I came up with the idea for this treatise several weeks ago, but never made it to the point of putting it into print until the recent article on the Saiga family of weapons urged me to move forward. As most readers of the Blog and all owners of “Boston’s Gun Bible
We’ve recently switched the group standard to the HK family of roller locked rifles and clones thereof. Specifically, the reason that made this switch possible is the PTR91 family of rifles. Original HK91s are priced beyond their utility value due to rarity, and previously, building a rifle from a parts kit was hampered by the lack of quality, in-spec receivers for the builds. PTR’s receivers are truly in-spec, and form the basis for a great platform, to the point that almost all other current builders are using their receivers for their products. Rifles now are down around the $1,100 price point, with some caveats, which is very reasonable for a high quality MBR. I would like to explain some of the “goods” which swayed our thinking, as well as some of the “others” that made it hard to seal the deal for us, and the mitigation factors that we’ve arrived at. In no particular order, here they are:
Cost. The going rate on a decent M1A or FAL clone these days has been headed north. The basic PTR rifle, the PTR91F, or an equivalent build from a parts kit based on a PTR receiver, will run a little over $1,000 from CDNN and other vendors. Apart from the 7 US parts required for 922(r) compliance, most of the internals will be either original HK G3 parts, or contract parts made of German steel on German machinery in Pakistan or by FMP, which are available inexpensively, thus the low cost for a fine rifle. A new member to the group can swing this easier than the $1,400 to $1,900 for the various Springfield Armory M1A variants. The savings only gets better when we get to accessories and spares.
Due to the switches by many of the countries that employed the G3 to 5.56 military weapons, there are currently large amounts of spares and accessories available very inexpensively. The biggest bargain of these is full capacity magazines. Used, HK German manufactured, 20 round aluminum magazines for the G3 family of weapons can be had for as little as 97 cents each in perfectly functional condition. Depending on the vendor you may find as many as 5 or 10 out of 100 that have dents or are otherwise suspect, but these can then be used as spare followers, springs, and floorplates. Most of my batches of used surplus had no bad magazines at all. In many of the batches that I’ve ordered, I’ve received up to 10 or 15% new, in VCI wrap magazines. If you want to eliminate the chance, $6-8 will get you new magazines. Steel magazines are available for about $3 each, although most of these are in rougher, but functional shape. Spare parts and accessories are available from RTG Parts, HKParts.net, and HKSpecialist. RTG has both original HK and POF (Pakistani Ordnance Factory–not to be confused with POF-USA) G3 parts, so you can find spares there much more cheaply, in general, but both of the other sites have high quality and original HK parts, and sometimes better prices. Service from both HKParts and HKSpecialist is lightning fast, and all three companies are great to deal with. In any case, if you shop wisely, a complete doomsday spares kit with everything from spare rollers, locking pieces, ejectors, extractors, sears, hammers, springs, pins, recoil rods, buffers, sights, stock sets, trigger packs, lowers, cocking handles, etc, can be had for a very reasonable price. If you live on the southern border of the US, or anywhere near it, you probably already know that the Mexican army still uses G3s, so there is also a potential future source of spares and compatibility there.
Reliability. There is an item of contention here with the barrel flute specifications and ammunition sensitivities, which we’ll cover in “others”, but for basic design, it is definitely a “good”. The HK roller locking delayed blowback action is beautiful in its simplicity. It doesn’t rely on any sort of gas system at all, so there’s nothing in that vein to fail. The system is extremely dirt tolerant, and proper flutes are somewhat self cleaning. Even if you dip a round in thick mud and toss it in the chamber, (not recommended, however) the firing of that round will tend to clean out the chamber. Since it is recoil impulse and not gas expansion that powers the action, powder burn rate is not an issue as it is with the M1A. There aren’t a whole lot of things that break with this rifle. Out of all my spare parts, I’ve never used any of them, although someday, I’m sure I’ll lose or bend an extractor spring during detail cleaning. The current Thompson Center-made PTR barrels are of conventional construction, very accurate, and will probably last 8,000 rounds or so as with any conventional 7.62 barrel, but several sources of surplus and US made hammer forged barrels are available, which may easily double that number. Rim Country Manufacturing (www.rimcountrymfg.com) makes a phenomenal selection of hammer forged barrels with correct flutes and us-made compliance parts for the entire roller locked series of weapons. In general, the quality of the PTR rifles is very, very good, and the welds compare favorably with the original HK91 I had as a frame of reference.
