JG G3 Review

     At $140 the JG G3 is a reasonably affordable gun by a decent brand.  But how good is is, and can it compare to the other AEG's in its price range?

     My first impression was that it's okay, with this being my second AEG, after the CM028 AK47.  This wasn't exactly a good sign, considering how impressed I had been with the CM028.

     The weight is exactly 5 pounds (minus battery and BB's), just a little too light for my tastes.  For long skirmishes the light weight might appeal to some but I would like if it were a bit more solid feeling.

     Almost all the externals are plastic/polymer with little metal to be found.  The sights, bolt, and mag are metal, and the only other metal parts are little pieces like the trigger, mag release and fire selector.  The back of the stock is rubber and is removed to insert the battery.

All metal parts are circled in red

     I'll describe the whole external starting from front to back.

The flash hider is fairly large but isn't too bad.  I'm not sure whether it's removable.

The front sight is just a ring with a post in the center and is all metal.

The bolt folds out for you to pull it and I don't particularly like it.  You can do H&K slaps with it though and it sounds okay.

The handguard is plastic but is strong and comfortable.

Pulling the bolt back exposes the hop up chamber through the shell ejection port.

The whole upper receiver is rather unimpressive plastic but does it's job.

The magwell is very thin, which concerns me, but hasn't shown any signs of breaking.

The mag itself is a full metal hi-cap.  It works fine but the plastic cover broke and falls off a lot.

The mag release is ambidextrous but the screw has come out twice now.  If I hadn't been indoors it would've been lost and broken.

The lower receiver is a strong gray plastic that is nice but scratches too easily.

The trigger is metal and feels very sturdy.

The fire selector is metal and clicks securely into place. Switching modes is fast and easy (but not ambidextrous)

The grip is ergonomic and feels great.

The rear sight is a diopter drum with 4 settings.  3 are exactly the same size holes and one is open.  I drilled out all the sights to different sizes and it is much better now.  Stock they are too small and are hard to look through.

The joint where the stock is attached to the body is all metal.

The stock is a hard polymer and is huge.  You might find this to be more comfortable or too big, depending on your size.  The plus size is it fits a huge battery.

View through small (stock) sights

View through medium sights

View through open sights

Performance

     Power

The FPS claimed by AirsoftMegastore (the only retailer I have found to sell this model) is 375.  This actually seems pretty accurate, as it does seem quite powerful.  It easily outpowers my CM028 and clearly has a powerful spring as I can feel it jolt when I fire it.  It is very loud (pro or con) and I don't doubt that it has a lot of power.

     RoF

The RoF is a bit disappointing on this, partly because the full length version is a DMR and not a CQB gun, and because it has such a strong spring to push.  It'll get the job done, especially on a fully charged battery but isn't impressive.  I'd guess its around 10-12 RpS, 

     Accuracy

With it's short (Mp5 length) barrel, accuracy doesn't seem like it would be too great.  Surprisingly, the BB's go exactly where you point up to around 120'.  Of course, wind is going to have a big effect on accuracy at that distance, but it will with any Airsoft gun.

     The most surprising part about the accuracy was that the open sights for close quarters were the most accurate of all!  I really can't explain why, but maybe I should've just adjusted the hop-up for the other sights.

     The hop up works well but is a pain to adjust.  It is a wheel behind the ejection port and you need a flathead screwdriver or something similar to get in and turn the wheel.  Overall accuracy is pretty good, particularly for a CQB oriented gun.

     Here are the results from the accuracy test I took at 50'.  18 of 20 shots on semi auto hit the 7.5" square target, which is more than acceptable considering the short barrel and extreme wind that was going on at the time.

     All things considered, performance is pretty good for a gun in the $100-$150 range.  FpS is good for field but too high for CQB, while accuracy is great for the short barrel.  The only real problem performance-wise is the low RoF.

The Bottom Line

Pros:

     Decent price
     Comfortable handle
     Huge battery compartment
     Nice sights
     Good accuracy
     High FPS
     Unique
     Lightweight

Cons:

     High FPS
     Slow RoF
     Little metal
     Some parts are fragile
     Lightweight
     Lack of part compatibility

     

Summary:  While it isn't a bad gun by any means, I just don't care for it that much.  It is externally unimpressive although performance is decent.  I guess the reason I don't care for it is that it just doesn't feel right.  With its power and accuracy but slow RoF it seems like it should be a long range weapon but the short barrel makes it more CQB oriented.  It's not bad, but this design is less than perfect and the build quality is unimpressive for the price.  Overall I'd recommend another gun (like a Combat Machine) over this for the price unless you are really hooked on the design.

Overall Score:  ****

AR&M Performance/Value Score:

1.078