"The pricy G3SG1 lowers movement speed considerably but compensates with a higher rate of fire than other sniper rifles." ― Official description
The G3SG1, previously known as the D3/AU-1, is an automatic sniper rifle featured in the Counter-Strike series.
Overview
The G3SG/1 is a refined version of the G3 assault rifle, developed by Heckler & Koch. The "SG" in its name stands for Scharfschützengewehr, or "sniper rifle." During production, H&K often selects G3 rifles with the least spread, modifies them, and then releases them under the G3SG/1 label. Thus, in real life, the G3SG/1 retains the G3's automatic fire and can switch between fully automatic, semi-automatic, and safe modes by moving the fire selector lever to the 3-position side.
In the game, the G3SG/1 is a powerful sniper rifle available exclusively to terrorists. It is the most expensive rifle option for terrorists at $5000, making it one of the most expensive weapons in the game after the M249. It is unavailable on Assassination maps.
Being automatic, a player can hold down the fire button for continuous fire (the character simply keeps pressing the trigger), allowing for sustained damage unlike other bolt-action sniper rifles.
As a sniper rifle, the weapon is equipped with a powerful scope. When the scope is not activated, the rifle is very inaccurate and lacks a crosshair for aiming, though it is better than the AWP and has very minimal accuracy penalties while moving in Counter-Strike.
The scope can be used with the secondary fire, and pressing secondary fire again while scoped increases the zoom level. Player movement speed decreases when scoped. The player exits the scope if they use the secondary fire again at higher zoom or switch weapons.
It deals relatively high damage (lower than the AWP, which can instantly kill any player with one shot) and can kill players with full health with two hits. Headshots always deal instant damage. The recoil is quite strong, though slightly less than the SCAR-20.
The G3SG1 is very heavy, one of the heaviest weapons in the series, and has a long reload time.
The weapon's overall power is balanced by its high price of $5000, making it less ideal for competitive situations where economy is tougher. In competitive play, the AWP is often preferred over the G3SG1 (and other automatic rifles) due to its high damage per shot (ability to kill with one shot, even if hit in the legs), better accuracy, and lower cost.
For balance purposes, bots in the Tour of Duty mode (except for the Lunatic bot, which has a random weapon choice in Tour of Duty mode) or (sniper) bots in multiplayer mode never buy this weapon (along with the SCAR-20 in Global Offensive). However, multiplayer mode bots with no weapon preferences (mostly easy bots) or a sniper bot using a Scout can pick up the G3SG1. Counter-terrorist bots in older games may pick it up if they have a Scout but will drop it as soon as they can afford an SG 550/AWP in the next round. The same may also happen with a terrorist bot picking up an SG 550 instead of the G3SG/1.
Tactics
Many tactics applied to the SCAR-20 are also effective with the G3. For instance, spraying through smoke or thick walls to prevent the CT side from advancing and holding flanks or long sightlines where it is easy to hide.
As a terrorist with the G3, it is better to switch to the SCAR due to its faster reload and better aiming if the CT uses it.
In Counter-Strike, the G3SG1 is not subject to typical accuracy penalties while moving and maintains its aim accuracy. The no-scope accuracy is also the same as when scoped, even when running/walking and jumping.
Compared to the SG-550, the G3SG1 is more powerful, has more recoil, and carries fewer rounds; try aiming at the chest to guide the line of fire to the enemy's head with two shots for a headshot kill.
Bugs
In earlier versions of Counter-Strike, this weapon was relatively ineffective due to a bug where the game incorrectly increased recoil when the user had a ping greater than 0. A related issue was that the recoil of the first few shots was too high and unstable, often requiring the weapon to be "warmed up" by firing a few early shots before accuracy could be maintained at full fire rate. In the latest and current versions, recoil issues have been fixed and effectively reduced, allowing the weapon to be accurate when used at full fire rate while scoped.
Trivia
- The G3SG/1 was introduced in Beta 1.0 and was initially an automatic sniper rifle for both sides. After the introduction of the SIG SG 550 in Counter-Strike 1.0, the G3SG/1 became a weapon available exclusively to terrorists.
- In older Counter-Strike games, when reloading the weapon, it seemed that the magazine was simply extracted and the same magazine was reinserted.
- Like the SCAR-20, the G3SG1 in Global Offensive has a notorious reputation as the most hated weapon by most players. Most skill levels struggle with its adaptation and counter, ultimately heavily leaning.
- In Counter-Strike, the G3SG/1 can fire before the reload animation completes.
- The G3 in the original Counter-Strike, Condition Zero, and Source has black furnishings, while the G3 in the Xbox version of Counter-Strike, Deleted Scenes, and Global Offensive has green furnishings.
- Despite being available exclusively to terrorists, the G3SG/1 is often seen in the hands of counter-terrorists in the background images of the menu in Global Offensive.
- The dedicated HUD icon D3/AU-1 in Counter-Strike and Condition Zero is strangely devoid of the "PRIMARY" label present on the pickup icon and other HUD weapon icons.
- In Global Offensive, the G3SG/1 can have five stickers applied, unlike most weapons, which only have four sticker slots.
- The G3SG/1 in Counter-Strike is the only weapon introduced in Beta 1.0 that hasn't undergone any animation or sound changes.
- In Source, when reloading the G3SG/1 from a first-person view, the player character appears to pull the bolt back before replacing the magazine and releases it afterward, but the bolt does not actually move.
Behind the Scenes
In the early stages of Counter-Strike's beta, the G3SG/1 was equipped with a night vision scope that activated when scoped and functioned similarly to night vision goggles. This feature was removed in Beta 3.0.
G3SG1 in numbers
- Alternate name D3/AU-1
- Price $5000
- Purchasable by Terrorists Counter-Terrorists
- Damage 80
- Armor penetration 82.5%
- Rate of fire 240 rounds per minute
- Accurate range (meters) 66m
- Reload time 4.7 seconds
- Magazine capacity 20
- Reserve ammo limit 60
- Running speed (hammer units per second) 210 120 (using scope)
- Kill award $300
- Penetration power 250
- Ammunition type 7.62 caliber
- Firing mode
- Automatic Recoil control 17 / 26
- Range modifier 0.98
- Counterpart SCAR-20
- Entity weapon_g3sg1
