Weapon Name- G3A1 - ZH-41
Round Type- 7.62mm x 54mmR
Over-all length- 31 inches, 35 inches, 39 inches, 42.6 inches
Barrel length- 11.8 inches, 15.8 inches, 19.6 inches, 23.6 inches
Weight- 7.9 lb, 8.4 lb, 8.6 lb, 10.6 lb
Rate of Fire- 550 RPM
Feed Mechanism- Detachable Box Magazine, 100 round belt
Round Capacity- 20, 30, 40, 70 - 100 round belt
Effective Range- 600 Meters
Range- 1000 meters
Accuracy- 3 MOA, 2 MOA, 1.5 MOA, 1 MOA
Accessories- Picatinny Rails
Quick switch firing mechanism- N/A
Scope/Sights- Iron sights
Muzzle Velocity- 750 m/s (9.7 grams) - 2800 joules, 820 m/s (9.7 grams) - 3200 joules, 850 m/s (9.7 grams) - 3500 joules, 885 m/s (9.7 grams) - 3800 joules
Firing System- Long stroke gas piston
Miscellaneous/electronic information- The weapon is essentially a modified G3 battle rifle combining features of various soviet weapons, such as the 7.62mm x 54mmR and bakelite style furniture.
Basic Information
The weapon is essentially a G3 or CETME style rifle, chambered in 7.62mm x 54mmR, capable of being belt fed with the pull through method, and with a number of notable external changes. Despite being a clone of the G3, it's later development has allowed for improvements to be incorporated since the 1950's, and thus be considered superior. The firearm action could largely be considered a G3, however it's action differs slightly, particularly in that the left-side charging handle does not fold out of the way, in part in an effort to reduce "slam-fire" accidental misfires, and as well it has a magazine release button that is closer to the user's trigger finger, and a safety which is closer to the user's thumb, making it more accessible in rapid use. The firearm is also capable of being belt fed, using the same belt links as the PKM machine gun, however it can only be load through the pull through method when the bolt is locked to the rear, as there is no folding feed tray. The bolt does not lock open on the last round, but it can be locked open manually with a detent button. The barrel is not fixed, but is also not quick detachable, requiring a take down of the gun in order to remove the barrel. This allows the weapon to be easily modified without special tools or repaired quickly in the field, but is not intended to allow the weapon to have a quick change barrel. Finally, the weapon is much lighter weight than the original G3, but is still quite heavy in comparison to many contemporary assault rifles. Seen as a fusion of west and east german technology, it is an augmentation of both western and soviet technology.
Chambered in the 7.62mm x 54mmR, it has considerable recoil in comparison to intermediate calibers, however given the oversized muzzle break, smoother action, and dual spring recoil buffer possess substantially less recoil than most battle rifles. It has a brass deflector which kicks brass to the front of the users, making it less likely to hit the user or the soldier next to them when standing. The magazines are unusually large, and patterned off of the standard CETME magazines and are quite reliable, despite their high capacity. Most typically 30 round magazines, 70 round drums, and belts are used, but other magazines such as 40 round and 20 round magazines are available. The barrel is removable, but requires a break down of the entire rifle, and is not easily detachable in the field. This has lead to a number of customizations over the years, but primarily the firearm has been produced in the 16 inch barrel variant. A handguard with an aluminum heat sink is available for the light machine gun variant, which helps to absorb and dissipate heat, but makes the firearm much heavier. The barrel of the light machine gun variant is also traditionally heavier, but does not need to be. This heat sink alone adds approximately 1.6 pounds, and is finned to help dissipate heat heat, and extends all the way to the chamber of the barrel. The stock is folding and adjustable, and often uses bakelite-style furniture, as does the handguard, but this is improved beyond the early bakelite used by the soviets. The sights are not fixed to the barrel and instead are placed on the gas tube and receiver, and like the CETME have a four position sight, with buckhorn sights for close range, and peep sights for long range, graduated from 200-800 meters. The sights are adjustable, but require the use of a special tool.
Being designed to fire the substantially larger, 7.62mm x 54mmR round, serious measures have been taken to reduce the recoil of the weapon to make it easier to fire with less recoil. The stock of the weapon comes with a soft pad which makes the felt recoil more tolerable, and is semi-adjustable with 2 inches of variation, which is extremely stable as it possesses multiple guide rods, unlike many adjustable stocks which wobble. The weapon possesses an extremely large muzzlebreak, which in particular vents the gases upwards, which helps with muzzle rise, making firing repeated shots quickly more easy to control. It also helps to contain the noise and flash, which is especially bright on the shorter models of the weapon, and serves as suppressor mounting point. The weapon also uses a hybrid hydraulic recoil buffer, similar to that found in the HK45. This in turn spreads the recoil out over time, making it easier to control, and reduces it by approximately 30%. In addition the weapon has a hydraulic recoil buffer in the stock, which helps make the recoil smoother. All combined, the recoil is reduced by some 70%, and is much smoother, making it easier to control in rapid fire and in general.
