The Saudi Arabian government signed a contract with H&K to license domestic production of the G3 rifle at the Al Kharj factory complex in 1972. Production included standard rifles for general use, but also chrome- and gold-plated examples used as presentation pieces and diplomatic gifts. This is one of the gold examples, with deep decorative carving in the wood and gold plating on a number of parts, including the bolt carrier, charging handle, takedown pins, sling plate, and others. This one was made in 1988, and is serial number 00237.
Saudi G3 production never did reach fully independent status, and used many semi-finished parts imported from Germany. Production of the MP5 and G36 were added later (1987 and 2008 respectively), but a diplomatic scandal in 2013 led Germany to cut off parts support.
Many thanks to the IRCGN (Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale) for allowing me access to film this very rare rifle for you!
Not the worst. Certainly not as bad as the Iraqi gold-plated Tabuks. It’s not easy to dress up a G-3 and make it look halfway classy.
Guns is for shooting under all conditions. ‘Diplomatic gifts’ are best deposited in Cayman Islands bank accounts on the QT. Gaudy and goldy have no place anywhere. Call me ascetic
Does the welding up make it less SAIF ?
Ian — you need to come up with a gold plated pistol and use it at a BUG match.
14K gold plating used to be considered an option for rustproofing before the development of such modern infusive coatings as Armoloy and Metalife.
The space program developed such coatings for components that were significantly more durable than late 19th to early 20th Century nickel plating.
Cooper once commented that one of his students from Latin America had his Colt Super .38 automatic entirely gold-plated for this exact reason. And that while he did get some “observations” about it in his home country, that Colt was unlikely to corrode.
clear ether
eon
eon, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t gold plating have a lubricating effect, as well?
I seem to remember someone telling me that you’d be wise to have the internals on your revolvers gold-plated for both corrosion resistance and so you didn’t have to have as much lubricant. Claimed it worked well in corrosive environments…
For the life of me, I don’t remember where the hell I heard that. Probably some gun show or something…
That was another reason NASA decided on 14K gold vapor plating. Don’t forget, their equipment has to operate in vacuum, where conventional lubricants either boil off due to low pressure (basically zero pressure above 14,500 meters- Armstrong’s Limit) or can congeal and freeze solid when out of direct sunlight.
So they needed something that was self-lubricating, wear-resistant, and could tolerate extremes of temperature not normally found on Earth. Gold met all the requirements.
Gold plating was first used on the Surveyor lunar landing probes because they not only had to survive vacuum, they also had to continue working during the new moon period duration (about 3 days on average).
Being in absolute darkness on the lunar surface means that temperatures go down far and fast. Hence gold on contact surfaces instead of conventional lubricants.
Also, gold is much less prone to vacuum welding than other metals, even silver. So putting it on surfaces that needed to move over or past each other was just common sense.
On the subject of self-lubrication, Armoloy is somewhat self-lubricating, and has a Rockwell C rating of 78. Defined as a TDC (Thin Dense Chrome) coating, it rates about 10 Rockwell better than standard chrome plating (65 to 68), or about 1000-1200 Vickers.
XADC Diamond Chrome goes 98 Rockwell or 1400 Vickers. Generally, you only find it on bearings that are severely stressed in service (think center shaft bearings in turbofan engines).
Assuming you had a good substrate, XADC coated components inside a gun’s lockwork, such as the insides of a revolver action, would probably be nearly indestructible.
cheers
eon
I mean if I was an ultra wealthy oil sheik; whom could by commissions for my sons as F-15 pilots, I would certainly hang that up in my office.
Might come in handy if there is a coup
If you were a wealthy potentate you’d have a battalion of bodyguards outside the office and a helipad on the roof. Power means not having to ruin your manicure changing out magazines.
But then you couldn’t stand there yelling “Say hello to my little friend!”
cheers
eon
Cough… Well I mean, it’s kind of pretty.
Gaudy. Anything gold plated is gaudy and trashy.
Even the traditional retirement “gold watch”?
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-real-no-kidding-retirement-gold-watch.html
clear ether
eon
Exactly. Like Brutus’ dagger, a million bucks, and weird Uncle Norvbert’s male member, some things are better hidden and hoarded than whipped out in public
Would look just about great without the cheesy and poorly spaced out of place wood scroll floral engraving – even with the gold. The gold on black alone with a nice smooth figured wood grain would have looked so much sharper. Tactical and flowers never go well together – it’s not a Tiffany lamp.
Tiffany did some rather nice work on guns:
https://legacy-collectibles.com/blog/post/stunning-tiffany-engraved-colt-1861-navy-revolver