My PSA AUG came in (finally an AUG I can beat on), and the final optic pieces of the puzzle came in yesterday...now I need to figure out which rail to remove



See those rails in the middle? The ones I've never seen on pictures of Austrian A3 SF rifles...





I'm probably going to yank the rail on the bottom of the optic mount...but I guess I never noticed that the ones sold in the US come with that extra rail

And ignore the janky tape on the rear of the stock - I haven't gotten it too the range yet; hopefully this weekend. The tape is there until I can get an actual brass deflector. Also have a suppressor gas plug and a 51t flash hider coming for my AAC M42k...

Cool when did they start selling the SF scope?

Sweet AUG setup!  I ended up just putting rail covers on both the dinky side rails.  The optic-side one is definitely the one to remove if you go for it.  The optic itself is covered in rails, I have no idea why Steyr felt it necessary to include one more in such an awkward position.  


It was a couple months ago - they are really nice.

Yeah I've got a pile of LaRue rail cover clip things I'm going to put on the scope's side rails...actually what I should do is mask the scope itself and krylon the whole reciever tan...I'll do that after I SBR it I guess. I have a couple 14.5 barrels in storage (an original one, and a V1 Tac copy) and it'd be nice to actually be able to plug one of them into a rifle



Yup. Most places also sell it with the riser but not all...I ordered mine direct from Steyr, with riser though now I'm thinking that may have been a waste of money. Took a week for them just to fulfill and ship the order, so be aware of that.

It'll take a little to get used to the Aimpoint on top but I think it'll be worth it. I'm wondering if there's a lower aimpoint mount out there...the ARMS I just happened to have laying around and it's pretty low, but there's probably 1/4" it could stand to lose still.

I wanted one these SF optics bad, tried to get one for years. who knows maybe one day I’ll find an early M1 still NIB to use one of these on.

You could just buy a scope from Steyr?

The Aimpoint is a joke right?

That set up seems to be just fine for the Austrian Jagdkommando (SF)

For civilians most likely… for high speed low drag operators not so much..

Getting a decent cheek weld wearing gas mask helmet and nvg must be a real challenge… that’s why we see high mounts on the AR as well

Not really a joke - it allows for more upright head position further back...FOV is much larger. After only a day of fucking around with it, I see why they went the way that they did. Plus with NODs it's a lot easier I would imagine (haven't tried yet).

Now I need to see if I can find that laser/light unit (Rheinmetall VarioRay), though I doubt I'll be able to find one at a reasonable price. So I might have to settle for a Steiner DBAL or similar

https://steyr-arms.us/product/aug-optics/

These a3sf optics are awesome. The glass is really clear. The eyebox is much more forgiving than the original Swaro 1.5x. Mine will get an ACRO P2 on top.

Steiner DBAL is way outclassed by the MAWL c1 and DesignateIR-V. The DIR-V is small, lightweight, has great controls, and is pretty reasonably priced.

https://arisakadefense.com/designate-ir-v/

If these are still available come Black Friday I may have to break down and get one.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiice...I need at least one for my Mk18-like thing anyway (Eotech, yadda yadda)...another one for this AUG would be tits. I wonder if it would even fit though...it would kind of suck to need to run it on the side (or front, ahead of the Aimpoint) of the optic if I'm honest..

Mine is mounted and zeroed on another rifle, so I don’t want to pull it. But I know where a whole many more live and can likely grab one to try on my Aug with a3sf optic in the next month.

Since we’re on the general SF topic with ir, has anyone seen any switches that might fit the SF grip or is that going to be specific to rheinmetall?

Looking at the D-IRV it looks like it won't fit on the small side rail...too wide. The MAWL looks like it'll fit but it'll hang off the right side...probably a bit more than you'd want, causing some diversions issues? I wish I could take the receiver somewhere just to try mounting some of these things to it to see what would fit - sigh. I think an OTAL-C would probably be the best bet, but either Vis or IR only would suck...much rather have a DBAL so I could sight it in during the day and if the slaving was any good, call it a day.


Also, word of warning - if I had to guess I would say each click of the turrets is a FULL MIL. I spent 140 rounds (28x5) just trying to zero the scope at 100 yards. The 50 yard range was taken up by the rimfire guys so I had to use the 100 yard range. After a couple of mags trying to chase things I wound up walking back and forth up and down the 100 yard range (I was the only one on that line thankfully) just trying to get things zeroed. Getting left-right wasn't too bad - the vertical was a cast iron bitch though. I was adjusting thinking Steyr/Steiner/whomever had made the scopes would have been sane and used 1/10 mils or similar for their clicks...no, it was massively much bigger than that. I eventually got it down about 1/4 of the way through my last mag. Annoyingly the left/right dispersion is so wide that it's either about 1/2" to the right or 1/2" to the left at 100 yards...or in other words, if you use a LaRue target - it's either hitting on the left black of the box, or the right black of the box, but not IN the box. The scope reticule is really nice IMO - I have the original Steyr A3 scope (one of these) on my A3, which I also took to the range and put a mag through to verify zero at 100 - and the lines are so thick that it blots out the black square on the LaRue targets at 100 yards. The SF scope is beautifully thin in that the Mil dot in the middle actually looks like a mil dot; the lines are thin enough so that you can actually tell when it's in the middle of the square on the targets. Having said that - it's not illuminated and if you were trying to use it at night, forget about it. Another reason why the Aimpoint on top is probably better, especially at closer ranges. Plus wanting some kind of IR or visible laser on the rail on the side...

