I currently own two Steyr AUG A3's.  As mentioned in my previous posts, I encountered a great deal of resistance when I pulled back on the charging handle to cock the trigger pack hammer for the first time and chamber the first round.  This improved somewhat if the charging handle is pulled back against an already cocked hammer.  Anyways, I found two ways to correct this problem.  

First, as is already well known, the springs of the trigger pack are very stiff.  They are actually stiffer than the MSAR springs.  I was told by a vendor that this is almost overkill for a semiautomatic rifle.  These springs were presumably engineered for a fully automatic rifle.  I believe that Jack and Jeff at Steyr are currently working on this angle.   I am not sure if they are replacing the current springs with "lighter" ones.

Second, I noticed that both of my AUG A3's charging assemblies rub up against the inside of the charging assembly track inside the receiver.  I have made a small modification to my charging handle assembly as mentioned in the link below.  In a few words, I grinded the charging assembly piece within the receiver so that it is somewhat tapered.  This prevents the charging assembly piece from rubbing up against the receiver track when the charging assembly piece is parked into the bolt carrier rod.  You can observe this effect if you dissemble the rifle and use just the stripped bolt carrier and receiver to test the charging handle.  You'll see how the charging assembly piece within the receiver track rubs up against the receiver as you pull back on the charging handle as you simulate pulling back the bolt carrier as if the rifle were fully assembled.  

The rifle is now much improved in regards to pull back on the charging handle.  No problems with the stock trigger pack.  It no longer "locks up" just as it is about to cock the hammer for the first time.  I just thought I share these findings for those of you who were disappointed with the stiffness of your new Steyr AUG A3 rifle.  This rifle is awesome.  

Both the Steyr AUG A3 and MSAR rifles are greet.  Now all I need is a TPD to complete my collection.  

http://gallery.me.com/rxs0#gallery
http://gallery.me.com/rxs0#gallery

Rich

thanks for posting this, please dont kill the link or edit your post, so i can see if i have the same problem when i get my auga3

Good work let us know what SAI does if you find out.

I removed one of the two hammer's springs in my A3. That alone gave a great improvement when charging. Also I oiled recoil springs inside guiding rods.

-albertr

TPD does this on their rifles.  Kent told me that the 2nd spring was redundant and removing it improves charging and trigger pull.

Yes, I can confirm that it improves trigger pull as well. I think one spring has plenty of power even for the hardest primers. The spring pressure is applied on one side of the hammer now, but I didn't notice any hammer bouncing because of this.

-albertr

Prior to making the modification of the small charging assembly piece, I test swapped out the trigger pack of the Steyr AUG A3 with the MSAR trigger pack which has "lighter" springs. Although the resistance to pulling back the charging handle improved, I still encountered a significant amount of resistance even with the "lighter" springs of the MSAR trigger pack. I even encounter resistance to pulling the charging handle back if the trigger pack was removed and no trigger pack was left in the stock.
Rich

Interesting

I just back from the range today after firing 100 rounds through the modified Steyr AUG A3.  Absolutely no malfunctions.  This rifle is awesome.  As mentioned before, the charging handle is now very easy to pull back even with the stock trigger pack with heavy springs.  At this point, I see no reason to replace the springs with weaker ones or remove one spring and leave only one spring intact in attempt to ease the tension on the charging handle.  

Since much of what I have said is somewhat subjective, I decided to provide objective measurements regarding the modification to the charging assembly piece.  First of all, the piece is actually named the "body, slide cocking" component of the receiver group as documented in the Steyr manual.  The picture of this component can be found at Pete Athen's website.
http://steyr-aug.com/A2chrassembly.jpg
http://steyr-aug.com/A2chrassembly.jpg
You will notice that the pictured Austrian made Steyr component has a beveled edge.  As some point, I'll try to take a picture of the component as it looked like before the modification as seen in the new Steyr AUG A3 rifles.  Is this piece made in Austria or the USA?

Anyways, I stopped by Walmart and picked up a Berkley Classics Portable Dial Scale weighing device in the fishing department.  It's basically a hanging scale which costs about $5.  I then tested three rifles: Steyr AUG A3 without modification(factory configuration), Steyr AUG A3 with modication, and the MSAR STG556.  I measured the average weight needed to:
1) initially cock the trigger,
2) the average weight needed to pull the charging handle against an already cocked trigger pack,
3) and finally the average weight needed to pull the charging handle without the trigger pack installed.

The units are in pounds.  The measurements where made while simulating pulling back on the charging handle at a moderate speed (not too fast, not too slow).  Here are the results.  

