Cold War Classics: H&K G3 vs FAL

[Music] hey guys welcome back so today we're going to continue our Cold War standoff series where we compare Cold War firearms to each other so far we've only talked about rifles but we do plan to include handguns possibly in the future depending on the popularity of this particular series and the past I've compared the FN FAL to the ar-10 and the m14 and in both cases I thought that the FAL was a superior rifle that led to a bunch of comments in the comment sections of both videos and people were saying things like g3 greater-than FAL or the what about the g3 how do you feel about the g3 the g3 is vastly superior than the FAL and that's what's led to this video but we plan to get to it anyway because you know the FAL in the g3 were very prolific during the Cold War and we're used by major militaries and so that's why we're not gonna get too much into the nitty-gritty with the FAL we've already done that several times already but we will talk more in depth about the g3 now I will refer to this rifle as a g3 in the video and I may say 308 and 7 instead of 7 6 2 by 51 I understand there's a difference but just for the sake of simplicity I'll say 308 and the FAL is actually marked 308 but this is a g3 and it's marked as a g3 but it's a semi-automatic rifle this was imported before the import ban and it was brought in by Springfield Armory and it was stamped g3 while Springfield Armory got a nasty letter in the mail from H and K and they had to change the nomenclature of the firearm to what I believe is the S r8 some of the early g3 marked rifles that came in they over stamped them turning the three into an eight but this one is unmolested and has actually marked g3 so what is it what is about the g3 that so many people love it is a it's one of those I don't know iconic rifles that's even being produced right now here in the United States by companies like PTR and they're making pretty faithful copies of the original design now this is a Greek weapon and it was made on HK tooling under HK license and the only real difference you can see between this and my actual hk91 is the rear sight I have a windage adjustment knob back here but everything else looks just like my original hk91 but people love this thing they love it because they believe it's um you know reliable which it certainly is they love the fact that it doesn't have a gas system that uses a delayed roller locking system and if you get on the H&K website of germany you'll find that they still produce this firearm but they only sell it as a marksman's rifle now and it's called the MSG 90 which is an improved version of the older PSG one so it's still manufactured there's still countries using this and fairly substantial military's still issuing this rifle and so it has this cult-like following but H&K does call this thing a roller locking delayed system so they use both delay and locking in their nomenclature so people will get on me by saying roller delayed or roller locked oh it's not a locked rifle it's delayed rifled and vice-versa look at the HK website they use both terms in the explanation of the rifles operation so this thing is made out of primarily sheet metal FAL is machined from steel in most cases there are some sheet metal components on it and this is for what it is and a light rifle chambering the 308 cartridge so let's get into a deep dive about what makes this rifle different than other 308 that were used during the Cold War we'll talk about the barrel will talk about the roller locking system and we'll talk about the sights and the disassembly and some of the things I like and dislike about it and then at the end of the video I'm gonna have to pick a favorite do I like the g3 more than the fao you'll have to wait to find out let's do some shooting we'd like to thank our friends over Big Daddy Unlimited for helping to make today's video possible if you guys would like to do us a solid just swing by the Big Daddy Unlimited website and sign up for $0.99 for the first month and just check out the service that they provide they're kind of the Sam's Club of the online gun world so again please swing by Big Daddy unlimited and check it out for just 99 cents that helps us out keeping the channel flowing and it gives you an opportunity to pick up some good deals the Germans adopted the g3 rifle but it was not their first choice they were forced to license the technology from the Spaniards the Spaniards developed the cetme rifle which was developed after the Second World War with the aid of German engineers that had left Germany and they continued to work on the roller delay system machine guns like the mg42 used that roar locking system that would be later employed in the cetme rifle so Germany had picked a different gun and they didn't go forward with the adoption of that rifle because the people that manufactured it refused to give Germany a license I guess there's still kind of salty about that whole world war ii thing and the nazis steamrolling their country the gun that the germans had originally picked to arm their forces was this rifle right here yes it's an FAL variant but this is called the g1 and the Germans had a few of them around that they would be used by