Classic Army G3 (Presumably) Broken Externals

[Ben Savage]

Hey all,

Me and a friend recently acquired what we believe to be a Classic Army (EDIT: It appears to perhaps be a JG model but I am still unsure) G3 SG1 amongst a bundle of working equipment for a low price. The reason it was so cheap, is that the gun is full of (mostly) external issues, such as:

• Stock has snapped where the plastic main section meets the metal which holds it to the receiver (Would need replacing)
  
• Lower receiver has had where the magazine catch retaining pin is held snap on one side (Presumably would need to be replaced too)
  
• Upper receiver right hand side has had the metal part, which holds the barrel in place at the front of the receiver, break off (Would need to be replaced probably but I have the broken part, just I doubt it could be fixed easily)
  
• Parts of the cocking tube appear to have snapped off
  
• Almost every thread for a screw is stripped
  
• Fire selector does not change fire mode (Stuck in automatic)
  

Essentially, this leaves me with just a V2 gearbox and few working components from the original G3. I'm wondering if you guys think it would be worth trying to source replacements for all of these parts, given that we still can't guarantee the manufacturer of this gun is actually Classic Army, so there could be compatibility issues down the line, or perhaps if it would be worth scrapping the idea of a G3, and taking the gearbox and maybe buying parts which could be cheaper, or easier to source for another gun using a V2 gearbox. I have thought that maybe an M4 or an MP5 could be built if the G3 is not economical to repair, as parts for those are much easier to source, or maybe even a different build entirely.

I know that it would probably be cheaper to buy a new gun than build one from just a gearbox, but I would like to use it for something and see how it goes if possible.

Please let me know any thoughts or ideas, thanks.

Some photos to show some of the broken parts:

Spoiler

 

[Leonine]

hmmmm, sounds like a nice long project. In my own opinion I would scrap and re build an idea. But depends how much you want to try because it could be rewarding if all does work out.

Plus I'm hardly the practical type ?

 

[Ben Savage]

I'm unsure as to which would be best, because I'm not having the best luck finding G3 parts that are in stock, and as I still don't know for sure which make it is I do not know what it is currently compatible with. I really like the looks of a G3, but if it would be way too difficult and expensive to source parts, then I would have to go in another direction.

 

[Iceni]

Looking at those pictures I would say it's a write off for building a working G3.

The body looks to be pot metal, It can't be welded. I tried with a pot metal AK and the Aluminium weld/Solder. It didn't work. Whilst it did build and fill the cracks - looking to make a decent repair, the surrounding pot metal became very brittle to the point of been useless.

You could salvage the stock, It would need some bigger screws and perhaps some thick pins set in epoxy to hold it.

The charging handle will be the same as the body... any repair will cause more issues.


I would strip the gearbox out for spares and look to perhaps buy a new G3. LCT do a rather nice all steel one that you can use like a club if you wanted. It's not cheap, and they need a little work out of the box to be perfect. You won't find better G3 externals from any other brand. They run at about £350-500 depending on the model.

I did a review of the LCT when I got mine a couple of years ago, It should be in the reviews section. There's quite a lot you can do to them if you can find the parts. When I did mine wood kits were still easy to get hold of and it ended up with one of those and a few other real parts. I don't think you can get the wood kits as easily now as the German army stopped selling it's surplus.

Whilst a new Classic Army G3 might appear to be an option they retail between £250-300 in most cases. and for the extra £50 the LCT kills it dead. There is also the VFC GBB G3, but I've not looked into materials costing and performance of it.

https://www.fire-support.co.uk/product/lct-lc-3a3-w-green-aeg-wide-foregrip-version

https://www.fire-support.co.uk/product/lct-lc-3a3-s-g3a3-green-od-aeg-airsoft-gun

https://www.fire-support.co.uk/product/lct-g3a4-aeg-airsoft-rifle-od-green

https://www.fire-support.co.uk/product/lct-lc-3-sg1-g3sg1-aeg-airsoft-rifle

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

Full genuine G3 furniture here for €39 ?

http://www.zib-militaria.de/epages/61431412.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61431412/Categories/Freie_Waffenteile/G3UziP1G36

 Might  take a wee bit of hacksaw/File work, but how good would that look ?

G?

 

[Iceni]

Full genuine G3 furniture here for €39

Would be a pointless investment if he can't get the lower receiver right.

 

[Sitting Duck]

is that LCT's logo on receiver ???

looks similar but a bit hard to make out

it could be a back burner project, likely a craftmanship bodge that could be done fairly well by somebody with a bit of time

(hard to tell just how fucked it all is, stuff can be JB Weld-ed, re-threaded, re-enforced etc... but how well/long it last is the question) 

or failing that gut it, tart it up just for a wall hanging showpiece to your collection

depending on what you paid for it, how much time/money to sink into it

I probably would be leaning toward looking out for similar boneyard G3 gun to try to make one decent one perhaps

(even a mish mash of say JG or something)

really see it as back burner project, likely odd bits n bobs broken/lost need sorting on top of bodge/repair busted stuff

My advice, don't rush to make a decision just yet, put in bags and box and see what else might come your way

like another boneyard G3 type gun

yes you could gut it, but a v2 box is fuck all anyway & if you could resurrect a LCT G3 then you would be nutz to gut it & bin it

(might end up tarting it up and just using to hang on wall as a nice dead gun,

but don't need to rush any decision if next month a G3 drops in your lap)

 

[Iceni]

is that LCT's logo on receiver ?

LCT's have no stamping on the receiver.

I can't be sure but It looks like it used to be a CA010M Classic Army SAR Taktik Rifle II G3SG1.

CA do sell the upper and lower as a complete kit.

http://classicarmyshop.com/accessories/body/g3-metal-a090m.html
 

Not sure what availability is like on that tho. Or even if CA deal with the public directly.