Heckler & Koch G3
battle rifle
The Heckler & Koch G3 (German: Gewehr 3) is a select-fire battle rifle chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO developed in the 1950s by the West German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch, in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned firearms manufacturer CETME. The G3 was the service rifle of the West German Bundeswehr until it was replaced by the Heckler & Koch G36 in the 1990s after German reunification, and was adopted into service with numerous other countries.
The G3 has been exported to over 70 countries and manufactured under license in at least 15 countries. Over 7.8 million G3s have been produced. Its modular design was used for several other HK firearm models, including the HK21, MP5, HK33, PSG1, and G41.
History
The origin of the G3 can be traced back to the final years of World War II when Mauser engineers at the Light Weapon Development Group (Abteilung 37) at Oberndorf am Neckar designed the Maschinenkarabiner Gerät 06 (MKb Gerät 06, "machine carbine device 06") prototype assault rifle chambered for the intermediate 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge, first with the Gerät 06 model using a roller-locked short recoil mechanism originally adapted from the MG 42 machine gun but with a fixed barrel and conventional gas-actuated piston rod. With careful attention to the mechanical ratios, the gas system could be omitted. The resultant weapon, Gerät 06H (the "H" suffix is an abbreviation for halbverriegelt - "half-locked") is known today as StG 45(M) (Sturmgewehr 45(M), assault rifle 45). However, there is no evidence that the term was ever officially used in the German Reich. The weapon was not produced in significant numbers and the war ended before the first production rifles were completed.
The German technicians involved in developing the StG 45(M) were taken to work in France at Centre d'Etudes et d'Armement de Mulhouse (CEAM).
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