I saw this for sale on an auction site a couple of weeks ago. Just a couple hours to go, and no bids above the very low starting bid. I bid $5 more and I got it. No one was more shocked than I.
It's an American copy of the old
G-3 made by a collaboration between Heckler and Koch of Germany and the Spanish arms firm CETME back in the day. It was a darn good rifle, probably falling in there between the US M-14 and the venerable FN-FAL. I still saw quite a few in use in Mexico last year. And for the American civilian market, H&K made a semi-auto version known as the HK-91. I never got one because the first Bush ban caught me by surprise back in the 80's and even though the last gun shop in the area with any so-called "assault rifles" for sale had a nice HK-91, they also had one last Springfield Armory M-1A and I bought (and still have) that. And new HK-91's were never allowed to be imported into the US again so I figured I'd probably never get one. But then a US company called JLD bought the machine tooling and remaining parts from an HK-licensed firm in Portugal and started making a new version of the rifle here in America in 2002.
This version is the
PTR-91. It fires the NATO 7.62x51mm cartridge from a 20rd box and sports a 17.7" barrel. Even with the fixed stock (and they do make folders) it is shorter than the M-14/M-1A or FAL, but alas, it's not much lighter.
Initially they made receivers and used surplus parts to build them, just like Century International Arms was doing, but eventually they started making their own parts and improving their processes with more modern tooling and techniques and today these rifles are every bit as well-made as the originals and they are built 100% here in America in a plant in South Carolina.
Every year I'd see these on display at the NRA conventions or other big gun shows, and I'd admired them for their solid feel and excellent finish. Unlike the Century guns, the welds were always clean and straight, the finish was uniform and nice, and they just felt right. And the price wholesale was well under a grand and still hovers around that if you hunt a bit. This one was considerably less as it was "used", but like the Springfield Scout Squad I got last month, this one has no dirt or carbon or even scrape marks from normal metal/metal contact caused by working the bolt or inserting magazines. I don't know where that one has been since leaving the factory but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't on a firing range.
I'm still waiting for my range to open but when it does, this one and the Scout Squad are going out to tear up the steel plates on the rifle line. I have no doubt that both will do just fine. And now I feel better because if the Dems win in 2020 and keep their promises to come for our AR-15's, at least now I have a couple rifles to protect my AR-15's with.
Nice find! I remember you looking at one of those and mumbling to yourself at Dulles a few years ago. :-)
ReplyDeleteI was mumbling because you just scored a 1903 Springfield with provenance back to Chesty Puller for like sixty bucks...you know, that thing you do at every gun show. Fucking voodoo magic.
DeleteHey Murphy;
ReplyDeleteDang, your luck is better than OldNFO...Congratulations on the find.
It's a nice rifle. Heavy like the M-14. I have a bi-pod for mine. The weapon was illegal in CA, but it's cool in Arizona. Borders matter.
ReplyDeleteNice - I remember seeing some of the early rifles from Century - ick! Right now I'm only about an hour and a half from the PTR factory - wonder if they give tours?? Guess I'll have to find out.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to snag an HK-91 at a gun show in Raleigh back in about 1992 03 1993. Haven't shot it much, but I like having it as complement to my other 7.62x51 guns.
Nice, I've been looking for a decent one for awhile but the budget/opportunity hasn't lined up yet.
ReplyDeleteToo bad that the magazines are not as cheap as they were just a few years ago.
The best suggestions I've gotten is get the extended HK 21 charging handle to make it easier to operate the action.
Also, since it trashes the brass while launching it into orbit, they suggested using either the cheapest steel case or surplus ammo exclusively.
We had to qualify on that rifle when I was in NATO back in the early 90s. Sucker has some power!
ReplyDeleteI spent some time today taking it apart and reassembling it. It's not intuitive but fortunately I finally found a good Youtube video. Aside from that weird roller-lock bolt it's simple to the point of crude. And I could have white-glove inspected it as there wasn't a bit of dirt anywhere in it. If that rifle was ever fired post-factory testing I'll be shocked.
ReplyDeleteHey mate! Nice blog you've got here. I'd like to send you a leather holster for a brief honest review of it for one of your guns, if you also use handguns, not just rifles. In case you are interested, drop me an email. Regards Al.
ReplyDeleteThe Germans made a mod to the receiver to help that brass ding problem. It's a piece that needs to be TIG welded around the port. Takes away that sharp edge, so no crease in the case. I think the part is ~$20 from the HK parts guy.
ReplyDeleteThe Choate folding stocks work well. IIRC, there are several versions. A fairly new stock that is shorter, and may be adjustable, and two versions of the hinge end. Most have a pull to open, but early on, there was one that locked both open and closed. I think the original versions are the same stock that was made for the MP-5k PDW, just with the two pin stock mount and a heavier buffer. Rubber buffer is good for 1k rounds, I think. You pay a premium if the stock says HK instead of Choate, but they are all made by Choate here in the US. Makes for a lot more handy sized/discrete transport case.
I bought on of the CA versions.
ReplyDeleteIt went back.
Huh! I forgot that I have one of those CETME units all in pieces parts. Need to blue the barrel and receiver which are both new U.S. manufacture, all the rest are Spanish surplus parts. I supposedly have all the components. Summer project I guess, don't want to stink up the house mixing up the bluing dip, missus would kill me.
ReplyDeleteI Love the G-3/PTR-91 series of rifles. back in the 1986-1989 Time frame I was stationed with the German army on the Danish border. We had a weapons Familiarization day with their weapons. We got shoot the P-1 (P-38) The MG-3 (MG-42) and the G-3 Not the UZI though (Damn) Back to the Shoot I qualified expert with the P-1. Couldn't hit shit with the MG-3 (creepy trigger and very fast firing rate) and the G-3 which I did very well with out to 300 Meters I was hitting everything I aimed at. I am an FN-FAL fan myself. I picked up a PARA version and the FNC (5.56 Version) and last year a SCAR-H. I found the HK-91 version of the G-3 at Atlantic firearms for a reasonable price that is on the bucket list
ReplyDeleteI shot an HK-91 back in '85, and then bought an HK-93 in 5.56mm the next year. Always regretted not getting the HK-91 (ammo price was a factor), and then regretted selling it. The roller-delayed blowback action was a draw to a techno-geek like me, but the Winchester white box ammo didn't make me a happy camper. I think I lost 10 db of hearing when we fired it under a bridge one night, chasing and trying to sink a bunch milk jugs we'd tossed in the river. My ears still ring to this day, but not so bad as they did the next day. When the range opens again, I'm planning to take my AR-15 build in 6.5 mm Grendel out to sight in.
ReplyDelete