Two of my mates at Sennybridge, Wales in 1987 with their SLRs. We were issued these dated 1964/65. They had been in storage all that time. Within a year all the wood was replaced with black plastic as in the photo in my post above this.
How does the FAL compare with the G3? Similar and also widely used. I recall reading that the Germans wanted to produce the FAL but were not granted a license, so went ahead with their own.
The G3 is considerably heavier, but shorter. The FN FAL was originally adopted by the Bundeswehr as the G1 and you are correct, Germany wanted to acquire the rights to produce the weapon in Germany but the deal fell through. That is not however why the Germans adopted the G3. The G3 was a further development of the WWII German StG 45(M). Post war the technicians involved in the development were taken to France where CEAM continued development. One of the designers moved to Spain and working for CETME the rifle was further refined (with input from HK). The Bundeswehr requested that CETME produce a 7.62 x 51 NATO version and that was adopted as the G3. During comparison tests the G3 supposedly outperformed the G1(FAL) and was the rifle adopted.
I believe the G3 has outlasted the M14 and FAL in active service. I shoot the G3 far better than the FAL. The diopter sights on the G3 are far superior. The front post on the FAL is as wide as a barn - probably 12 MOA. Think of the barley corn sight picture of the M4/M16 except more coarse. When you shoulder the FAL the front post is just floating in space. Getting a consistent sight picture takes practice. Also the G3 has a unique chamber design which is virtually jam-proof. I've never have a stuck case w/ the G3. That's my .02, shooting competitively 20 years.
