Where does this idea come from? I was looking through the Australian rifle trials report for the 100th time and finally paid attention to the recoil tests they did. They set up a ballistic pendulum and tested the rifles:

Recoil Energy
20" AUG-A1: 3.36 Joules
16" AUG-A1: 3.76 Joules
20" M16A2 (which is considered to be the lightest recoiling of all ARs): 4.31 Joules

Could it be that because ARs are more front-heavy than an AUG, there is less muzzle rise and people equate that to less recoil?

5.56mm and Recoil shouldn’t be in the same room together.

I find the AUG to be lighter recoiling if anything and extremely controllable on auto. Honestly, it was a better choice of service rifle than an optically sighted M16 until they started putting scopes and accessories on the M4.

Have both, impulse is different but not a problem in any way

An overgassed AUG, in my opinion, feels less than an overgassed AR.

But a finely tuned AR feels much less than an AUG (there's only so much you can do to an AUG).

But that's just my subjective opinion.

Yeah, you can get the suppressor plug for the AUG and that tames it a bit, but that's all you can do other than lower power ammo and adding weight to the rifle.

Wallet size appears to be the only limit to tuning the AR. Get a long gas system, adjustable gas block, a long travel A5 buffer system and you can almost make the AR feel like a 22LR plinker.

Bone stock M4 vs bone stock AUG is pretty comparable out of the box though.

but that's the thing. when people say the AUG is 'overgassed', overgassed compared to what? All AUGs are gassed the same. There is no such thing as a 'correctly' gassed AUG or an 'overgassed' AUG. There is just AUG gassed. Until the suppressor gas plug, all AUGs were gassed the same. I assume that Steyr determined the gas port size to give the AUG a certain amount of reliability in different temperature ranges and field conditions, with various types of ammo. When people 'tune' their ARs, it's usually for use under ideal conditions

Its all semantics. Don't get hung up on it.

AUG's have their own feel.  In my experience from a bench, with a stock trigger and gas system, the AUG is a more jumpy gun to shoot than an AR15.   But when standing, and when moving, it's less jumpy.  I can't really explain that.  I also found that replacing the gas-plug with a Surpressed gas plug has a PROFOUND impact on the jumpy nature of the AUG, and takes it down considerably.  AUG's are way WAY overgassed, causing that rather large bolt-carrier system to slam around more than you need, impacting a lot of force jumping the gun around.  People who dismiss recoil effects in 5.56, I guess are people who don't do a lot of followup shots or look for impact splash.


Frankly, I think mine is still overgassed, even with the suppressed plug.  Why they went with a bigger vent, and not just a smaller tap, on the suppressed plug, I have no idea.  

The AUG is designed for combat reliability
It’s not overgassed, it’s properly gassed
Recoil pulse is different, but not more than the AR

I’m an AR guy and got an AUG just because I wanted a bullpup in my collection. I’m more used to conventional rifles.

Weight distribution and bullpup configuration generate a weird recoil impulse compared to conventional rifles.. but I wouldn’t say it recoils more.. it’s just different..

It’s not so much felt as seen and heard. You see it pull off target a little. Maybe more so than standard rifles because the support arm doesn’t have far forward leverage. Or maybe it just seems that way to me because my AUG has a magnified optic and my other rifles have open sights or red dots. And kinda like a fixed stock AR with a sproingy buffer spring the sound is much more immersive. It travels into your face as it resonates and echoes inside the stock.

Any rifle where the bolt bottoms out just seems uncouth. Keep your fighting clean, oiled and well engineered.