The G3 Airsoft Assault Rifle
Heckler & Koch's G3 Rifle is what you get when you improve on a gun, and then improve it again. The start of this sequence lies with the German Mauser StuG 45, a common World War 2 rifle. A Spanish firm improved on this gun some years later in 1951, making the CETME rifle, which in its layout is very similar to the G3, which was based on the CETME, only making it better.
The G3 began rolling off the production line sin 1961, after design by HK and the German Military. The gun was so successful, benefiting from its reliability and accuracy, that it rapidly became highly licensed and manufactured across the world. Before long it was adopted as the standard rifle of many NATO countries. Demand for variations of the standard rifle meant that soon after it was adopted by NATO countries, several other versions were launched with adaptors for add on grenade launchers, bayonets and flash suppressors.
Since 1991, the base model has also been improved on, and has been pampered with new sights, a flash hider (for all models), plastic fore grip and plastic stock, making the G3A3. Then the G3A4 came along, with the added benefit of a telescoping stock, making the gun smaller, more compact, and therefore much easier to use in all forms of combat.
The specification for the G3 is surprisingly simplistic for such a great gun. It weighs 9.7lb, about average, is just over a metre long, about average, and has a calibre of 7.62, again about average. It's the simplicity of using it, its amazing range of 1300 feet, and the cost of production, which due to its large scale manufacturing is very low, that make this gun so good.
All the major airsoft manufacturers make the G3, as it's just such a popular gun. There are the usual variations between companies, like Tokyo Marui's is made from plastic, but in general, all the guns look like collector's pieces.
The Classic Army gun is extremely powerful, and as you'd expect from this company, made of solid metal, but the plastic doesn't let down Tokyo Marui's effort in this case, as the spray painted model looks just as good as any other model, and comes close to the real thing. It's an AEG which fires at 270 feet per second, has an adjustable hop up and can take 500 BBs in the magazine, making it one of the most versatile guns to take on a day long exercise.