So having the Aimpoint on top...works REALLY well with NODs. Sadly there's no where near by where I could actually shoot at night...but on the back deck with NODs just screwing around, I decided to see if it worked and how well, and it works surprisingly well. It helps to have an NV-compatible Aimpoint or other red dot

But it's high enough where yeah you need a chin weld, but it clears NODs easily. Now it's just figuring out how to mount a DBAL or other IR designator and illuminator...technically, if you add it all together, it's got plenty of rail space. It's all just in inconvenient spots

Are the QD sockets on these limited rotation?

What mount are you using? Someone in here said the Austrians were using an ARMS mount but I see no evidence of that in any of the SF pictures I've come across. What I have found is a few pictures with the QRP putting the optic too high and what I assume is this aimpoint 30mm ring (see below) based on pictures showing the torsion screw and the general width of the optic mount. I can't find anything certain on the mount, but it would seem to fit given that the comp was their choice of optic, their optics all have the rubber aimpoint cover, and SF scope covers are aimpoint covers - so why not also utilize them for rings in a tender contract too?

Yes

I'm using an old ARMS M68 mount without any spacers in it...I think the Austrians are using the old Aimpoint screw-in mount, not the QRP - they probably don't need to quick attach/quick detach it at all, so it would make sense, and it seems to be a really low mount. The ARMs mount could stand to be a little shorter but it's all that I had laying around, and the old Aimpoint mount is backordered everywhere...

Seems that something like an Aimpoint T1/T2 mounted to the forward section of rail would be the way to go. A lot less weight and bulk

T2 is correct for the present.

Rare these days, especially new, and usually grabbed up quick by the HK Mp5 & UMP guys...
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1011847983

Continuing on the theme of the comp mounts, I considered bidding on the old stock aimpoint ring but decided to wait on a notification or find the Aimpoint 200286 low ring which has superseded the old angled ring split version. I am told the 200286 is correct for late SF guns using the comp optics after the earlier version was discontinued by aimpoint. It was a difficult search to find this new version mount in stock but I now have one on the way.

There is also a Burris Xtreme Tactical low (1/4”) 30mm ring 420161 that some online have recommend to get the optic as low as possible. I bought one. It’s definitely very low. So low in fact that the rubber cover and front/rear caps contact the rail just enough to slightly deform. This is very much a good solution but the Chinese origin is a deal breaker for me even though the ring is half the cost of the Swedish made example above.

Perhaps not the best picture showing how low the Burris ring is, but you get the idea:

@nate762 yes they are rotation limited.

Don’t know if anyone is following this, but it should be good information for people to know that are trying to mount a M68/comp/pro.

The aimpoint 200286 low ring arrived and I got everything mounted up. This combination fits the SF optic very well. As with the Burris mount it is also as low as possible with slight deformation to the rubber cover. The mount is better made and more streamlined compared to Burris mount, but again at twice the cost - the quality is apparent however so cost doesn’t seem such a determining factor.

As you can see in the pictures the mounts are very very similar in design but with the aimpoint mount and rubber cover combo fitting slightly better due to its lower profile top cap compared to the Burris. Looking at the horizontal split of the rings, the height over the rail is going to be nearly identical. The bar that secures the ring to the side of the rail is also more substantial which i appreciate considering the small size of the Burris. Anyways, the aimpoint mount is available and works 100% perfectly (and is also what is now used on the SF after the older mount was discontinued). If one finds the aimpoint mount to be too costly, then the Burris ring is an acceptable substitute as long as you’re ok with the Chinese origin and it not being “correct” to clone.

Aimpoint on the left, Burris on the right:



Additionally, I was able to get a bunch of the comp rear covers which fit and lock in place perfectly on the optics housing. It’s a nice touch to protect the SF glass with something other than a steyr injection moulded bottle cap. The bikini covers probably fit too but they’re so old stretching the rubber around the railed housing would likely snap the straps.

Great content! Thanks for sharing. Nice gen 1.5 SF scope. Looks clean without the QD. I wish Steyr US would offer all of those unique items (scope, case deflector, grip). I still yearn for a true gen 1 SF scope, but at least we got the MOD SF.

Looks like the Jagdkommando gets rid of the 3x optics and gets a new rail

https://www.spartanat.com/2023/10/ein-neues-sturmgewehr-fuer-das-jagdkommando/

Also looks like the rail/handguard or "heat protection" will be sold seperately, too - https://www.jagdundsport.store/neu-marken/steyr-arms/28748/steyr-arms-nachruestsatz-aug-a3-m-ii-schwarz-langschiene-handschutz-und-hitzeschutz?c=0

For those of us with A3s...this might sideline my A3M1 Seriously, it not only gives a good rail for optic mounting, but a perfect rail for mounting a DBAL or other laser/illuminator/designator combo. My A3 is configured like an early one with the 3x optic and all, but it doesn't need to stay that way...

Looks heavy AF.