This is perhaps the fanciest HK G3 style rifle I have ever seen. According to the display placards, it is a licensed Saudi copy of the venerable HK G3 rifle. Produced at the Al-Khardi Arsenal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It was a “diplomatic” gift from Saudi General Mohammad Selah Hama, Chief of the General Staff to our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General David C. Jones. Which explains some of the fancy features of this rifle. Oh, and have no doubt. That is real gold.
If you look closely at the G3’s lower, it is select fire.
Since General Jone’s JCS Chairmanship was between 1987 and 1982, some of the restrictions placed on this weapon post 1986 are not in place. However, being a gift from a foreign government, by law, it would have to be declared to the US State Department. And I imagine…the DOD.
How it ended up in Cody Wyoming I am not sure. Did General Jones’ estate gain ownership and donate it directly after his passing in 2013? Did it somehow end up in the Winchester collection which was ultimately donated to the Buffalo Bill Firearms Museum? Perhaps the US Department of State had it and it migrated west through a museum exchange program?
What the story, stuff like this makes me a little sad. Because the truth is, the world is full of rare and historical firearms. And with every passing year, these jewels get chewed and lost in every major mud-hole from Haiti to Assyria.
American citizens should be afforded a process to import such items based on individual significance alone. Maybe someone in DC will read these words and right this wrong? One can hope.
Marky
www.John1911.com
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
Areas of focus: Defense and National Security, Modern Light Weapons, Small Arms, Weapons Training.
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