Excellent 223 bullpup. Assuming the user understands benefits and disadvantages of a bullpup, the x95 offers very high reliability and ergonomics. I’ve never had a stoppage with mine. issues with the rifle include:
1. unusual rail height which is too low for most optics mounting, requires either a riser or exchange of rail to achieve higher optics position.
2. buttstock pad is completely flat, creating a poor shoulder contact point and propensity to roll upward. There are aftermarket replacement curved buttpads. Much needed in my opinion.
3. cutlass style grip. Nothing inherently wrong with it, but there is tendency for fingers to slide behind the trigger as there’s technically no trigger guard. IWI sells pistol grip replacements that are not always in stock. It’s a good upgrade but not necessary depending on preferences.
4. difficult to suppress due to heavy overgassing. I run my X95 with an OSS flow through .30 cal can and it works very well. A standard 30 cal can like dead air sandman is functional. However a typical .223 bore suppressor will cause far too much overgassing to the piston with extraction ejection failures.
5. it is hard on brass.
6. they do not run well with steel case 223. ive never run mine but enough folks have had issues that I don’t bother.
other than these quirks, the X95 and original tavor SAR are phenomenal rifles. the longstroke system is excellent. In fairness I have no experience with the Steyr AUG so cannot comment on it although they also seem like an option to consider.
regarding your question about optics, I run mine with an aimpoint pro. I personally wouldnt bother with a magnified optic as prone position with a bullpup is fairly miserable to me. However a quality 1-4x like a P4Xi or trijicon TR24 would probably be good options assuming they’re mounted high enough.
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