Brass fired in HK 91/G-3

[skyhawk172n]

A friend recently loaned me his G-3 to shoot for a while, and I love it! I own and shoot M-14's and M-1's, reload for both (plus others) but have never experienced the fluted chamber effect of the Heckler on brass. That brings me to my question for folks that DO reload for HK's.

Do the lengthwise serrations in the neck and body or the flute imprints in the shoulder of the cases create ANY type of problem reusing the hulls? Typically, if a hull had a dented shoulder I have tossed it over my 30+ year reloading career, but EVERY hull fired in this rifle has these problems. The ammo I've shot so far has all been WalMart ZQ1 7.62x51, and I sure don't want to beat up any of my own lovingly prepared LC hulls...and I don't want to waste time working these hulls if they won't live up to my expectations, or worse, be dangerous after I reload them.

Any shared knowledge about this would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Roy

[ShootistPRS]

They shorten the case life but I reloaded mine when I had it.

[T. O'Heir]

No need to pitch a case with a dented shoulder. Any dent will come out with no fuss upon firing. A dented shoulder hurts nothing.
Been a while, but nobody I knew who shot an HK before they were declared evil up here, worried about reloading their brass. There's a lot of stuff that didn't matter before there was an internet.

[hodaka]

I reloaded hundreds of mine when I could find them.

[skyhawk172n]

Thanks, everybody. I know I won't save this brass to build match-grade ammo, but as long as it's safe that's ok.

I'm going to try to post some photos of the hulls, but it's hard to see the damage I mentioned in a photo.

I have been VERY impressed with the way this rifle stacks up against an M-1 or M-14. I wish I had bought one (or several) back in the '80's when they sold for $399...

Thanks again for the help!
Roy

[Mike1]

I'm with Hodaka. As he alluded to, the ejection of the cases from NATO loads is, shall I say, Vigorous. The cases from my CETME (G3) go 30 plus Yards. The ammo for the original G3 was a very mild 7.62x51, not anywhere near the current military loads. I use Beginning loads and the cases still fly 10-15 yards.

I just tumble the cases and reload them, ignoring the unsightly marks.

[44 AMP]

The "stripes" on the fired cases are entirely cosmetic. They do not affect function in any way. I had an HK 91 back in the mid 80s, and still have some fluted brass in my plinking brass stash. Reloaded, it worked fine in the HK and in other rifles, both semi and bolt action.

I don't know if I would use it for match loads, but the flutes have no bearing on FUNCTION.

Dents, on the other hand, can be another matter. If your HK is only denting the shoulder, consider yourself lucky. Mine would whang the case body off the back edge of the ejection port, leaving not just a deep dent, but an actual sharp crease at the bottom of the dent.

I considered that much damage to render the case unusable. I got an "ejection port buffer", which was a hard rubber block, riveted to a spring steel clip that snapped over the action. You had to position it by eye so that the edge of the rubber block overlapped the rear edge of the ejection port.

This is no prevent dents, but it did make them shallower and without the sharp edged "slash" at the bottom of the dent. Those cases I did reload, without incident.

My rifle had a quirk I've never found on any other (although I haven't had other HKs to shoot, so I have no idea if some others will do it or not).

If you fired the gun as fast as you could, after about half a dozen rounds, it would rotate a fired case 180 and feed it into the chamber, base first. Instant jam.

If you fired the rifle at 2rnds per second, or slower, it NEVER did it. If you fired as fast as possible, it would do it nearly every time. Never saw any other kind of rifle do that...

I have been VERY impressed with the way this rifle stacks up against an M-1 or M-14.

I wasn't. While the M1A is not noted for being very reloader friendly, compared to the HK it a gift from above. I was looking for an M1A when I got my HK, and a couple years later, when I got my M1A, I got rid of the HK.

Specifically, my objections to the HK were, #1) the way it treated the brass
#2) Trigger pull of the M1A was better
#3) The HK safety could not be reached with the shooting hand, while maintaining a shooting grip. (this is a common "feature" of many European designed firearms. It did not appeal to me)
#4) while about 6" shorter, the HK weighed the same as my standard rack grade 22" M1A.
#5) the HK charging handle works in only one direction. The M1A op rod works both ways.
#6) the diopter sights on the HK were easy to use at 200 and beyond, I never could get quite the right sight picture with the 100 opening. M1A sights are more precise, and precisely adjustable by hand.
#7) the HK was a bit ammo sensitive. European ball worked fine, USGI did not. UNLESS oiled. Again, might have been my individual HK, I just don't know.

the ejection of the cases from NATO loads is, shall I say, Vigorous. The cases from my CETME (G3) go 30 plus Yards. The ammo for the original G3 was a very mild 7.62x51, not anywhere near the current military loads.

Vigorous is a good word. Cases come out HOT, dirty, and at warp speed. This is not a bad thing for the military. For the rest of us, it is less desirable.

A small point of order:
The original CETME was made in Spain. The G3 is German. They are essentially the same, but not identical. After WWII, during the years when German firms were not allowed to produce arms, a good portion of the HK design team went to Spain, and continued their work. They developed the CETME there, and it was made to run off the SPANISH 7.62x51, which is loaded lighter than the 7.62x51mm NATO.

When HK resumed German production, they made the G3 version of the CETME, having found that the hotter NATO ammo still functioned the gun acceptably. More ..vigorous than the Spanish ammo, but more than militarily acceptable.

I liked my HK, but I didn't love it. I love my M1A!

[skyhawk172n]

44AMP, I agree with all your complaints about the 91/G3, and will add that my shooting buddies REALLY don't like the muzzle brake on the G-3! It can really be painful under our covered firing line. I love my old SA M14 for lots of reasons, along with my M-1's, too, but this G-3 is fun to shoot standing, freehand, and consistently ring an 8"x12" steel at 200yds with the iron sights set to the #2 position, using some of the MEN headstamp German ammo given to me, along with the G-3, discussed over in the M14Forum.com. Yep, some of it was corroded from the inside out, and burned holes in the side of the cases. I found the information only AFTER shooting the ammo up.

Anyway, I enjoy shooting all the old "war-horse" rifles I've ever come across. Well, ok, there WAS my custom-built 98 Mauser, .338WinMag, with integral muzzle brake...but it didn't stay around long!

Roy

[Mike1]

44 AMP. Thanks for the clarification.

Mike