H&K G3 market in East Africa

**M-A Lagrange** · 01-10-2010

Hello,

H&K G3, the former basic german army assault riffle is more and more popular in East Africa. At least from what I see on the field. Few years ago it was not the case.
Now comes my question:
Most of the combattants in South Sudan have AK47. Former SAF (Sudan Armed Forces, Khartoum army) were having G3 guns. So now, many former SAF supporters or people living close to past SAF opositions are having G3.
But from what I understood, G3 and AK47 ammunitions are not compatibles.
AK47 use 762x39 bullets and G3 762x51 bullets.
So my question is double:
1) Is it possible to use AK47 ammunitions with G3? If yes or no, why?
2) If no, that would mean you need a separate supply source for G3 ammunitions. As I am in South Sudan, where those ammunitions could come from.
For info, I already have with me the Small Arms Survey reports and othyer NGO reports on South Sudan weapons smuggling. But they do not cover the most recent years (2007-2010).

Thanks for your support.

M-A

**Fuchs** · 01-10-2010

AK-47 is 7.62x39 while G3 is 7.62x51 (7.62NATO). It doesn't work at all.

The G3's mechanical system is a roller-locked design that requires great calculations and design tuning to function. As far as I know even out-of-spec ammunition can be a major problem.

The Chinese don't sell 7.62NATO ammo as far as I know, but ammo factories for both calibres exist in several Third World countries. They're two of the three most wide-spread military small arms calibres and it should be no problem to get that kind of ammo.

I've seen photos of African militias mixing AK, RPK, RPG, G3 and FAL - and rarely if ever more than one spare magazine/rocket per man. FAL uses same ammo as G3.

**Kiwigrunt** · 01-10-2010

To answer your ‘why’ [the two are not interchangeable], the bullets/projectiles may be of equal diameter, but the shell cases are not. They differ in shape all together. So the case of one will not fit into the breach of the other. Even if the length was the only difference, it still would not work because the neck of the case needs to fit snugly into the breach while the back/rim needs to be held by the bolt and struck by the firing pin. So an exact fit is crucial. The left two rounds are 7.62 x 51 and 7.62 x 39.

**Stan** · 01-10-2010

MA,
We purchase Czech-made 7.62mm ball surplus ammo. These rounds were originally intended for the 308 market and for the price, a good bargain.

150 grain bullets run about 350.00 USD for 1,000 rounds. Honestly, some of the most economical ammo comes from MIDUSA

We're also informed that the Polish ammo for their UKM-2000 is standard NATO 7.62.

Interesting... H&K tried making weapons for the 7.62x39 market as well as the USA SAW. Both failed. One would think the Chinese have already got the NATO 7.62 product in Africa