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Meatball's Featured Reviews |
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Airsoft Core |
By Kerensky
Published: December 6, 2003
Updated: October 10, 2008
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I have to admit, I have an affliction towards the G3 series of guns. Therefore when it came time to purchase my next AEG, I had to look no further then Airsoft Extreme (many kudos to them for another outstanding purchase) to satisfy my itch for a new G3. I was torn between the MC51 and the G3a3, and in the end it was the A3 that won out. Why the A3? The main reason I chose it was that not many people have one. Everyone and their cousin own an SG1, and the MC51 is also a common sight. I also absolutely hate the 'meat-grinder' sliding stocks that the MC51 and G3a4 sport. Finally, the green furniture of the A3 had a strange appeal to me, and I liked the look of the slim forearm over that of the wide forearm.
Impressions
When I first gazed upon the gun I was impressed with the overall length and appearance of the girth. It is about 6 inches longer than an M4a1 with the stock fully extended and has an overall length of just over 40.25 inches. This is a big gun, and definitely not suited to a CQB environment. However I was a bit disappointed at the weight. The gun only weighted 5 or so pounds which is about 1/2 of what the real steel weighs. That and I was used to my dressed up SR16's weight, which is well over 10 pounds. My disappointment lasted all of 4.5 seconds though as I began to look over the gun.
The G3a3 with green furniture, slim forearm and slim buttpad
As mentioned before, the G3a3 has the green slim forearm and stock, whereas the SG1 and A4 have black appointments and wide forearms. The green stocks are an olive drab color which is fairly true to the real steal. The finish of the gun is a dark gray, darker then the Marui M4, yet no where near black. This gray is not a mistake, as up to the early 80's or so all G3 / HK91 rifles were finished in gray as opposed to the black finish found today on HK firearms. The slim forearm is also appropriate for a rifle of that time period. The buttstock of the A3 has the same shorter buttpad that the Marui HK51 Ltd Ed. has, which I prefer over the longer buttpad found on the SG1.
Metal parts on the gun include the front barrel assembly, charging handle, rear sight, trigger, magazine, magazine catch and flapper release, selector lever, and all assorted pins and screws. The portion of the buttstock that interfaces the rear of the receiver is also metal and is painted gray to match almost exactly the color of the plastic body of the gun. However, this leads me to a complaint that I have with not only the G3a3, but all Marui guns that have a gray body, such as the M4a1. If Marui can paint this matel part of the buttstock to match the body of the gun, why can't they paint all other metal parts the same gray? As they are now, all other metal parts on the guns are painted in a shiny-ish black color that totally contrasts with the gray color of the body. Other than that complaint I can't find anything else at fault, appearance wise, on the G3a3, except for perhaps the total lack of trademarks.
The sights on the gun are the standard HK hooded post front and diopter rear drum. The G3 series has a different sight drum than that found on the MP5 series. Whereas the Mp5 series has 4 large apertures in the drum, the G3 series has 3 smaller 'pinholes' and an open 'V-notch'. I prefer the MP5 rear sight so I replaced the G3 sight with a Classic Army MP5 rear sight that I had on my PDW, and the G3 sight then went to the PDW. This works out better, as the open notch on the G3 sight is perfect for the shorter sighting radius on the PDW, and the 4 different size apertures on the CA MP5 sight work well with the long sight radius on the G3.
 
The G3 sight on PDW (left) and the Classic Army MP5 sight on G3 (right)
The controls on the gun are all where you would expect them to be on an HK firearm. The charging handle is located above the forearm on the left side of the gun and serves the purpose of opening the fake bolt for access to the hop-up adjustment drum inside the ejection port. The handle can be rotated upwards and will lock into a recess keeping the fake bolt open. If you like you can do the 'hk slap’, which results in, a rather loud bang as the handle flies forward and locks in the closed position. I don't think that you will ever break the handle itself, but repeatedly doing this slap will wear down the locking notch in the cocking tube. The hop-up unit itself is like that on the AUG series of guns which is a drum that you rotate left and right to adjust the amount of hop instead of a lever as on the MP5 or a dial on the Armalite series.
 
The charging handle locked back (left) exposing the hop-up adjustment drum (right)
The magazine catch is the standard HK ambidextrous flapper located in the front of the trigger guard just like on the AK and MP5 series. The magazine catch button can also be pressed to release the magazine as well, and this is located on the right side of the gun forward of the trigger. The magazines on the G3 series have to be rocked in from front to back, again as like on the AK series. The magazines don't have a distinctive 'click' when they lock in as in the MP5, but they don't have any excessive play either. They are held in very securely, and should pose no problem when it comes to feeding. The magazines themselves are very sturdy and are rather large, though this is to be expected in a gun that is chambered in 7.62x51mm in real life. The standards hold 70 rounds and can be difficult to load unless the loading rod is held at the exact precise angle, and even then getting the last 5 to 8 BB's in the mag is a chore. Care must be taken not to force more rounds into the magazine than it can hold however, as the two plastic halves of the inside of the mag will bulge outwards from each other, and even bulge the metal outer part of the magazine. My opinion about the G3 standard mags is that they just aren't as sturdy or as easy to use as the M16 or MP5 mags.
 