border police and things like that I believe but this is the rifle that they wanted to adopt along with the rest of NATO and ninety nations adopted the rifle would have been 91 but the Belgians told Germany go pounce and we're not gonna give you license for it not gonna arm the country that just invaded us a few short years ago the g1 is a little bit of STG 58 a little bit of commonwealth l1a1 you'll notice it had wood stock this is a Belgian receiver has a wood pistol grip it has the release lever for disassembly up high versus down low on the FAL we've already shown you here on the the channel before but it has the last round bolt lock open which rifles like the l1a1 would not have has metal hand guards folding bipod which is very reminiscent of the STG 58 adjustable gas same sights and of course it had this large muzzle device here on the end so I just wanted to show you guys what the Germans were thinking before they actually adopted the g3 as their infantry rifle they were actually looking at this bad boy themselves like many designs of its era the g3 does not feature a last round bolt hold-open the rifle generally would feed from a 20 round box magazine like this this one's made a steel is very heavy but they also had lightweight aluminum magazines that were also made for the rifles in there we have some Fiocchi 150 grain rounds the thing about the loading the g3 is you put the magazine in and push it rock it back the magazine has over insertion tabs on the magazine so you will not over insert the magazine into the gun and firing from the prone won't cause malfunctions to charge the weapon lift the cocking lever up pull it to the rear and you can lock it if you want the most positive loading lock it to the rear then palm it down and it strips around and loads it on the left-hand side of the gun you'll notice it has a selector lever this one's a lot like the FAL if you have small hands you could have to break your grip to select between semi and fully automatic and fully automatic can be further down so but fire some folks will have to break their grip the trigger at least on my hk91 in this Greek made g3 very heavy gritty and not a very good trigger all right so click no bang pull the charging handle to the rear the magazine release knows my glasses were up on my face I'll explain why here in a minute magazine release is really far out there so you may have to break your grip and drop the magazine out but some of the firearms would have been adapted to have a flapper release where you can reach up grab it flap it like an 8k pull the magazine out dispose of it to another magazine in the gun has an abrupt recoil impulse it's not as smooth as the FAL but it's not unmanageable nor is it painful the sights are what it called diopter sights and you'd see these sights used on different types of firearms like the sig 550 rifle for example you have a drum back here with holes and a v-notch the v-notch for close quarters combat and then you have the drum that rotates to two three and four hundred meters I have it zeroed on the 200 meter aperture sight so it's it's a peep and then you also have the v-notch for close range the rear sight is adjustable for elevation and windage front sight not so much it's a very ergonomic rifle it's lightweight doesn't feel muzzle heavy whatsoever comes to the shoulder nicely but you'll notice this hump right here and my buddy in high school had one of these an hk91 and he wore glasses and when he gets his face forward that hump comes back and it hits the glass is under recoil and that's why my glasses were pushed up and I had to push them back down so if we're wearing out the glasses protective eyewear or correctional lenses keep in mind this hump is going to whack your glasses when you fire it and that's one of the things that don't like about the hk91 g3 let's take apart the g3 and take a look at the inside and take a look at the construction of the firearm now keep in mind guys this is world war ii technology and that's why we see the extensive use of stampings throughout which we're going to show you more of here so to clear the weapon take the magazine out lock the bolt to the rear make sure you can inspect the chamber make sure the weapons empty let that bolt go home make sure the bolts home you have two pens back here to hold the end cap on the rifle they're not captive now I have one pen going this way and one pen going that way but you can do whatever you want lost in the field fairly easily by soldier the Germans trying to avert that problem put holes in the stock so you can hold those pens versus dropping them on the ground and potentially losing them once those two pins are out the buttstock will come off which includes your guide rod and recoil spring now one area where the semi-automatic version differs from the machine gun the machine gun would have another pin down here the spanish cetme that I have that I've shown you in previous videos actually has that pen but if that pin were here this lower would hinge down on that pen without it we just have a shelf here you take your pistol grip and fire control unit off the firearm after you get the buttstock off to take this apart rotate the selector lever up until it clicks will