PTR 91 opinions...

[Sooter76]

For those that have hands on experience with the rifle, what’s your opinion of the HK G3 clone made by PTR? I have. I need of another rifle but I’m considering picking one up as a range toy or truck gun and I kind of want something other than another AR15/AR10. What kind of accuracy and reliability can I expect out of the platform? Are they worth the price?​

 

[W54/XM-388]

If you want one because you like the design and think it's a cool addition, go for it.
You will not be impressed with the accuracy of it, compared to high end AR10 and AR15 rifles
The right ones if built correctly will be quite reliable if you use good condition original magazines.
They are rather heavy and you won't be reloading any brass that comes out of them.

It's the German / European competitor to the M14 basically. It's sort of a rifle from a specific era when the M14, G3 and FAL were the go to rifles for general conflict. The M14 (M1A) has the greatest accuracy potential and ability to be upgraded out of those 3 period rifles.

 

[Spblademaker]

I have an early model PTR. Just after they changed from JLD. Not one of the shit ones, thankfully. Also own and shoot both the AR 308 platform and JRA M14. My PTR has the 18” target barrel. Let’s start with the obvious. It’s heavy. Really heavy. Nasty recoil with the HK G3 furniture. And the trigger sucks balls. Iron sights are very nice. Plenty of options for recoil buffers, furniture and mags are cheap. At least when I was buying them, they were under $5 each for HK. Reliability has never been an issue with my rifle.

It shoots ok. That’s about it. Ok. It’s not a PSG by any means. That’s a totally different animal. Might look the same, but it’s not. Not even close. So don’t think you’ll be able to build it up to the same capability’s.

W54 is correct.

See if you can snag a used one. Many people don’t expect that kind of recoil. The mechanicals weigh a lot.

I love shooting mine, when I want to feel like Val Kilmer in Heat. Really fun to shoot.

As a truck gun, I feel there are better options.

 

[W54/XM-388]

For extra brutal manly points, get the collapsible paratrooper stock with the hard rubber "Meat tenderizer" pad.
It will stay put on your shoulder as you fire, but you best be wearing some heavy clothing.

 

[Spblademaker]

They do make a pistol version. ?

 

[Laseredge]

I had a real HK 91 in the early 90’s, and with everything I did to chase accuracy at best it was a 1.5 moa gun. Unless you want a cool blaster, get a half decent AR10 and be done.

 

[houndog]

Used to own one. Sold it. Didn't really like the ergonomics. Or the recoil. Or the trigger. Or the cocking handle. Mine was 100% reliable and had acceptable accuracy (maybe 2 MOA). For a .308 semi-auto, I'd get an AR10 or an FAL, or a SCAR, or wait until next year and get an IWI Tavor in .308.

 

[Arc Light]

I too had a real HK 91 back in the 1990’s around the time of the AWB. Heavy as fuck and I seem to recall that scoping it was not as straight forward as an AR. I remember trying several cheap mounts before finding a genuine HK "claw" mount that actually didn’t move. Sold it, but wish I still had it. Purely from a collector’s standpoint.

 

[Strykervet]

You guys keep calling it heavy but I swear I recall it being the lightest of the .308 battle rifles. Certainly weighs less than an FAL and pretty sure it's less than an M14. I had a POS, 4MOA maybe? It was a Century build or something but it wasn't on those god awful aluminum receivers. Otherwise everyone else here nailed it. The fluted chamber and fact it usually slams the brass into the ejection port means brass is ruined. Of all the .308 battle rifles it has by far the most recoil. The mags are very nice for the price.

I have a nice FAL with lots of extras and mags but haven't shot it in forever. It has a Jard 2 stage so I can't bitch about the trigger, it's about as good as an AR now. IMO it's the heaviest of the 3 and comes second on recoil. You want the Steyr barreled version here, an STG58. Next best is a new DSA.

M14 is the only one of the three I wish I still had. Would trade the FAL for one. An SR25 looks like an AR but is mostly proprietary and parts only work on other SR's.

None of them make a good truck rifle, they're all too expensive for decent ones. Best for that IMO is an SBR'd .300BLK but I like the blackout for every role I can shoehorn one into. Nothing shorter (that works) and a budget one can be made pretty easy. I don't leave it in the truck but if I take a rifle that's the one I throw in there. 21" I think with the stock collapsed.

 

[W54/XM-388]

The main thing to recommend that HK series is if you want to pay the $30k to $40k to get the registered machine gun toggle tab for it, then you can use it across dozens of different configurations / calibers / sizes, everything from Subcompact MP5 builds to belt fed machine guns.

 

[mdmp5]

I had a 91 and a clone. Both were pretty heavy, and both had some nasty recoil. Pretty much destroy brass too

 

[Deleted member 113831]

I had an early PTR91, heavy barrel target model. Trigger sucked, the brass issue has been mentioned already. Accuracy with ammo it liked, was around 1.5 moa at best. I had the original HK claw style scope mount, never stayed tight. The PTR/HK91 does not have a gas system, it is basically a delayed blowback system using a set of roller bearings to hold the action shut until the pressure drops enough to allow bolt to move to the rear. When that big ass bolt carrier group does finally move to the rear, it will rattle the teeth out of your skull from the vibration through that thin plastic stock.