Sights. The HK battle sights are not generally hailed as the best out there, a distinction generally reserved for the M1A sight. The M1A sight is indeed a piece of artistry, and I was a huge fan until I saw real combat. Although the M1A sight is still a great piece of kit, I learned from practical application that target identification is the limiting factor in many armed engagements. I have never fired upon anyone that presented a full “B” silhouette to me. People tend to hide behind stuff when you shoot at them, or when they expect you to shoot at them, and after about 400 yards, you’re a better man than me if you can pick out a head and shoulder sticking out from behind a rock with an AK with enough fidelity to precisely engage with iron sights. Optics and the single focal plane that they bring to the fight are a huge force multiplier when you get out there in range. At 400 and in, the HK sights are very good. The 100m “notch” is very fast for close range engagements and low light. The apertures create an odd magnification effect that makes it easier for me to form a clear sight picture. Although they are only graduated to 400m, it’s easy to get hits at 500 by holding at the top of the head of your intended target.
Modularity Across the Family. The entire line of HK roller locked weapons is now available in clone form from one maker or another. Many of the parts work across the spectrum of rifles. Century, although having a bad history with roller locked builds, is now producing 93 (roller locked 5.56) clones that are generally very good, and they are priced at under $600. Pick one that you can measure the bolt gap on, and you’re ahead of the game in picking a winner. Vector makes very good 93 clones for under $1,000, and you can get parts kits for a build for under $400 from the flood of Malaysian surplus on the market. Although 93 magazines are pricey, Special Weapons/Coharie makes guns and receivers that take AR magazines, and several good HK smiths can modify any of the guns to take AR-15 mags. Coharie is selling out all their remaining 9mm clones, so an HK94 or MP5 clone can be had for around $1,000. MKE is also importing Turkish contract 9mm clones which are getting great reviews, as well. 9mm isn’t much of a long range round, but for training youngsters with little recoil on a weapon system that will translate well to the full size rifle while still possessing more “oomph” than a .22LR trainer, the MP5 family is valuable. Korean contract MP5 mags that work very well are available for $15 each from HK specialist. The nice thing about all of these weapons is that with the exception of the ejectors, which are caliber specific, and a reduced power hammer spring for the 9mms, the lower receivers are interchangeable. All fire control parts swap freely back and forth, with very few exceptions. PTR is now also making the PTR-32, which accepts AK mags and fires the 7.62×39 round if you want to have a capability to fire the Russian round and still interchange with your main battery. In addition to the differing calibers in the family, each is available in a variety of configurations. Without getting into the 51 series and its 9-inch .308 barrel, you can get everything from a 12.7” G3k copy (requires a custom rebarreling) to a 16 inch carbine, to the full 18” rifle, on up to the MSG clone with a fluted barrel, Magpul adjustable stock, and welded-on Picatinny rail for optics. [JWR Adds: In the U.S., rifles with barrel length s under 16″ require a $200 Federal tax stamp as “short barreled rifles (SBRs.)
Optics. The original HK claw mounts are still available, and work well on the PTR series with either STANAG rings or with a Picatinny rail adapter, and you can pick up an original Hensoldt scope with mount for under $400. MFI also makes a great low-profile mount that has been newly improved with steel claws. It is a Picatinny-compatible rail that is low enough for iron sight usage with it attached, so there is no need to ever remove it. They are available from hkparts.net and other vendors for around $125. PTRs also now come with an aluminum forend onto which picatinny rails are sold to easily screw on. I’m not a big fan of hanging stuff off of a battle rifle, but a rail section on the bottom allows easy compatibility with standard bipods, and a vertical foregrip on the short models allows you to torque them down for faster follow up shots in close.
Information. Everything you ever wanted to know about the roller locked series of HK-designed weapons and all their clones can be found on www.hkpro.com. It’s a forum with a lot of knowledgeable folks who are more than willing to help, and the search function will answer most of your questions anyway.