come out and then you can pull the trigger mechanism out of its housing this little square cut right here that if it were in its military state would be present the material there and there's would be a pin that goes through there that would enable fully automatic fire that's your ejector and hammer okay now you can take the handguard off I'm gonna do this to show you an important point there's a little tiny pin up here which is smaller than the other takedown pins and there's no place to hold them other than the handguard itself once you take it off and can be lost in the field I suspect troops won't expect to take their hand guards off all that often to clean the weapons take the handguard off inside you have a heat shield and then here you have the facilities for mounting a bipod this locks it in place bipod locks onto here and then you see these divots here in the handguard the bipod would fold back now taking a look at the receiver this part of the gun is fairly light we'll take the bolt and carrier here in a minute but what's important is this is the cocking tube it's not a gas tube and you'll notice that it flexes a little that's because it's not rigidly attached to the front sight block the front sight block has a pen in the front and it is not adjustable for windage or elevation you can put different size pins in the front it's just held in place by single roll pen and then this cap on the end there's a little deep tent right there by my thumb you push that detent in take this cap off and you can put a bayonet adapter on the end there and the bayonet would sit on top of the barrel of the rifle and its military configuration charging handle once you do this you pull it back that breaks the rollers loose from there locking recesses and then you can pull the bolt to the rear take the coat interior out like that and then all we have is this one big piece of sheet metal that's folded and welded you have a steel trunnion or barrel extension here a fluted chamber cold hammer-forged barrel and then the cocking tube is welded to the receiver and you have again that free floated barrel which probably lends to the accuracy of the rifle and why it's still used as a marksman rifle as the MSG 90 all right now the fun begins and there's so many different tricks that you'll see people talk about taking the bolt off the carrier now with guns like the mp5 there's very little spring tension this little claw right here by my index finger is under a tremendous spring pressure on the mp5 there's very little spring pressure so taking the bolt off the carrier is much easier on the I'll show you the bolt here in a moment so to get the bolt off all you have to do is grab it firmly and rotate it clockwise I'm sorry counter clockwise you put you use clockwise to put it back together so see I can I'm starting to rotate the bolt and it'll hit a point where then I can just pull it forward and off the carrier okay so counter clockwise set that aside this is your locking piece this is what pushes the rollers into engagement and then when the gun fires the forces pushed down on this locking piece and then push the bolt and carrier back take it out you just rotate it till it comes to just disassembly it'll come right out then you'll have the firing pin and firing pin spur all right and this is your bolt carrier and you can see that claw by my index finger that holds the bolt in place and plays a critical role in its operation this is a solid piece of steel solid piece of steel you can see the rollers hanging out of the bolt when the locking piece goes in in the lock position that the rollers are held firmly out and then when the case starts pushing back under the pressure of the rifle cartridge being fired it will force these rollers back into the recess and see how that pushes the locking piece out and once that happens just the momentum can carry the bolt and carrier to the rear check the spent case and reload and continue shooting the fluted chamber assists in extraction and ejection it's a very violent unlocking process and that's why they flew to the chamber to make sure that they get the absolute maximum reliability out of the firearm to put it all back together again again there's so many different tricks I see people use to do this to get the bolt and carrier back together I'm going to show you how I do it there's a little window cut you might not be able to see on either side of this area of the bolt carrier there's a little window there in a little window on the other side I'm going to put the locking piece in rotate it till it goes in rotate it so I can still see some light in there and that window I take my bolt head and you got to pop it up over this claw now I've seen tools that grab the bolt carrier and pinch this spring you can see that big heavy spring pushing that claw down that pinch that spring and make putting the bolt and carrier back together again very simple for this I'm just going to use the bottom flat of the bolt carrier I'm gonna push it back over that claw it'll just pop up over that feed ramp and pull out ever so slightly and then this is when I go clockwise with the bolt I'm gonna turn it and slowly pull it out until it hits that claw just right in the extended