Surprising Discovery

[Kilibreaux]

At first blush I thought the STG would be far to specialized as a replica to equal the well-known, chamelionesque nature of the GSG-5/522, but today I discovered an interesting aspect of the STG; the entire front outer barrel assembly is easily removed leaving nothing forward of the flat face of the receiver except barrel.  And the gun is fully functional in this configuration!  This means one could SBR an STG down to a "PK" length fitted with a large diameter integral suppressor that would result in a rather interesting and highly functional hybrid.

[BulletCushion]

Sounds interesting ???

I've been drooling over one at a local pawn shop that specializes in firearms and your opinion on this weapon makes it harder to resist.

[Kilibreaux]

I'll tell you I was a little hesitant to pay the higher price just for a "look-a-like" rifle but now that I'm looking at the STG first person I'm glad I bought it and I'm considering grabbing a couple more against the day when they end production.

The STG is so overbuilt it will last for many lifetimes.  They definitely improved the fire control group and made the gun capable of total disassembly with an Allen wrench and Torx driver.  Whereas the GSG is somewhat daunting and "fiddly" to completely tear down and put back together, the STG is actually fun.  Another point is the bolt assembly does NOT just spring out when the stock is removed as has been erroneously reported.  The trigger housing has a slight angle that matches the "buffer" and prevents the trigger housing from swinging freely.  The entire bolt group comes out with no tools needed and the steel bolt rides in a thick, steel U-channel that itself slides into receiver guides.  This steel, bolt "carrier" for lack of the proper name at the moment, indexes alongside the massive barrel trunion thus barrel, bolt, and carrier are held in alignment.

There are no tiny little screws to worry about failing.

Because the cocking rod is located in the receiver the upper tube above the barrel provides structural support and cosmetic appeal for the GSG-like slender barrel.  IF one wished to do so any number of custom "front ends" could be created and quickly attached and detached with no modification at all to the main rifle.  One could swap out a super-short barreled, suppressed front end then swap back to original configuration in about 2 minutes.  The barrel/trunion unit is EASY to remove and American International supplies replacement parts.

The more I examine the STG that more impressed I am.  It's full size, heavy, with surprising balance.  As I think about it, the ergonomics of the STG are as close as any rifle has come the near perfect ergos of the AR-15.

And before I forget, the stock mount has a sort of built in adjustment to remove lateral play - which ain't much to begin with.  A large receiver screw head lies under the stock's metal housing when the stock is in place.  By ever so slightly backing out this screw all play is removed.