page_title: German military rifles
section_title: Heckler & Koch G3 (West Germany)
hierarchical_section_title: German military rifles / Heckler & Koch G3 (West Germany)
context_page_description: The evolution of German military rifles is a history of common and diverse paths followed by the separate German states, until the mid-19th century when Prussia emerged as the dominant state within Germany and the nation was unified.
  There was also a period in the late 20th century when Germany was again divided and the two nations had separate armies and weapons, in "Cold War" opposition. The various rifles used during this period are displayed here, identified by either East German or West German usage.
context_section_description: The G3 (which stands for Gewehr 3, or Rifle No. 3) is a family of select fire battle rifles manufactured by Heckler & Koch. It was adopted as the standard service rifle by the Bundeswehr in 1959 as a replacement for the G1, a modified version of the Belgian FN FAL,  and served until 1997 when it was replaced by the G36.  The G3 was chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.
caption: H&K G3A3