JG AUG A3 Review

kevteljeur

Review of the Jing Gong AUG A3
I've always had a thing about the 'bullpup' rifle design. It's about 40, maybe 50 years old, and still has something progressive about the idea, which is to put the receiver and magazine of the gun behind the trigger rather than in front, thus making the stock a mechanically useful part of the design, and shortening the overall length of the rifle. It's a great design idea. The problem with the popularity of the design, however, is that the rifles employing this haven't been what you might call beautiful. The British L85 is an ugly wedge of metal, and the French FAMAS is a strange-looking piece. The Steyr AUG is an acquired taste, and its popularity here is influenced more than a little by it's use in the Irish armed forces.

So I had up until now been a bit curious about the airsoft AUG, which is considered to be accurate, but it's length, spindly design and relative lack of rails put me off. I had committed to the G36 family and I couldn't see a reason to move, unless someone somehow created a bullpup version of a G36. However, I came across a link to the AUG A3 in a discussion about forthcoming AEGs in this thread (thanks, SniperSight!) and I liked what I saw - a cross between the short, railed G36C and the sleek, bullpup-design AUG; perfect! After a bit of digging, I discovered that G&G are planning on doing one, and better yet JG had released one! A short step to pestering Tony at Eirsoft to get one in for me.

If you're interested in mechboxes and the like, then read Vtec's review of this gun's internals in this piece - it's a good, comprehensive guide to what's inside. The gearbox is one of the highlights of this AEG. Thanks, Richie!

First impressions:
It looks better in the flesh than most photos that you might have seen, since they tend to be in-box, or lying somewhere, whereas the Steyr A3 photos are practially model photo-shoots, and look fantastic. The JG A3 does have a number of differences with the real steel A3, mostly because JG have just taken the A2 and modified it to look more like an A3 rather than creating original parts for accuracy (the front rails aren't quite right, the cocking handle is stock A2, and the top rail is clearly just an extended A2 rail; the A3 rail is solid, and closer to the body).



It's a bit of a shame, but then again no manufacturer would create an original A3 and then sell it at that price, and this is why we refer to JG as a 'clone manufacturer'; for the time being, we're not going to see them create anything original. But the A3 is a sign that JG might try it soon.

It's heavy. 4kg. You really notice that straight away. The front end is heavy, I think it's largely metal, but it's balanced by the mechbox at the rear which I think might be heavier than many regular mechboxes - Richie, feel free to correct me on that. The finish is reasonable, although the barrel was wobbly initially, and the whole gun required some tweaking to be ready for play. This is an assembly issue and as JG get pricier, they would want to start sorting this out. Also, that gearbox is clearly intended for a high ROF, and a very strong spring. If you have a notion of importing one, know that if you don't get a downgrade, the installed spring will be good for taking down armoured cars. They're not big on 1J in JG.



I had 'my people' install a Guarder hop-rubber, and I put in a 9.6v battery (which required some body-work; it's designed to fit an 8.4 but that would have been a real waste of that mechbox). I should point this out, because it made a big difference to my impression of the performance of the gun. The Guarder rubber makes a difference, and the battery really ups the ROF. I had a test firing at HRTA, just for teh lulz and I was impressed. Very, very accurate and the ROF was excellent.



It has the overall body length of my G36C, which makes it great for CQB, but the barrel length of most full size rifles, which gives it accuracy at distance. The only downside which I anticipate is the weight of the gun, which is reasonable but a lot more than the all-plastic G36C, and having to switch to the non-STANAG, non-clippable mags. At least I'll be able to carry more of them than with the G36 mags.




In play
An AEG design can seem like a great idea, and then turn out to be less than practical in actual use. The A3 didn't disappoint, however; it's stunningly accurate thanks to it's long, tight-bore barrel, while being short enough to be great in CQB. It's quite a revelation to be able to target accurately at long distance with what feels like such a short rifle (as noted above, this has had the hop-up upgraded and without that your mileage may vary, out of the box). The mechbox means I can use a 12V battery without modification and get a great rate of fire, which of course makes a difference in heavy firefights. The low-profile design makes it easy to aim even without a scope. As you can see from the photos, I fitted a cheap red-dot sight until I get the scope I want, but it was adequate. Once I zeroed it, it was very accurate and I can't wait to use it with a decent scope.



The low profile design also made it very easy to handle; it just feels great, and tough enough to taker a beating. The weight didn't turn out to be a problem at all of course, I'll generally have it tucked up into my shoulder, and looking down the top rail to target - the weight makes the gun steady and easy to aim with.

