I have been wondering for a while now about the differences between the bullpup design of the F-88 Styr and the full barrel length of the M4.
I absolutely love the F-88s design and function, the idea of having a small sized rifle while keeping a full length barrel.
Some specs:
Weight:
Aug 417: 7.96 lbs
Aug 508: 8.38 lbs
Aug HBAR: 10.78 lbs
Mag empty 30 rounds .27 lbs
Length
16 in barrel- 27 Inches
20 in barrel- 31 Inches
24 in barrel -35.5 Inches
Mechanical Features-
Rifling- 1-9" or 1-7"
Muzzle velocity is 980 M/x or 3215 FPS.
Circle rate of fire automatic- 680-850 RPM
Semi- auto fire approx - 150 rounds / min theoretical.
Steyr AUG is one of the most advanced and reliable rifles in the world. Australian Army was the first major nation to adopt AUG as its main infantry
rifle. When the initial trials began, many people were sceptical about performance of this "plastic" rifle. The Steyr , which is manufactured
locally in Australia under a licence name F-88 is made of polymers which resemble steel in their durability.
The testing which was conducted on the AUG actually cost nearly as much as developing the rifle itself! It was the first "tourture-testing" of its
kind. During this , the rifles were fired underwater, immersed in mud for days and then fired, put in ovens for days at a time and then fired , a
Unimog was driven over one F-88 30 times before anything snapped and even than the rifle was able to fire, metal rods were hammered into the barrel
and than the guns were fired.
Finally the Steyr AUG was given to the hardest climate on earth - Australian outback - even there the rifles performed flawlessly. This reliability
can probably only be matched by the AK or in any case very few weapons.
There has been several myths about Steyrs "melting" during firing - these are largely myths. The only case which I am aware of a Steyr actually
melting was in 1995 in Singleton.
It occurred during a battalion firing exercise. After the shoot was over , one of the firing range safety officers collected all spare ammunition he
could find - 25 magazines in all. He fired them one after the other on full-automatic. Needless to say the gun jammed due to the barrel expanding from
all the heat generated and part of the polymer stock melted. It was than estimated that the rifle heated up to 500 degrees Celsius - conventional
rifles would jam long before that. Other than in the extreme case stated above , the F-88 is not prone to "just melt".
An interesting features of F-88 are the integrated scope and the fire selection mechanism. The scope is factory set and embedded into the carrying
handle - it magnifies 2.5X and has an aiming circle instead of the standard cross-hairs. This helps to shoot with both eyes open and aids in
instinctive shooting.
F-88 has no actual selector switch. Safety is arranged by a button in the side of the gun but the selector itself is integrated into the trigger
group. When the trigger is depressed half-way single shots are fired. When the trigger is pressed all the way back full-automatic shots are fired.
This also aids in instinctive shooting - if a soldier is suddenly confronted by an enemy at close range , he is more likely to squeeze the trigger all
the way back, while if the enemy is further away , deliberate aimed shots can be fired. This is a potentially life-saving device.
Here is a picture of the whole Steyr family:
On the other hand I have never used or even touched an M4, how well is it balanced? Anyone who has experience with the M4 care to reply and help me
here?
nine out of ten special forces teams can't be wrong 
). 