position and its back together okay now you'll see some people saying put the thing back into its receiver backwards and whack it and all this crazy stuff totally unnecessary it's all in the technique but I could see soldiers struggling with that Alright putting it back together again very simple take your bolt carrier drop it in there let it go home and lock grab your trigger pack put your trigger mechanism in slide it down line up the safety lever hole just like that that's your ejector as the bolt comes back it hits that ejector forces it up and then the remember the case will hit right there and go out the ejection port there's your hammer selector lever goes in like that and this guns been wiped down for this for the purposes of showing you this these things are absolutely filthy if you think the m16 is a dirty firearm it poops where it eats roller delayed rifles like this are infinitely more dirty these things typically with any use whatsoever become absolutely caked and carbon and it's almost impossible to get it all off alright let's go ahead put the front handguard back on just slide the rear of it there's different types of hand guards that we're out there all right line up that hole push the pin across take our trigger pack there's the shelf right here by my thumb versus a pen so I put the the front of the trigger pack on the shelf like that and rotate it up and hold it in place since there's no pen holding it which buttstock back on then you got to work against the recoil spring just a little bit put that first pin in and then the second pin will make sure that trigger guard or trigger housing stays forward and now the guns back together that simple I have read on some of the discussion forums that people said the FAL was not designed to use an optic or it requires some special whatever mojo to get an optic onto an FAL and that's simply not true a number of different sites were fielded with the FAL including the Tri Lux optic that was available for at the suit Sui T site or sight unit infantry try lux so the FAL did have optics available for it for use as a DMR and the same is true with the hk91 g3 in the case of this rifle it's a claw mount there's little tabs on the receiver the claw mount grabs the top of the receiver and then you would have an optic setting on top so both rifles had optics available for them they just use different means for doing it now I have seen improperly adjusted claw mounts pinch the receiver so much that the bolt couldn't freely move so you did have to make sure that you got preferably an HK mount for your HK firearm a lot of the cheap mounts that are out there airsoft knock offs that you'll find online may actually pinch your receiver too much and prevent the gun from cycling now when it comes down to the sights I'm conflicted like most people I really like the diopter sight system and I really like the sight picture that the g3 offers when I'm running it I very rarely use the B notch I'll use the 200 meter setting I have a nice aperture to look through in the rear and then it is perfectly aligned with that front sight hood and offers a really precise sighting picture that's easy to use alright my glasses back down very very capable infantry weapon guys very very capable and I understand why so many people are madly in love with this thing it also has an interesting sling setup that the Germans adopted you have a mounting point up front you have a clip here and then you have a clip in the rear and so it was kind of like a 3-point sling if you want it was it was adjustable it was meant to be carried in the front it was actually quite ahead of its time in terms of slings that most military is used which were just a point up front and point in back you could clip the sling hold the rifle tightly to your chest pull it break it away and then the sling would drop down to a usable firing position I didn't bring one out this afternoon we just moved last summer and honestly I don't know where my HK slings are but it actually had a really really cool sling setup for it the FAL and the g3 we're obviously competing for the same market space the FAL has a machined receiver a stamped lower housing that holds the fire control units and of course the use of polymer for the handguards buttstock and pistol grip g3 as we've already mentioned makes what use of World War 2 technology of extensive stampings and the use of polymers but keep in mind that g3 was not the only popular cold war-era rifle that made extensive use of stampings versus machined steel and later aluminum in the m16 with its polymers but rifles like the 550 Sigyn the AKM the ak-47 the AKM in the ak-74 that followed all made extensive use of stampings and so while it was an older technology meant to increase production speed and lower production costs it wound up being a very robust way to make a rifle to keep the weight down keep the cost down and assured that you could mass-produce them now one thing that I will say is comparing this rifle to an ak-47 there's no comparison in terms of the quality the Russians their quality all over the place you can get a good rifle a bad rifle canted sights whatever I've never seen a German made hk91 or g3 or in this case even with the Greek