And now, the “others”…
Manual of Arms. I put this in “others” because it is different than many other rifles. The forward cocking handle and “HK slap” take a bit of getting used to, and the lack of a last-round bolt hold-open is seen as a handicap by some. I don’t think it’s a big factor. I tend to do tac reloads, anyway, so the gun never runs dry, and in high stress situations, most folks try to pull the trigger anyway when the bolt is locked back on rifles so equipped. The forward location of the cocking handle allows for the non-firing hand to sweep the handle back on it’s way to the mag well, remove and replace the mag, then slap the cocking handle on its way back out to the forend, making for a relatively fast reload. The ergonomics are difficult for those with small hands, although this is less of a factor if a paddle mag release is added, as was on the original G3. With training, my mag changes are about the same with the HK series as with an M1A. I’m still faster with an AR, but I don’t intend to be getting close enough for it to matter after TEOTWAWKI.
Trigger. Most HK roller locked weapons have abominable triggers. There isn’t much reason for this, though. The principles at work in the trigger pack are very similar to the M14 or Garand trigger. Bill Springfield (www.triggerwork.net) will do a phenomenal job on the trigger for around $45 on any HK-type trigger pack. I’ve been a gunsmith for many years, but with no experience with the weapon system, in about 2 hours, I had my first trigger pack down to 5.5 pounds and relatively crisp, and now I’m down to about an hour to get 4.5-6 depending on what I’m going for. The point is, it’s not that hard to fix the trigger pull. (Please use the services of a qualified gunsmith and insist that he leave “positive engagement” (this is a battle rifle, after all, not a dedicated match rifle)) The extra durability is worth the cost to achieve the minimal, smooth take-up.
Ammunition Sensitivity. Here is the one area that may give someone fits. PTR made their guns under the JLD name originally. These guns have Axxxx serial numbers. They used Wilson 10 flute barrels. Later, when the employees bought the company out, they started using Thompson Center Arms 12 flute barrels, serial numbers were now AWxxxx. Many of the early barrels will shoot any ammo you want, just like an HK, even though they have less than the 12 standard flutes. Many of the AW series guns, however, will not shoot anything that is tar sealed, like South African, Radway Green, Winchester White Box, and ironically, DAG (original German ball meant for the G3). They will however, shoot Federal American Eagle, UMC, Wolf steel cased, Port, etc. The problem is that the flutes are not to original HK spec, but I’ve run through 200 round range sessions of Wolf, reloads, and federal without a single hiccup, and Wolf is”‘dirty” [and hence known to cause rapid fouling.]. The failure mode is in failure to eject. The shallow flutes fill up with tar, and the action doesn’t cycle. There is also some disparity in the latter runs. My 18” 91F will not shoot SA well, but likes Radway, and my 16” KPF won’t shoot either very well. So, to fix this, either shoot one of the many ammunition types that these guns like, or re-barrel with an RCM or contract hammer forged barrel with correct flutes. There are also a few folks who will re-cut the flutes in the stock barrel. I am waiting on a G3K build with an RCM barrel that will be the I little pal to have slung while doing chores. Small enough to be out of the way, but effective to 500 yards, and the RCM barrels will shoot anything, just like an original HK. Even if you decide you must rebarrel off the bat, the cost of a rebarreled 91F will be about even with a new M1A, and the money you save on mags and spares will easily put you out ahead in short order. Also, Wolf is cheap, and shoots around 2 MOA out of my rifles, which is good enough for any battle rifle.
Recoil. Some claim that the recoil of the delayed blowback roller locked system is greater because of the lack of a gas system. I don’t think it’s all that big of a deal, or even that noticeable. It is a bit of a different recoil impulse and noise because of the large bolt carrier riding back and forth through that sheet metal receiver, but I don’t think there will be any measurable difference in realistic engagements.
All told, the HK roller locked family of weapons and clones, including the PTR91 and other builds, makes a fine choice for an MBR. The ammunition sensitivities on PTR rifles are an issue for some, but read the ammunition warnings on the DPMS site, or the DSA FAL site for comparison, and it won’t seem so strange. It’s a problem that can be easily solved by stacking the right ammo or shelling out for a rebarrel. The other aspects of reliability, ease of maintenance, optic adaptability, modularity, price, and availability of inexpensive magazines and spares make it a first-rate choice for the family battery.