The search for a H&K G3 clone
Steve Adelmann of Shooting Illustrated discusses his quest to find a decent H&K G3 clone …
Though the heavily seasoned G3A3 I carried wasn’t accurized, a few simple modifications reconfigured it well enough for mountain fighting without sacrificing reliability. Clumsy, heavy and not exactly ergonomic—especially for lefties—the G3 family still managed to carve out a spot in the nostalgic section of my little brain. I decided to add a variant to my collection, but I wanted a solid shooter that wouldn’t set me back two months’ pay, so I turned to the replica market.
The article is well worth reading.
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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While I was stationed in Germany in '77, our unit had the opportunity to fire for qualification With the Bundeswehr. I quilified for the "Schutzenschnurr im Geld" (shooting award and lanyard in gold). Shooting the G3 made me aware of just how poorly armed I was with the M16A1...and a determination that "If the balloon went up, I would knock some poor German soldat over the head and take his G3."
Vladimir, you're right: "An absolutely stone-cold killing machine"...and lookin' cool while it works!
I remember reading an article by a Navy SEAL that G3 was far easier to maintain than M16s in the field.