Heckler & Koch Gewehr 3 Rifle

Two G3s, Top One Fitted with Accessories

Adopted by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1960, the Heckler & Koch Gewehr 3, or G3, and it's later modifications are the regulation assault rifles of the Bundeswehr and some police units. The gun is constructed of pressed and stamped metal and polycarbonates.

Germany's G3 assault rifle has a long and intriguing history that dates back to the last days of World War II. At that time, the Mauser factory working to develop an improved version of the Sturmgewehr 44 (StG44), which was to be called the StG45. The three engineers on the project, Edmund Heckler, Theodore Koch and Alexis Seidel, moved to Spain after the war, an founded a firm that eventually won a contract to produce a rifle for the Spanish Army. This new rifle, the CETME, was based largely on the trio's StG45 research. Shortly after the CETME's introduction, it was adopted by West Germany as the G1. It was followed briefly by Fabrique Nationale's Fusil Automatique Léger (FAL) (above), which the Germans designated as the G2. In 1954, finding the G2 unsatisfactory, West Germany purchased a license to produce a CETME version in Germany. This became the G3.

The G3 is reminiscent of its World War II Sturmgewehr in that is uses sheet metal stampings and synthetic components wherever possible, avoiding a lot of expensive machining. Although not an aesthetically appealing gun, it is superbly effective and reliable. It has a roller-delayed blowback action, in which the movement of the rollers is controlled by the firing pin, which presses them into contact with the receiver sides.

Did You Know?
The success of the G3 inspired Heckler & Koch to build a whole family of weapons based on its design. They offer every configuration from a compact 9mm Parabellum submachine gun to a heavy-barrel, belt-fed, 7.62 x 51mm machine gun. The G3 was also the basis for the semi-auto only HK-91 rifle (A3 version on left) for the civilian market. Because of import restrictions, HK-91s now fetch a premium.