The mags were a bit of an issue. I'd been used to the luxury of G36 mags, clipping together and feeding easily, and the AUG mid-caps aren't great. But they work, and at least you can see how much ammo you have against the light. Also, they fit well in pouches designed for STANAG mags.



The strap attachment points are well placed and make it easy to set it up comfortably.


What I liked, and what I didn't like
As you can tell, I liked just about everything about the A3, from it's design to it's performance in the field. It really is a great piece. However, it's not perfect - first off, it's less than physically accurate, since JG have cut corners in getting this design together. The compromise isn't a bad one, but I'd prefer to have an uncompromised replica of the real A3 design. Next, the stock-cover which covers the battery compartment comes off rather too easily, and this can be a problem, especially with the bigger high-voltage batteries that this gun cries out for. I'd prefer if this was fixed on a bit better (you can see the tape I pulled over the stock-cover in some of the photos to prevent it falling off). Lastly, although I liked it, the weight might catch some off-guard, if you're expecting a lighter gun.

I think this stands a good chance of usurping the JG G36C as a standard starter AEG, and out-performing it by a comfortable margin. I'd hate to think that the field will be flooded with these (there's a great feeling from having a piece that no-one else has) but there's a chance it might happen. At the very least, I think many AUG fans (they do exist, believe it or not) will look at getting one. It resolves several of the AUG's shortcomings, while retaining it's strengths.

kevteljeur

I would add this into the post, but I can't edit it (and hopefully it's not breaking any rules by adding this later). Here is the AUG with the Tasco scope I had intended to put on it, and it really rounds out both the look and functionality.


It also gives a good size comparison with other comparable rifles.

o1s1n

Zenkotsu - Banned. +1j discussion & suspected shill.

NewAirsofter

What flash hider do you have on your Aug in those pictures? Can you tell me where to purchase one? All help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the great review!

Masada

Kev doesnt be around as much as he used to, and the thread is ancient, but that flash hider is the standard AUG A3 one and you can get them on ehobby.,

NewAirsofter

Thanks Masada. I'm not sure if I would have found that flash hider without your help.

Airsoft_Invent

hi, would this gun be able to hold a crane style battery?
http://www.rsov.com/index.php?target=products&product_id=1862

thanks

tudenham10

Not without a bit of hassle to be honest. I had one for a while and the only battery pack that'd comfortably fit was an 8.4v mini. Rate of fire was fine on it with that.
I'm currently using a 7.4 v 2500ma lipo in my CA Aug and it runs like a dream on that, that's if you want to get a lipo setup.

Having said all that Masada might have a better suggestion!:)

Beez

I bought this as my first gun and it came without a mosfet. I bought it brand new from a shop. Does anyone know if there is 2 versions because all the reviews show a gearbox with a mosfet and a black gearbox where mine is silver/grey colour??? Hope the internals were not swapped out in the shop by a greddy JG AUG A1 owner.

Drachnien

I picked one up just before christmas and it's has the mosfet, and 7mm bearing reinforced gearbox. Think it may be just your one, though I'd not be surprised if JG needed to ship them and didn't have the normal gearbox so put another V3 gearbox in.

Beez

I suppose i will open it upo and see whats inside.

MadMattDog

^The mechbox means I can use a 12V battery without modification

I was wondering. My friends tell me they want to put upgraded gearboxes in their guns for higher voltage batteries, to give a better ROF. And they guy who wrote this didnt say he needed to upgrade, he put in higher voltage batteries. Does this mean the standard AUG A3 comes with a gearbox good enough for higher voltage? Is that what the "mechbox" is?

Witcher

The mechbox is the gearbox, they're the same thing. The AUG A3 can take an 11.1v lipo I think and survive for a while but really there's no need to have super high rof in a gun, having good range and accuracy is more important than sticking a lipo into it, it gives no advantage over anyone else:)

tudenham10

Blay wrote: »

The mechbox is the gearbox, they're the same thing. The AUG A3 can take an 11.1v lipo I think and survive for a while but really there's no need to have super high rof in a gun, having good range and accuracy is more important than sticking a lipo into it, it gives no advantage over anyone else:)

+1

The A3 runs just fine on an 8.4 or 9.6 mini. I had mine running on an 8.4, 1400ma with no problems at all, except Aug related deafness! :rolleyes:

MadMattDog

What attacyhments should I get? I need some kind of optics. My friend took his scope off his m16 and put it on it. I thought it was pretty cool. Extra mags too. Any ideas guys?

dingo585

can you please tell me where i can find one of these guns, ive tried everywhere.

tudenham10

Mine is long since sold, I'd imagine your best bet is to post a wanted advert here on boards, can't remember seeing a retailer with one for a long time!

dingo585

thanks m8