new rifle suggestions? maybe a bullpup?

well, ive been collecting old rifles for a while now.. usually old military, have an AK... and i think its time i spoil myself when prices come back down and actually buy something a bit more "modern" if you will

so im looking at some of the new monolithic rifles and the bullpups but i would like to keep the price tag at under $2k

of the rifles im looking at, im looking at the robarms XCR, and a sig-551 (not new, but can still go toe to toe with any of them).. as well as the 3 primary bullpup designs you see on the market, the steyr aug (not new, but was way ahead of its time, and battle proven) as well as the FS2000 and now IWI is building civilian tavor rifles (civilian versions of the isreali tar-21)

now some people hate bullpups, some enjoy them, but for myself i like variety.. and lets face it, no one really uses a battle rifle, or even a full length rifle anymore, militaries worldwide have all been leaning more towards the smaller, more compact designs so im REALLY considering one of the above mentioned bullpups, but the XCR has been catching my attention to, essentially being the ACR/SCAR style but with its roots based in the AK-47 as opposed to the M16 which being an AK shooter makes this a rather attractive design

having something i can change barrels with without special tools would be nice too.. i mean, it doesnt have to be quick, doesnt have to be completely tool-less (because lets face it, whos going to carry extra barrels and bolts on them just in case they for some reason need a rapid barrel change) i mean... huh?.. 20 minutes on my home work bench is plenty good enough

i know the XCR has this feature, i know the IWI tavor has this feature, im not so sure about the FS2000, but i believe the AUGs barrel changes pretty simply too, though i could be wrong (anything that doesnt require headspacing, a shop press, or a vise id consider to be quick enough in changing calibers)

so.. with this in mind, what would you buy and why?... at this point im leaning more towards the IWI tavor or the XCR over the others

so about how long do you think it would be to convert an FS2000 to other cartridges?.. its an interesting design, especially considering it ejects from the front, and with a close dust cover you get 4-5 shots before a case even comes out which means firing on a line it would be cool to not even have to retrieve your brass... how much did you pay for yours?

i heard the FS2000 really doesnt handle dirt well once it gets inside.. that in order to counter that they designed the rifle as best they could to be completely sealed from the environments?

yeah, im not going to waste my money on something as so fundamentally flawed as an AR15/10 in any caliber

As for mag changes, they don't seem any slower or any less intuitive on a bull pup, the Aug and tavor are both quite battle proven, just requires a small tweak to habit I guess... Until red dot sites were common bull pup sights did suck, I think this is why the original augs had a low power scope integrated.. Maybe this was a factor?

Sturmgewehr oon YouTube does a very good review on the favor and quality seems very high.. Barrel comes out after removing a screw I beleive .. I'm not sure how aftermarket will take off yet though

Anyone ever notice the aug seemed to have been perfectly matched with red dot sights about 20 years before they came out with I'm not emphasis on being ambidextrous and modular with easy barrel changes decades before the acr/scar type rifles? It was so ahead of its time that it seems everyone else is just now catching up to...

Im not so sure I like the f2000, doesn't it use plastic trigger components?

The Aug went with the low power scope because at the time their only other option was open sights with an extremely short radius, red dot would have been better but wasn't exactly around yet..

Is IWI actually affiliated with the Israeli factory or do they buy samples of Israeli firearms and copy them?

As for the f2000 trigger pack, I'm sure eventually someone will make steel trigger packs? They look simple to replace

well, i guess so many people being used to AR15s and AKs just never feel right with a bullpup, they do feel quite different with all that weight shifted rearward... but i dont see anything wrong with a good battle proven design like the aug.. might take some getting used to for it to feel completely right though

basically, im looking to get out of this AR15/AK drama, im not a fan of the AR15 at all, and have an AK already, and theyre not without their problems either.. would love to get a sig-551 at some point, however, barrels are about as much of a pain in the rear to switch as with an AK, so i wouldnt be able to play around with alternative calibers very much with those...

id really like the XCR if it improved upon all aspects of the AR15... which it does not, it still uses the same magazines (G36 or AUG mags would have made it perfect) and not using them shows they care more about pandering to the AR15 crowd than real improvements... that being said the FS2000 and tavor both use the AR15 mags..

can anyone thing of any design that was truly an improvement over the AR15s and AKs that changing the barrel for could be done with hand tools? (yes the sig is a big improvement, but requires shop tools to change a barrel (and probably headspacing too), right now the AUG is the only thing that comes to mind

I'd only buy a SIG 551, not that 556 "pander the the AR" fanboys abomination

hey.. found another rifle thats caught my attention, its pretty new though, not even out on the market but indications show this manufacturer will be making civilian models as soon as theyve supplied their own military with them.. its the CZ-805 bren... barrels changes fairly simply, interchangable magwells, standard mags being more of the G36 type... kind of has that ACR/SCAR vibe going but taking out the AR15 hiccups they have and adopting some ideas from the G36.. i like it, but it might be a few years before they hit the civilian market