made license copy I'm holding here I've never seen wonky sights I've never seen a gun that couldn't be zeroed the welds are spotless the thing is crafted exceptionally well giving the cheap nature of its construction using sheet metal so it's absolutely a work of art despite the fact that it's using a very crude method of designing and end up obviously making the firearm so this and also the sig the SIG's were exquisitely made firearms but there were also other firearms obviously they use the same technology not so finely made when it comes to weight balance and how they shoot you're gonna find the g3 and the FAL are very very similar I think that the FAL has a more sleek profile I like the pistol grip more people probably liked the g3 s pistol grip it's probably going to be a little bit friendlier to some of the shooters out there I like the grip on the FAL but yeah the FAL is just a little bit narrower profile a little bit cleaner lines but there is nothing you can say bad about the appearance of the g3 this is one good-looking rifle and exceptionally functional and some people would say it's more reliable than the FAL and vice versa I love the FAL I think it's extremely reliable get depending on what conditions it's being exposed to but I would say based upon the number of militaries that use them the fowl was no slouch when it came to reliability and the g3 certainly is no slouch when it comes to reliability either so I already know what you guys are asking yourself does it take Glock magazines no guys it takes its own proprietary hk91 magazine but does an 80 tip fire well that is something we're gonna find out right now goes by way too fast just to compare the accuracy of the two rifles using the Fiocchi hundred fifty grain ball ammunition this group was fired by the FAL five rounds and this group was fired by the g3 we were messing around doing some b-roll of the rear drum and accidentally left it in a 400-meter position which is why it's high this could just be a flyer but if you exclude this flyer you'd find that both rifles using the same ammunition or roughly capable the same accuracy so we come to that point in the video where I have to make a decision as to which one I think would have made the best infantry rifle for NATO forces so let's talk about the two guns side-by-side the g3 because of its stampings and polymer is a very light handy rifle and despite the fact that it chambers 760 by 51 which is a thumper of a cartridge it's it's controllable now on full automatic and untrained troop would have a hard time controlling it but in semi-automatic aimed fire it's very very manageable and by no means uncomfortable I just have a problem with this hump back here when wearing protective Iowa or again prescription glasses the sights I love they're quickly adjustable for elevation the diopter site offers a really really nice sight picture with an aperture in the rear and a nice round front hood that lines up purpose perfectly with the rear aperture and a simple front post it's a very well made rifle now ergonomically and this would change so this is an old-style trigger housing you would see later guns it would come out with a polymer lower with a more what I feel ergonomic pistol grip they'd be one piece of polymer but the triggers remain the same you would see flapper releases which would definitely make magazine changes much easier than having to basically break your grip to pull the magazine out but that was done for a lot of civilian semi-automatic rifles like this one but yeah there were rifles it had flappers to get the magazine out but the ergonomics on this thing are just ok the charging of the of the rifle the charging handles forward I've never been a fan of forward charging handles like that to get this one to operate you got to break those rollers loose pull to the rear lock it up most infantry soldier worth their salts not going to have a problem with that but to lock the bolt to the rear to reload it or to clear a malfunction or whatever is done by reaching far forward now I've been in Mexico and I've seen Mexican soldiers on patrol that we're carrying these things and there were a very you know smaller stature than myself I'm six foot four and you know reaching that far forward and having levers that are that far away from the fire firing thumb can be difficult for some soldiers that might not be six foot four so the ergonomics are just okay has a nice large trigger guard here for use with a gloved hand but it balances well and if it's made by a country like Germany or or in this case grease they were extremely well made but they were licensed and built by many different countries and I've seen some really bad examples like Pakistani guns and I've seen some good examples like okay examples not quite HK quality like in Turkey they still manufacture these even though they're moving over to the NPT 76 so you know the German guns in this Creek gun are actual works of art then we get to the FAL FAL is a very light rifle points nice very narrow very small very robust the charging handles in a spot where I like it it locks open on the last shot fired magazine changes are intuitive and easy to do you know it's just an easy-to-use rifle offers a nice