Is the AUG the "king" of the "safe-queens&quo

I was talking to a fellow AUG owner, and we agreed that many or most AUGs that come up for sale are like new, or nearly so, with little or no evidence of having been shot.

It is rare to see "shooters" for sale, and you often find AUG packages with magazines that have never been used.

Are many AUG owners buying them as an investment? Is it the perceived difficulty of getting parts? Too expensive to risk wear or damage? Or just too shy to bring a flashy rifle to the range?

Is there another modern, mass-manufactured firearm with this degree of "safe-queen syndrome"?

 

Hello guys, I am new here. I have an early AUG that I have only shot 2-3 times in the last five years I have had it. I will only shoot a Quality pre-ban if it has been shot before I bought it. If it is NIB I wont shoot it. I have a NIB FAL 50.00 that I will never shoot. FNC,s .Galils [I Have 2] ,Valmet,Hk93, Ar70, Sig 550, [I never shoot the 550]. ETC.ETC. I have a war room full of quality weapons and I usally end up shooting my Colt 6920, Dsa Fal or my shooter Galil? I often ask myself why I keep the others? The only reason is I could never sell them ! :roll: F.N is coming out with a new civie.223 bullpup early next year so the Aug will have a friend. I have seen several "shooter" Augs that went cheap over the past couple of years. I would not be afraid to shoot mine again as parts are once again available. Jerod

 

When I got my AUG/SA back around 1990, I shot the living daylights out of it. The gun itself still looks good, but the barrel was getting some fairly serious wear (about time for a spare barrel).

However, about 5 years ago I pretty much retired it. Parts were getting scarce and expensive. Those with said expensive parts were a royal pain the butt to deal with. Magazines were impossible to get. The things are worth (supposedly) obscene amounts of cash. It just didn't make much sense to shoot it anymore.

However, the discovery of PJs has my old AUG back up and running, but the part about worth still is a concern. I'm planning on an FS2000 (anytime FN...) to take up much of the slack in my shooting program. I'll never completely retire the AUG again, but I can't ignore it as an investment anymore. Guns are meant to be shot, but preservation is a real concern with increasingly rare and valuable ones.

 

I don’t see any of my firearms as ‘safe’ queens or kings. I take them all out shooting often, the AUG gets taken out almost every trip. When people inquire or show an interest I always let the look, feel and shoot anything I have. Bought the AUG @ 85/86 in SF ($650 + $75 for LH bolt) and took it to Germany with me; the major wear and tear is paint chipped between the receiver and scope body, this is where the locking bar in the M-16 weapons rack passed through. There is a bit of damage on the front edge of the right ejection port where hot brass has melted a divot in the lower corner. I’ve shot about everything (brass, steel & polymer cases) through it and she has taken it all in stride, it’s a MBR mouse gun so it should. When I got most of my AW’s life was good and guns were cheap. Nobody even dreamed of all the bans to come. :cry: :cry:

Ranger – that guy should have offered you a chance to shoot the AUG, bad manners.

Jerod – My AUG will be retired when she dies and doesn’t go pop anymore.

Sloan – A man of my heart. Use them if you got them. :lol:

I’m also in for a FS2000 and now that the new AUG A3 I’ll have to get in on that too. It’s only money and I’ll spend on something anyway.

 

I have two AUGs, both are green with 20" barrels. Both AUGs were "used" when I bought them, so I have no problem taking them to the range.

I would say that the AUG makes it the range at least once every two months. More during the summer.
And this might shock a the "safe queen" owners but I did take the AUG deer hunting.

I did not shoot a deer with the AUG, but my father did.

I no longer take the AUG deer hunting because I have a new DPMS M4 AR15 for walking and the trusty HK91 for the deer stand.

 

Safe Queens

I have to say that I shoot all my rifles. I enjoy them all. When I die then I hope my kids will enjoy shooting them as much as I did.

If my widow sells them then I hope they go to another that will use them for their intended purpose. I feel sort of sad for those who don't. If you save a rifle you never intend to sell, why not shoot it. If you never sell it, it was a worthless investment, i.e. you never made money on it. To make matters worse you never fully got to enjoy it.

So now you're up in heaven watching me pop the cherry on that NIB never been fired rile I just bought from your widow. Having a rifle like these (AUG, 550, FAMAS any preban) is like being married to a super model and not boinking her. If you don't enjoy it while you can, someone else will. Green57

 

Never handled or fired the FN2000 (or FS2000), but having five AUG-Ps, and being a dyed-in-the-wool AUG fanatic, I guess my bias would compel me to say the AUG A3. I have, or have had, just about every assault weapon variant available in the US, and the AUG remains my favorite, no doubt about it.

 

The whole time I've had my USR I only took it out once, shot 100 rounds (no jams). After paying a pretty penny for Siegfried I am loathe to wear him out, esp. as it's a hassle getting spare parts. And he's way better-looking than FN2000. ;-) I like P90 but FN2000 is just fugly.