Because of NATO's military integration, the equipment of most NATO countries tends to be similar today, but some countries insist on their own style, such as Austria. The picture shows the shooting training held by the Austrian Army at the end of June this year. Soldiers are holding the AUG rifle produced by Steyr. AUG has been in service for 43 years since its installation in 1977.
The lifespan of a general rifle is between 20-30 years, but this is not absolute. If the manufacturer is willing to invest in continuous development, it can also increase the life of the rifle. This is why AUG is still an Austrian standard weapon.
AUG started from A1, experienced A2, A3 and other different models, some details are constantly improving, such as detachable scope, such as equipped with Picatinny rail, etc., and P type (short Tube), 9mm type (submachine gun), HBAR type (heavy barrel), LMG type (light machine gun), Z type (semi-automatic, for civilian sales), etc.
Today, AUG has developed a huge gun family, which makes AUG glow with strong vitality, and it will not be a problem to fight for another 30 years.
In addition to the AUG rifle, the Maschinengewehr 74 general-purpose machine gun also appeared in this training. "Maschinengewehr" is German, meaning the same as "Machinegun" in English. "74" represents its finalized year, and it was adopted by the Austrian Army in 1974.
Gun fans should not be unfamiliar with the MG42, which was a German standard machine gun during World War II. It is known for its high rate of fire and high reliability. After the war, West Germany developed the MG3 on the basis of the MG42, then sold the technology to the Italian company Beretta, with the MG42/59 machine gun. Then, Steyr purchased a license from Beretta and began mass production of the Maschinengewehr 74 machine gun in 1974.
MG42>MG3>MG42/59>Maschinengewehr 74. Although there are more twists and turns, Maschinengewehr 74 is indeed a descendant of MG42, which is why its appearance is so similar to MG42.
Maschinengewehr 74 inherits the high rate of fire of MG42, the theoretical maximum rate of fire is 1200 rounds per minute, continuous shooting can easily lead to high barrel temperature, so the machine gunner wears insulated gloves .
Of course, Maschinengewehr 74 also has shortcomings. Even though Steyr has replaced lightweight materials, the weight of this general-purpose machine gun has reached 12 kg. It wants to provide timely fire support for the team. The machine gunner needs to have a stronger physique.