The magazine release flapper and button (left) and 70rd magazine (right)
The fire selector is the original 'SEF' style and is not ambidextrous. The selector lever is only on the left side of the gun though this should pose no problem even for lefties. Actually, I find it nearly impossible to put the selector back into single shot, once it is in the full-auto position, without shifting my grip. This is a bit annoying, and is not something that is an issue on the navy groups that are found on the Marui MP5 series. If the selector were ambidextrous, I could just use my thumb on the right side selector, but this is not the case with a SEF pack. That is about the only flaw I see in the control department, and is by no means the fault of Tokyo Marui. Moving the selector from S to E, is a bit mushy, and it doesn't really have the authoritive 'click' that you get when moving from E to F, this isn't a big deal however, as the selector still stays where you put it and won't move unless you move it. Oh, and in case you were curious; S is Sicher (safe), E is Einzelfeuer (semi), F is Feuersto (Full-auto)
 
The selector lever on the left side of the gun (left), and the right side of the gun (right)
The battery is stored in the full stock and is accessed easily by pushing down on the rubber buttpad. I have been using a 2400 mAH 8.4v battery which fits no problem. The wiring can be cramped at times, but if you are creative you can get everything in there no problem. Using large batteries also helps to ad 1.5 to 2 pounds to the gun which helps balance out the weight a bit.
The battery compartment accessed by pushing down on the buttpad
Functioning
Ok, so enough about the looks and controls how does it shoot? Well like any other AEG. All Marui AEG's will have about the same stock performance with exception of perhaps the MP5k's and UZI. That is to say this gun probably shoots around 280 +/- FPS. I say maybe, because I haven't chronographed it. With such a long barrel however, the FPS of this gun will probably be on the high end of the range, which is fine by me.
ROF is rather high for only an EG700 motor. It is much faster than my PDW with a EG700, and at times it can be hard firing single shots when on full-auto. To be honest, I am starting to not buy into the whole EG1000 giving a faster ROF then and EG700, as there is no discernable difference between this stock G3a3, and a stock M4a1 which has an EG1000. The G3 is very quiet however, with less mechanical noise than a MP5 for M4, and much less muzzle noise. I am very pleased with the low decibel levels produced by this gun.
Accuracy is excellent once the hop-up is dialed in (and the inner barrel wobbling is fixed), giving a bit better groupings then an M4a1 would, mostly due to the longer barrel. This gun will really shine once some upgrades get thrown into it. An M120/PDI 170% and TN barrel along with new bushings will probably push the gun into to about 430-440 FPS, which would make for a killer assault/ sniper rifle (assuming your teams allow such high FPS). An M100/ PDI 120% and TN would probably be the most practical for most players. This gun does have serious accuracy potential no matter which way you choose to go.
Overall performance is great for a stock gun.
Problems
I have really only noticed two problems with this gun. Both I did know about prior to purchasing it and both have solutions.
The first is the inaccuracy due to the inner barrel being able to wobble freely inside the outer barrel. The solution: Take some paper or electrical tape and wrap it around the inner barrel, effectively making a shim that will prevent it from moving inside the outer barrel. I used regular notebook paper, and now the inner barrel wobble is down to nil.
The unshimmed inner barrel, free to wobble in the outer barrel
The shimmed inner barrel now unable to wobble in the outer barrel.
Second problem is one that most all Marui AEG's have; body creak. There is one place in particular that has an incredible amount of creak on the G3a3, and that is the forearm. The forearm interfaces near the front of the magazine well (the turnion of the real steel), and also along a rail on each side of the gun just below the cocking tube. There is minimal creak from the trunion area, with the majority of the creak coming from these rails near the center of the forearm.
The source of the major creak: the long rail.
Now a few things can be done here. One is you can try to lube up the rubbing surfaces with some silicon or perhaps some other water based jelly. As the forearm on the A3 doesn't have to be removed ever something like lithium grease of jelly wouldn't be noticed. Silicon has the tendency to run down the gun, getting all over the place, so something like grease would be ideal.
Secondly, you could get some black electrical tape and just place it on the conflicting surfaces thus removing the plastic-to-plastic contact. This should alleviate the major creaks that the handguard exhibits. There are other minor creaks here and there, but these are common to almost all Marui AEG's, not just the A3.
I have not noticed any considerable body flex as some have reported, though the front end of the gun does have the same tendency to shift upwards when used to support the gun much like the SG1 version. I plan on installing a Classic Army metal body in the future which will make the gun rock solid and a lot heavier.
Summary
Pros:
-Excellent finish
-Hardly anyone owns a G3a3
-Excellent ergonomics with full stock
-Huge magazine capacity 500rds for hi-cap
-Huge battery capacity (3000mAH)
-Unique looks
-Fast ROF
-Excellent performance stock
-Ease of use
-Very realistic and true to the real steel
-Quiet- Easy disassembly
Cons:
-Lightweight
-Major creaks in the forearm area (easily corrected)
-Selector could be better
-No trademarks
-Metal parts contrast with body color
-Inner barrel wobble (easily fixed)
-May be too large for some
Overall, I couldn't recommend this gun higher. After reading rather limited reviews that are available online about this gun, I was a bit apprehensive ordering it. But as soon as I saw it, I knew my fears were unfounded. Anyone who likes the G3 series and is sick of seeing everyone with a SG1 or MC51 should give this gun a shot.
-Kerensky
Kerensky.net
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