There is a reason these were never very popular. Of all the 308 battle rifles, the FAL holds a special place in my heart, too bad you couldn't hit much with it either. The AR type systems really are the best commonly available semi-auto 308's.

 

[BabypoopFAL]

I had an early PTR91, heavy barrel target model. Trigger sucked, the brass issue has been mentioned already. Accuracy with ammo it liked, was around 1.5 moa at best. I had the original HK claw style scope mount, never stayed tight. The PTR/HK91 does not have a gas system, it is basically a delayed blowback system using a set of roller bearings to hold the action shut until the pressure drops enough to allow bolt to move to the rear. When that big ass bolt carrier group does finally move to the rear, it will rattle the teeth out of your skull from the vibration through that thin plastic stock.

There is a reason these were never very popular. Of all the 308 battle rifles, the FAL holds a special place in my heart, too bad you couldn't hit much with it either. The AR type systems really are the best commonly available semi-auto 308's.

Geeze Skookum do you weigh 120 pounds? rattling your teeth out of your skull come on.As far brass goes the PTR will handle steel case ammo ,get a Hensoldt scope on the original claw mount and have fun.

 

[Deleted member 113831]

Geeze Skookum do you weigh 120 pounds? rattling your teeth out of your skull come on.As far brass goes the PTR will handle steel case ammo ,get a Hensoldt scope on the original claw mount and have fun.

I weigh 250lbs but my skull doesn't. I didn't say the recoil was bad, I said the vibration was bad. I also said my mount was an original HK mount.

 

[BabypoopFAL]

Got ya, maybe the cheekpiece soaks up the vibration on mine I never noticed it before.I agree the AR platform is the best, far as the FAL goes get a railed dust cover put a red dot on and you will see the accuracy jump up.Stock FAL sights are the worst of the battle rifles in my opinion.

 

[Marksman66]

Had one for years.

Utterly reliable. Really expensive to kit out.

Trigger is an easy improvement, had a nice two stage set trigger for mine installed by William's Trigger.

HK or ARMS scope mount was always rock solid for me as well. Optic sits kind of high and I added an MSG-90 stock which fixed the sight alignment issue but made it impossible to use the irons. PTR's can be had with rails for optic mounting which would eliminate this problem.

They make heavy buffers for the stock that can take down the recoil quite a bit.

It was heavy, but so was my AR10 and my FAL. Of the three, I felt the FAL was the most refined. The AR10 the most accurate. The HK was the most reliable. It ate anything I ever fed it and never had a stoppage of any kind that I can remember. Accuracy was never better than 1-1.5 MOA for me, but never worse than 2-2.5 MOA. It is a battle rifle, not a target gun.

Brass has the typical fluting pattern common to all of the roller lock guns, but was easy to reload. Get a port buffer for the gun and your brass will be fine but will still be thrown into the next zip code during ejection. Port buffer will allegedly scratch the heck out of the gun where it is attached. Never took mine off, so I can't confirm this.

Head over to HKPro if you want more info.

Greg

 

[GBMaryland]

I had a 91 and a clone. Both were pretty heavy, and both had some nasty recoil. Pretty much destroy brass too

Yeah, I had a 91,and the fluted chamber did a number on the brass.

I also has all sorts of G3 parts. Super reliable, only an ok gun.

 

[sav338lapua]

had 2 HK91's over the years, carried the one in west central Africa for 3 years. as far as 308 guns it is heavy but i never noticed it, recoil?? i have shot far worse guns that recoil a lot more-shoot a Remington 8 or 81 in 300 savage, barrel and action com back about 3 inches then the bolt carrier locks back as the barrel goes back forward, when it stops the bolt carrier releases and it comes forward then with a new cartridge. it will loosen teeth over time.
the one thing the G3/HK91 has on the others is it will shoot just about any 308 ammo out there without worrying if its going to work. when your out in the bush thats really important. the conservation group i was in about 85% of us carried G3's mostly for that reason. thier more than accurate eneough for combat operations and people dont walk thru 308 fire they go down and stay down!!! get a buffer for the brass i have reloaded brass five or six times with the flute marks in them still do. i have no problem carrying a G3/HK91 for protection, they work.

 

[atefft22]

I've owned 2 g3 clones. The first I had was an Interport clone. Looked great had the bake on HK blue/grey paint. Functioned like a boss, never failed to feed or eject. Accuracy was pretty poor, maybe 3 moa. The current one I have is a rather ugly beat up early century clone. It will occasionally side lock a spent case in the action or kink a fresh round uppon chanbering (think due to loose mag). But accuracy is commonly better than 2 moa. Reloading hasn't been too much of a problem.

 

[BravoSector1]

Want to diversify your collection? Yup, go for it. Want an ergonomic, and accurante, MBR....buy a modern AR10 platform. A bare bones S&W M&P10 or others in the $900-$1000 range will be easier to shoot, shoot accurately, feed and maintain. No hate on the G3, I own one, but it doesn't see daylight these days.

