on the end product.

I personally haven't had mechanical issues like yours but I've noticed really fking choppy work on the stock itself. I believe The AUG polymer stocks come in as blanks where they have to be sanded and cut to have exact fit. That cuts and grinds seemedike it was done by a 10 year old. It was clearly affecting the cosmetics and I questioned myself paying almost 2 grand for it.

So yeah you are not alone on this and more than likely what you are saying is probably true. These guys making ass hurt defensive comments don't look like they actually own one..

his issues were with a Sabre Defense produced/assembled AUG, not a Steyr-USA one

I guess everyone was in such a rush to argue that they didn't actually read the post or look at the pics.

Two AUGs, a Sabre A3 and a new M1. 

BOTH had to go back to the factory. BOTH were for stupid small parts issues.

you're right.  I remembered them as both being Sabre.  It still seems that Sabre gun was an installation issue and and the M1 a parts fitment issue.  Kinda like when my new G43 was having failure to feed problems.  Glock replaced the trigger bar assembly and the problem went away

I remember talking to Herbert about the Sabre A3 years ago when I sent it in for repair. Franky, I distinctly remember it because I was shocked that I was talking to a real, live Austrian, and that's a good thing!   He was confident that it was an issue of the barrel locking nipple having too large diameter, but whether that's on the slope or the base I don't know. In either case the end result would be that it would eventually pound the receiver plate outwards and bend it. For what it's worth, I just checked tonight and they replaced both the plate and the nipple. That Sabre A3 has not caused any problems since then. The receiver plate on my new-ish M1 is not brass like it is on the A3, but a regular, utilitarian grey steel color. That's obviously a change in spec, but since we just take what we get with these AUGs, we don't know if there is any material change, heat treat change, etc.

The guide sleeve on the M1 came loose on the first trial run of 200 rounds. I thought it was odd, but I pushed it back into place and decided to go on another range trip. Of course, I also had the problem of the ejection port cover falling off and INTO the action, which caused failures that could not be cleared without stripping out the magazine and sticking my fingers inside the action to slide the port cover out through the magazine well. Just like the guide sleeve, I thought it was  fluke, so I reinstalled it and carried on, however, on my second range trip both of these problems came back, so that's when I decided that the receiver had to go back to Bessemer. 

circling back to my point, there's not a lot that is known about the technical specs of the AUG, and in my case, some of the failed parts were US made, but some were actually Austrian. This leaves a doubt in my mind that we should blindly trust anything Steyr without us properly vetting it on the range first. In all reality, this goes without saying with any firearm, but we have posts in this very thread that have donned the blindfold and declared In Steyr We trust. I tend to disagree, based on my experiences. In God we trust, everyone else gets background checks.