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Posted: 3/9/2008 10:28:44 PM EDT
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I have a friend who loves the AUG and owns a Steyr USR. I brought my MSAR STG-556 to show him because I knew he would love it. I was able to take them apart and compare them side by side. This is what I found: Areas where the AUG is better: 1. The AUG charging handle is much nicer than the MSAR. The MSAR CH looks and feels like a cheap piece of plastic, especially compared to the AUG CH. The edges are sharp and you can see the marks from injection mold in the MSAR CH. 2. The AUG barrel release knob is better than the MSAR. They are both made of metal, but the MSAR barrel release knob has a different design, sort of fluted, which makes it less comfortable to push than the same knob on the AUG. 3. The AUG has no play between the receiver and the stock, and my MSAR does. This was a big surprise for me. If you hold my MSAR stock and you wiggle the barrel the receiver will move a little. Not much, but enough that you can hear a little click as the receiver taps against the stock. The AUG had zero play. The receiver was perfectly solid in the stock. 4. The texture of the AUG trigger was better than the MSAR. The MSAR trigger texture is a series of 90 degree cut lines sloping down each side of the trigger, with a prominent point running down the middle. That point is a little sharp compared to the AUG. I'm going to take a dremel to mine to smooth down that sharp line. The MSAR charging handle has this same issue. Areas where the MSAR is better: 5. The MSAR safety is better. It has the red/white dots on all three surfaces instead of just the one like the AUG. The edges of the MSAR safety are not sharp like the edges of the AUG safety, and the MSAR safety is easier to push on or off. 6. The MSAR butt plate is nicer than the AUG. 7. The MSAR vertical grip is nicer than the AUG. 8. The finish of the MSAR receiver is much nicer than the AUG. The AUG receiver has some kind of painted finish, while the MSAR receiver is metal treated, which gives it a sharper look and better color. The quality of the MSAR receiver was much better than the AUG. The MSAR has crisp, sharp lines while some of the AUG lines were not very pretty. I do greatly dislike the very bright, prominent white lettering on the MSAR receiver. I much prefer receivers with engraving that is simple and finished the same as the rest of the receiver. 9. The quality of the MSAR stock was better than the AUG. I didn't even know I had a big gripe about something with the MSAR until I handled the AUG: 10. When I shoulder the AUG the scope is at the perfect eye level height. I mean PERFECT! You shoulder the rifle for the first time, bring it up to your eye and you have perfect eye relief while you are looking perfectly down the scope, putting the donut reticle on your target. When I shoulder the MSAR the scope is too low. I have to crunch my head down to get my eye low enough to see clearly through the scope. With some practice I have been able to get pretty good at bringing the MSAR up to the correct eye position, but with the AUG you don't need any practice. It's simply perfect. Why in the world was the height of the MSAR optic lowered from the height of the AUG optic? All of the other things things I listed are insignificant, but this optic height difference is really bothering me. I know I am not alone in feeling this way about the MSAR scope height. I would really like it if MSAR would design and sell the same style optic that comes on the STG-556, but with the AUG optic height. Anyway, that's my review, whatever it's worth. I hope MSAR appreciates the feedback. I absolutely love the rifle, as did my friend. -Grant (owner of the first MSAR in California) (yes, it is legal here, as long as it isn't assembled) (I live two hours from Nevada where I can assemble it, shoot it, disassemble it and drive home) |
| I agree that the scope on the MSAR is too low. i had to mash my face into the stock to get a good view down the tube. I also had to tilt my head at a angle to get my face low enough since i had ear muffs on too. Then we had problems getting the rifle to fire. FTF over half the time. We lubed it and made sure it was clean and my friend who is also an AUG owner disassembled it and made sure it was ok but still it was not firing. I was not very impressed with that $2K lemon |
I have no problems with my STG 556, the scope seems fine to me but you could always try the rail and put an ACOG or EoTech up top. I own a AUG as well but I like my MSAR more and if you had problems with your STG 556 FTE,FTE, etc. send it back to MSAR their customer service is the bench mark of the industry.
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Huh, well I thought the height of the scope was alright. The first 158 or so LE rifles had problems and I find it is picky about ammunition, but I've been feeding it Remington UMC, Hornady TAP, and Lake City without issue since it was sent in for the recall. If you're trying to fire range reloads you got on the cheap or Wolf and I've heard that Winchester has had issues than you'll probably have failures. |
Thank you for the review CARifles. I have two Steyr AUG A1s and just bought a MASR STG 556 with out the optic. And I can not wait to try out the MSAR. WOW you have drive two hours just to put your rifle and shoot it.  Sorry to hear that. But at least you have a wonderful rifle to shoot when you are in NV.
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I have a bit different cheekbones than you: I like the scope height on the MSAR a bit better... but then I've had friends gripe that the scope height is too low on my AR. I like low mounts because they seem less prone to cause me cant problems when I'm in a hurry. |
My responses above in red. |
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Yeah, I didn't notice the play either, until my friend pointed it out. I'm really curious about why MSAR chose to lower the scope height. My theory is they figured more people would prefer it lower. I picked up my MSAR Oct 14th.  www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=72066 I wonder how many are here now. It's got to be less than a dozen. -Grant |
I wouldn't be surprised if we are the only 2 in Cali with 'em  Either way I have always wanted an AUG and this is a great rifle and I am glad I purchased it. It sucks that it cannot be assembled here, even though it wouldn't be hard to make a mag lock. I got a chance to shoot it in Arizona and it accurate, reliable, and ergonomic. |
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