While the 7.62mm x 54mmR is powerful, it is heavy. While the 5.56mm is roughly 12.5 grams per round, and the 7.62mm x 39mm is 16.5 grams, the 7.62mm is 21.5 grams, which is nearly double. Furthermore the magazines and belts are usually much heavier, with the cartridges themselves being much larger. For the same weight of 150 rounds, a soldier could carry 260 5.56mm. This makes the weapon and the rounds particularly heavy in comparison. It advantages primarily come in range and firepower; it has nearly double the range and energy of the 5.56mm, while also possessing a bullet that is roughly 2.5 times heavier. This increased momentum, force and power allows it to defeat common barriers that the 5.56mm has trouble with. It can get through brick walls, concrete, car doors and even things like plate glass, which the 5.56mm has trouble with due to it's tendency to be deflected and small size. Further, it's energy at long ranges is especially high. At 600 yards, the 7.62mm x 54mmR has approximately 1,200 joules with a 9.7 gram (147 grain) round, which is slightly more powerful than a .357 magnum, albeit with more penetration, giving it extreme stopping power even out to long ranges. The 5.56mm on the other hand has about 420 with a 4 gram round, making it about equal to a single shotgun pellet, or half a 9mm. This makes the firearm not only far superior in terms of overall power, but much better at long ranges. In fact, the 7.62mm has more energy than the 5.56mm does at the muzzle up to 400 yards. This extreme power, if fired in short bursts or accurate shots, makes the weapon superior to the 5.56mm, but heavier and with greater recoil. With higher end 7.62mm rounds, it is even further.
The weapon has 4 key versions; the Marksmen, Standard, Para, and Commando versions. All the versions possess a belt fed mechanism and accept standard 7.62mm x 54mmR machine gun belts as originally designed for the maxim machine gun, allowing the firearm to be used in the light machine gun role at any barrel length. The weapon can be configured to fire from an open bolt in all variants as well, meaning it is not dependent on barrel length. However, given the high temperatures associated with rapid firing the firearm in a machine gun like fashion, larger and heavier barrels as well as aluminum heat sinks in hand guards are often used to prevent overheating. Serious care needs to be given to avoid overheating, as the weapon's barrel is not easily detachable and can quickly overheat, damaging the barrel. The weapon's furniture is designed to be raised above both the gas tube and barrel, preventing heat transfer which might otherwise melt or transfer heat to the user, making it capable of being held even at high temperatures in extreme emergencies. Despite military recommendations of rates of fire under 80 RPM, the firearm was shown in testing to be able to fire 820 rounds before failure in a 5 minutes period, achieving a rate of fire nearly double this or 160 RPM, before failure, however serious irreversible damage to the weapon will occur. With a detachable barrel, the weapon technically can have the barrel replaced, but it's slow operation (2 minutes) and general need for precision mean this is rarely done; instead, the barrel is especially large and comes with an added heat sink, which makes the weapon heavier, but better at handling the increased heat associated with more rapid firing. The barrel lengths on the LMG variant and Marskmen are both 600mm (23.6 inches), while the Standard, Para, and Commando versions have 500mm (19.6 inches), 400mm (15.8 inches), and 300mm (11.8 inches) barrels, respectively. Despite being called the "Standard", the Para, or Paratrooper model became more common during it's use, as the 16 inch barrels proved to be more popular and maneuverable in urban environments. The longer barrels provide greater accuracy, range, and firepower, but possess less maneuverability, especially in close quarters.
The weapon is fairly accurate for a combat rifle, but it still just shy of a true sniper rifle. With a best accuracy of 1.3 MOA, it makes for a fine marksmen weapon, but falls short of a true sniper rifle. The muzzle energy levels for each barrel length are 3800, 3500, 3200, and 2800 joules respectively. The barrel is a heavy, chrome lined 1 in 10 (254mm), 6 groove right hand staineless design, which is detachable without armorer's tool, but is not quick detachable. While it is fairly heat resistant, due to the Chrome it is not nearly as heat resistant as some barrels, but nonetheless can withstand a moderate about of fire without cracking. Unlike nitrided the barrels, the firearm is far more corrosion resistant, but less accurate, giving it good durability and longevity, but reduced accuracy. The inner surfaces of chrome plating are extremely uneven, which makes it nearly impossible to get an exact fit with the bullet, thus decreasing the accuracy and rifling, making the weapon less consistent. The weapon itself is made up of wood, polymer or bakelite, while the working mechanism is generally made of steel. Some lighter variants were made of aluminum, but were found to gall too frequently without high quality and surface treated materials. While the weapon can use brass casings, it typically is paired with steel cases, that surprisingly are not very corrosive, given the already weaker powder of the existing 7.62mm rounds. Due to the shape of the magazines and anti-tilt follower, the magazines are unusually reliable despite their somewhat high capacity (30 rounds), which also helps assist in the drum magazine. In general, the weapon is not used with drums, which are disproportionately heavy and far less reliable than the belt fed variant of the weapon, but some do exist for the weapon. The magazine release is similar to that of an Ak-47, but more heavily resembles the XM8, which uses a lever actuated mechanism to release it, which makes it more ergonomic to feed or release magazines, despite having the same strength of the Ak mag-wells.