______________________________Weight needed to initially cock the trigger pack___Weight needed to pull the charging handle against an already cocked trigger__Weight needed to pull the charging handle back without trigger pack installed
Steyr AUG A3 without modification__47-55, sometimes >> 55 if stuck_______________41_____________________________________________________________32
Steyr AUG A3 with modification_____32_______________________________________ 27_____________________________________________________________20
MSAR STG556___________________34________________________________________25_____________________________________________________________20

As you can see, the Steyr with modification is now statistically very close to the MSAR rifle.  This isn't really clear to me as the MSAR rifle has lighter trigger springs.  Maybe the springs for the bolt carrier are slightly heavier in the MSAR.  Either way, they are now very comparable in overall tension.

I think the more important finding is that the Steyr AUG A3 will sometimes get "stuck" or "hang up" as it reaches the uncocked hammer if you pull the charging handle back too slow.  The way to overcome this problem prior to the modification is to quickly pull back on the charging handle with great force and speed.  This is no longer needed with the modification.  Also, as mentioned earlier, there is no need to replace or remove the trigger pack springs.  This can compromise the reliability of the rifle.

Anyways, I hope you found this an interesting albeit boring read regarding my findings.

This is not made in any way to criticize or bash any rifle.  The Steyr AUG A3, MSAR 556, and TPD rifles are all great rifles.  I am just glad Steyr finally released this rifle after such a long time.  There rifles are so much fun and very reliable.  I'm totally sold on this design.  

Hopefully, the guys at Steyr USA (Jack and Jeff) will find this information useful.  They can contact me if necessary.

My next project will be to try polish the rough edges on the Steyr AUG A3 rifle.  I am also looking for a high temperature grease that can withstand the high temps in the gas piston compartment.  More on that later.

Take care,
Rich

Good info, thanks!

-albertr

Rich, can you give us more detailed info on exactly where you ground down the cocking piece and how much you ground off? I am surprised that this does not cause cycling problems as it comes from the factory.

RJ556,
I picked up some calipers to give you some precise measurements.  I'll try to get some results to you soon.
Take care,
Rich

It's worth noting that this is something that will improve when you break the rifle in by firing it.  My TPD is much smoother now than when I received it.

In addition to firing it, I also left the bolt locked to the rear for several weeks in my safe.

Also, when I first got it, it wouldn't cycle properly using factory .223 loads on the normal gas setting.  I had to use the adverse gas setting, and even then the bolt wouldn't always lock to the rear on the last round.  After about 400 rounds, the bolt now locks to the rear using anything I throw at it on the normal gas setting.

Spart,
Your point about the charging handle eventually breaking in with use may be true.  

I had a chance to take some pictures of the unmodified factory slide cocking body of the charging assembly from a new unfired Steyr AUG A3 rifle, which I have however pulled back on the charging handle several times.  I have included these images in my gallery of images.  

http://gallery.me.com/rxs0#gallery

As you can see in several images, the bevel of the slide cocking body (at the end which receives the left thrust piece of the carrier bolt assembly) is not uniform in contour.  In other words, the degree of beveling of the component is asymmetric.  At the sites where the bevel is not complete, there are areas where the metal has grinded up against receiver track.  I have also included a picture of the interior of the receiver track to show several scratch marks along the track.  You can actually see and feel this effect if you field strip the rifle and fit the bolt group into the receiver group and pull on the charging handle.  The slide cocking body rubs up against the receiver track.  As you mentioned, this may "break in" with use.  I'm just not sure how long it would take.  I'm also not sure if this would damage the inside of the track over the long term and result in some pits along the track.  

When comparing the bevel of the Austrian made slide cocking body to the one in the new AUG A3, the piece as pictured in the image above(as seen on Pete Athens website) seems to have a deeper and more uniform bevel.  This is probably no more than a millimeter in degree.  Anyways, I would like to replace the factory AUG A3 piece with a piece made in Austria.  Unfortunately, Pete Athens does not have this piece in stock.  

So, I decided to deepen the bevel myself by about a millimeter.  After a few successive grinds, I tested the fit of the component in the receiver with the carrier bolt assembly in place until the component was able to slide smoothly against the receiver track.  At this point, I stopped.  The charging assembly is now a smooth as silk.  No problems.  

I realize that many of you will probably feel uncomfortable modifying your rifle yourself.  This is something that Steyr USA techincal support department may want to look into.  I hope some of you have found this read useful.

Anyways, my rifle is functioning perfectly with no malfunctions at all.  As a whole, I am very happy with the Steyr AUG A3.  This rifle rules.

Rich

rxs0, thanks for the additional pics and info. I think I will wait a while to see if Steyr has anything to say about this.