sight picture back here paratrooper models would had protective ears to protect that rear sight and again a head side folding stocks that would be available for it on the g3 you have collapsible stocks that would be made for it later on you'd see B&T in other companies making folding stock for the 90 series of rifles which includes in 91 93 and 94 but let me tell you a story I'll try to keep it short and this this really left a bad taste in my mouth with regards to the 90 series of rifles back in the day when I had machine guns I've since sold them all I had an HK 33 and I believe was converted by Terry Dyer but it was built on an actual HK 93 gun and it took me like three years to get the thing built but when I was out shooting it one day and I had the collapsible stock on the collapsible stocks had the similar but cap here and you had a small little butt pad and the stocks rode in the receiver rails that the bolt rides on internally when you would push a lever and pull the stock out it would only engage with the receiver in a very small contact patch back here I was using an HK sling I didn't have it completely clipped to the rear sling mount and I had it on my chest I was going to reload it and start shooting the gun the gun broke loose from its rear sling swivel it fell to the ground hitting the ground very sharply but it just fell from chest height it wasn't like a major fall didn't think anything of it but a magazine in the gun fired that first shot and the bolt seized to the rear I couldn't get the buttstock off because the bolt was completely to the rear completely compressing the recoil spring so I had no choice I unloaded the rifle went to the nearest tree and whack whack until that front if that bolt went home fired another round bolt stuck to the rear repeat on the tree did that five or six times and finally the gun started working again but it had just ever so slightly from that fall the the leverage of the the extended stock had just ever so slightly bent that rear receiver causing the bolt to stick to the rear and that made me question this damping's used on the 90 series of rifles it's a very thin sheet metal and it's done to keep weight down but in my opinion I mean soldiers use these things for all sorts of purposes they're not intended for and if the receiver is that easily damaged and again I've seen claw mounts on so tight that they pinch the receiver in the same way where the bolt goes back and sees is the sheet metal in my opinion just isn't up to par when you're comparing it to a rifle like the FAL the fals controls I think are more intuitive for me I like the fact where the magazine release is located like the fact that the charging handle is closer to me not way out on the end I like the fact that locks open a last shot fired I like the fact that I can easily reload the gun it just seems like a more robustly built rifle now the upper half of the FAL this is all machine steel the lower half makes use of sheet metal and reinforcements with steel but the sheet metal and this is at least twice the thickness of what's on the H&K I've never been able to break an FAL and the Lord only knows I've been pretty hard on him over the years so in general having to pick one if you guys follow the channel you know anything about me at all I'm an FAL fan I still to this day even comparing it to the g3 I believe that the 19a the adopt it and keep in mind Germany wanted to adopt it too but they couldn't 90 Nations adopted it and it went on to earn the title of the right arm of the free world and I think it earned that title justly because it is in my opinion the ultimate evolution of the 760 by 51 NATO big bore battle rifles of the Cold War era so I look forward to your comments down below I know you guys are gonna have you know agree with me and other people are going to disagree with me all I ask is that you should keep it civil I have no problem having a conversation with you guys discussing the merits of each firearm just try to avoid calling me idiot stupid and things like that and we can have a great conversation because I learn from you quite a bit so I look forward to having those conversations down below in the comments section guys if you'd like to support assert the military arms channel the best way to do that's to become a patreon supporter there is a link in the video description below click that link consider becoming part of our patreon family also right here on YouTube there's a little join button underneath the video player both on your desktop and on your mobile device give that button to click check out some of the incentives and consider supporting us right here on YouTube and last but not least swing by and check out copper custom comm guys thanks for 12 years of support and we'll talk to you soon

Channel: Military Arms Channel

Views: 427,896

Keywords: how to, iraqveteran8888, outdoor, entertainment, hickok45, demolition ranch, firearm, review, handgun, rifle, pistol, target shooting, gun review, movie, forgotten weapons, hk, g3, hk91, hk 93, mp5, cold war, fal, fn fal, germany, 308, 7.62x51, nato, battle rifle, 7.62 nato, machine gun

Id: icVmTQxuPes

Length: 35min 29sec (2129 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 03 2020