Forgotten Weapons
Published 2 Aug 2025If you had to pick one, would you take a G1 (FAL) or a G3 (H&K)? Both are 7.62mm NATO rifles adopted by Germany. The G1 has more features and capabilities, like the carry handle, bipod, multiple muzzle devices, and adjustable gas system. The G3, on the other hand, is simpler, without things to change for better or worse. So which would you take?
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December 19, 2025
Pick One: G1 (FAL) vs G3 (H&K) w/ John Keene
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G3.
Comment by Bones — December 19, 2025 @ 20:28
I’m Team FAL myself. Why would you choose the G3?
Comment by Nicholas — December 19, 2025 @ 21:03
Ha! I was waiting for that!
I have muscle memory on that platform. They’re both excellent tools and I’d take either one. I have fond memories of certain diminutive Central American troopers lugging G3’s around.
Comment by Bones — December 22, 2025 @ 00:37
Fair. I’ve never handled a G3, but I loved the Canadian FAL, the FN C1A1. I was devastated when the government decided to destroy them rather than surplusing them to the civilian market when they switched to a 5.56 platform.
Comment by Nicholas — December 22, 2025 @ 10:17
Yes, the destruction of firearms is part of the American fabric as well. I was hoping to get a S&W 686, CS1 from a Customs Inspector at JFK who was turning hers in for a newly issued 9mm. They collected all those lovely .357 Mag revolvers and destroyed them. Sick.
Both of those rifles are excellent and accurate models, and I’d take one any day. I have a metric FAL lower, and was hoping to obtain the necessary parts to get it up and running, but my state has gone the other way. Semi-auto rifles are anathema here.
Comment by Bones — December 22, 2025 @ 19:57
I’m surprised how often the term “parts kits” comes up in Ian McCollum’s Forgotten Weapons videos. It never would have occurred to me that there was enough of a market in the US that dealers can bring in batches of parts for particular historical weapons and then people would re-create (or monsterize) a working firearm that way.
Comment by Nicholas — December 23, 2025 @ 10:19