 

[sav338lapua]

bravosector1 everyone has there likes and dislikes, i guess carrying one for 3 years and having it save my bacon a few times causes my allegiance to the G3/HK91. if i was told i could have only one rifle PERIOD!!! i would probably pick my HK91-- great cartridge, good accuracy, easy to maintain and an impeccable reputation. i picked up one of the C308's, figured for the price if it didn't shoot sell it and move on. well it surprised me, shoots 1.5-2.5 MOA
with given loads and factory ammo, so im going to have to do some whitetail hunting with it.
the bottom pic is from 1984 with my G3-converted to HK91 from Africa.

 

[beenjammin]

If you get one of these delay roller lock rifles, just know they get filthy if you ever try to clean the internals. I you get one of the clamp on brass deflectors you might could reuse the brass, but they will have nice flute marks on them. Without the brass deflector, the brass gets ejected against the sidewall of the ejection port denting the case pretty good making them pretty much unsalvageable.

 

[krw]

Have had 91, PTR, Cetme. Do not own any of them now. AR-10 platform way to go in Semi 308. Had fact collapsible stked 93 that I wish I still had just because. Drawbak on it was highdollar mags

 

[sav338lapua]

beenjammin, your right it will dent it if you dont have the brass deflecter on the ejection port but thats an easy fix, bben reloading flute marked 308 brass since 1984 and it works fine. been shooting and cleaning these things for a long time, still qu9cker and easier to clean than an AR type.

 

[HH4]

I had a PTR for a while and really liked it. I wouldn’t get one to use a precision rifle but if you have a bunch of cheap/surplus ammo to burn through they’re a lot of fun. As mentioned above they are dirty and hard on brass.

Mine was very reliable and I never cleaned it, I put about 1200 rounds through it in one day with a group of friends and only had 3-4 malfunctions.

They are fairly heavy though and the length of pull with a fixed stock is long making it feel somewhat awkward.

 

[Tonsofguns]

Never sold a gun so quickly after shooting it. It’s heavy, ergonomics are the worse out of any 308 rifle on the market, recoil is horrible, making it difficult to shoot quickly, accuracy is ok but nothing great, partly because the trigger sucks. This design is outdated in a world where other rifles have progressed. Save money and buy a scar. It’s leap years ahead in progress

 

[Deleted member 113831]

The SCAR is nothing more than the gas system of the FN FAL (entered service 1954) coupled with the rotating bolt of the AR-10 (invented 1956).
It is less robust than the FN and less accurate than the AR-10. It's service record has been less than stellar. Agencies that have adopted it are not re-purchasing them.

It is hardly "progress" in firearms developement. It is a collection of old ideas, re-imagined and re-packaged in plastic.

 

[Tonsofguns]

It’s not perfect by any means. Charging handle is a bit of an issue, mods need to be made out the box to get it to speed, and it has a rep for eating optics.

However, it’s Lighter than the Lmt mws, and almost as accurate.
More reliable than the gap 10 or larue, and will eat anything.
Does everything better than the ptr or fal.
It’s also Extremely durable, with battlefield Vegas claiming their 16s to be the most durable guns they run, and their putting millions of rounds downrange every year.

Who cares what agencies are doing, that’s politics and finances. If you read reports on the ground, many socom guys in a stain requested scars due to its lighter weight, and capacity to reach out further.

The SCAR is nothing more than the gas system of the FN FAL (entered service 1954) coupled with the rotating bolt of the AR-10 (invented 1956).
It is less robust than the FN and less accurate than the AR-10. It's service record has been less than stellar. Agencies that have adopted it are not re-purchasing them.

It is hardly "progress" in firearms developement. It is a collection of old ideas, re-imagined and re-packaged in plastic.

 

[Deleted member 113831]

It’s not perfect by any means. Charging handle is a bit of an issue, mods need to be made out the box to get it to speed, and it has a rep for eating optics.

However, it’s Lighter than the Lmt mws, and almost as accurate.
More reliable than the gap 10 or larue, and will eat anything.
Does everything better than the ptr or fal.
It’s also Extremely durable, with battlefield Vegas claiming their 16s to be the most durable guns they run, and their putting millions of rounds downrange every year.

Who cares what agencies are doing, that’s politics and finances. If you read reports on the ground, many socom guys in a stain requested scars due to its lighter weight, and capacity to reach out further.

It is more accurate than either the PTR or the FAL. It is also light. As far as being "better", that is a highly subjective term. We obviously disagree on that. But that's fine. We don't have to agree.

Good shooting

 

[jab00]

I had a PTR91 for awhile (can't remember the model but it was the MA/NJ compliant model). I really wanted to love the thing but I never really warmed up to it. That version didn't have a rail, so I had to use a claw mount to scope it. I can't deny that doing the "HK slap" wasn't fun but I eventually traded it for an M1A scout rifle which I absolutely love

 

[LibertyOptics]

Reviving this thread, what is the collective opinion on current PTR rifles? Have a bunch of mags but no rifle. Was looking at the GIR or GIRK. Thanks!