I had the option of using the forward pistol grip with my M4 and chose not to. I tried both options during the rare moments of down time during the train-up, and the forward pistol grip never felt natural to me. Of course, I'm an arch conservative when it comes to these sorts of things. I "grew up" using the M16A2, and my use of the M4 reflected my inherited prejudices.

I believe in that regard, unless I'm mistaken, it's due to the big recoil buffer and spring in the M16 (and also the M4), hence why it's rather easy to shoot.

In comparison, I heard the Steyr AUG doesn't quite have this setup, or the recoil buffer is smaller (someone please correct me here if I'm wrong!), hence recoil is slightly more of an issue. That and I hear the buttstock on the weapon isn't as comfortable to shoulder, but I'd like to hear opinions from our friends that have used the Steyr AUG before jumping to that conclusion.

Why go with just a forward grip, when you can go with a "bipod grip"? A combination of a shorter bipod and forward grip, in one. :P I lol'd at this when pictures of those came out. "It looks like someone tore the feet off a chicken and forced them up the ass end of a grip!"

:D

That could serve a useful purpose during room entries. Upon seeing the first US soldier through the doorway, the defenders might burst into laughter, thus giving the Americans a brief but welcome window of opportunity to acquire targets free from defensive fire.

Exactly...and who says chickens can't be effective weapons? :p

:D:D:D

Great!

Thanks a lot, guys. Informative and entertaining postings!

Personally I found the AUG a much easier weapon to carry and shoot, much better balances and generally more comfortable. It also felt a lot more solid and I was certainly more confident with it in my hands over a '16. Of course I still, and always will prefer the L1A1 SLR, or anything else in 7.62 for that matter.

Thanks for the input Legbreaker. And I have to ask since it pertains to a story I'm writing where a fairly, er, well-endowed woman's favorite shouldered weapon is a Steyr AUG....silly as it may sound, would being "well-endowed" create any sort of problem when using a bullpup weapon due to the magazine's location? I'm going to say, it shouldn't be unless she's like Dolly Parton (which she's NOT), though her measurements are roughly 36-24-36. :D

I doubt it. Doesn't take much to search online and find all sorts of photos and video of well endowed women firing rifles, machineguns and other things that go bang. Granted, most of it is more focused on semi-naked women who've never held a weapon before in their lives, but large breasts still don't seem to be a problem.
Depends also on what they're wearing. We've all heard of such things as sports bras which tend to flatten the chest. Any active woman is likely to be seeking this sort of apparel out in preference to anything more soft and lacy one would expect (dammit!).

As for a bullpup mag getting in the way, not a problem at all. Although located towards the rear of the weapon, it's still several inches from the buttplate.

Yeah, Leg, tell us... when you were firing the Steyr did your boobs get in the way? :D

I didn't have any back then. Now, twenty years later and as many kilos added to the waist however...I'm still somewhat of an Adonis. :p

I damn near spat out my coffee laughing when I read that! :p

Man-Boobies!

One minor correction, you have the versions reversed. The A3 is fully-automatic, the A4 is limited to 3-round bursts.

http://www.armyproperty.com/Equipment-Info/M16A3-A4.htm

Also, not entirely accurate. My Colt LE6920 has a 14.5" barrel from the factory. Even the newer 694- series has an available 14.5" barrel. I think it's the 6944 or 6945, I don't remember which.

How'd you manage that? I thought anything less than 16 inches for a carbine or rifle in civilian hands was illegal, or does that vary in some states, or perhaps you have to have an additional license and fees?

Personally, I think the whole "16 inch rule" for civilian rifles is BS, but that's me.

No, I don't think it varies by state. At least, not that I know of. But there are exemptions and loopholes with the additional license and fees. For instance, mine has the restricted stamp for Military/Law Enforcement on the side. I have a Georgia Firearms License and am active duty military. Georgia has very lax gun laws where active duty military personnel are concerned. For instance, I really didn't need to get the firearms license, under Georgia law I'm allowed to carry as long as I have my military ID card.

Anyone (who can legally buy a firearm) can buy it with a $200 tax and registration with the BATFE, though, civilian or military.

My point though, was that they exist and are on the market and in civilian gun shops so could be encountered in game.

Ah, that makes much more sense, thanks. :)

And you'd be surprised what you'll find not so much in gun shops, but in more places that are a bit off the beaten trail, so to speak around here, or maybe not. :p

I still think Yamamoto said it best, "You cannot invade the mainland United States, there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."

This whole thing makes me mad! The more you know, the more questions arise :mad:

The AN/PEQ-2 would be in service. Is it right, that it only produces an infrared beam (More precise: 2 different, but still infrared beams, one narrow, one wide!)?
That means, it could only be used during nighttime and only by operators, wearing IR-goggles.
Did some kind of LAD exist, that could switch to laser (projecting a red dot to the target) or infrared laser?

And: If the operator wears IR-goggles, would an attached ACOG interfere with proper handling of the rifle?

And some more: As far as I know, it is impossible to use IR-goggles and some kind of sniper scope at the same time, right?

Err ... Thanks in advance!

I like that line from the Soviet commander in Red Star, Lone Star: "The mosquitoes carry pistols."

AN/PEQ-2 is Infra red only and you must use NVGs that can see IR to see the IR projected by the AN/PEQ-2. It has three modes Off, Beam, Flood. Flood opens up the beam with a beam splitter so that acts light an IR flashlight.

The operator wearing IR goggles and an AN/PEQ-2 won't be looking through the ACOG. Doesn't need to. If the AN/PEQ-2 is properly bore sighted to the weapon then whatever the beam is placed on that is wear the bullet will hit.

Laser pointer of death.