Sharp, Shooter! The final German GunWorks G29 Viper

The G29 Viper project was launched over a year ago by German GunWorks. The goal was to create a "State of the Art" weapon that has a connection to current precision equipment used by the Bundeswehr. It quickly became clear that the foundation had to be one of the best precision rifles on the market, the Haenel RS9 in .338 Lapua Magnum – the G29 of the Bundeswehr. The choice of the scope was also predetermined, it would come from Steiner in the form of the M5Xi 5-25x56 Tremor3.

Haenel as well as Steiner were curious to see what could be done with their top products in such a project. The agreement to provide the rifle and the scope was quickly reached due to the reputation of GGW modifications from both companies. The foundation for the project was established.

As the project progressed, the planning of the attachments began. The team at GGW delved into their own range of proven manufacturers in the region. Spuhr from Sweden, currently leading the charts as one of the best manufacturers of scope mounts, needed less than 10 seconds on the phone to approve the QDP-4602 block mount for the project – two days later, it arrived via express shipping from Sweden. Other attachments were either subsidized by their manufacturers or fully covered by GGW.

Pimp a gun – a high-end project by German GunWorks

Some of the weapon and accessory parts were meticulously reworked with great attention to detail. For example, the handguard, grip, and dust covers were soldered for hours to improve grip. All of this had to be done before the base coating.

Once all the parts were assembled and after a few tests to ensure everything harmonized, was user-friendly, and was suitably matched, the planning for the appearance began. It was clear that they wanted to collaborate again with PBN Cerakote for the base paint (brown). PBN had been a reliable partner in many previous projects, so the agreement came easily. Given the many individual parts of the system that needed painting, GGW offered a very good price for the base coating with two-component ceramic paint from Cerakote.

So, it was time to begin! The team disassembled all the parts of the rifle and accessories, cataloged them, and prepared them for the base coating in Cerakote H-30118 FS Field Drab (brown) at PBN in Quickborn. The color was deliberately chosen to match the Steiner scope, which dictated the base color. The M5Xi is the original military version with laser protection filter and lockable turrets – all in brown. Since the turret scales cannot be repainted in different colors, the base color was determined.

Considering that every screw, lever, and pin was also sanded or blasted before being painted, one can imagine the effort required just for the base coating. After about a month, the extensive set of parts returned to the Swabian Alb.

Of course, it had been clear weeks before what approach would be taken for the painting. Finding a pattern based on this specific brown color was not as simple as one might think. The choice was either to invent a camouflage pattern freely or to select one from the few available with this color. Fortunately, the new Multitarn pattern of the Bundeswehr had this color tone – thus, the Haenel RS9 that would be introduced to special forces would also receive their new camouflage pattern. The only problem was that the Bundeswehr Multitarn was still unknown to many, and there was always the risk that patterns not yet established in people's minds would first be perceived as "strange."

The devil is in the details

Water transfer camouflage patterns were ruled out from the start due to the quality of the weapon. While this is a good solution for relatively inexpensive camouflage, it will never match a good paint job in terms of feel, details, and other possibilities. Therefore, designing a flecktarn stencil was the next step, which was also done with a lot of time and effort on the computer. The advantage is that it now exists and is available for purchase to anyone who has a similar idea from the shop of German GunWorks. However, it should be noted that the effort required to paint a weapon in flecktarn properly is immense!

First, the primed weapon was reassembled to check for errors in the painting and to ensure functionality. There were no errors in the PBN parts, they were perfectly painted. Due to the very thin Cerakote application, no changes were needed for functionality – everything worked.

Calculated the Swabian way – GGW does everything by hand

From this point on, the project could go all out. The weapon was completely disassembled and reassembled 7 times in Swabia, stenciled 5 times, the previous paint layers between the stenciled patterns sanded in long manual labor, and coated with 5 layers of paint … until a weathering was applied overall and the weapon was sealed with clear lacquer. Nearly 400 hours of work went into this project. If you were to calculate this time with a relatively low hourly rate of €80, this would only amount to a value of €32,000 just for the painting time. Adding the weapon, attachments, and consumables, the total value would be around €48,000.

It is evident that this project is not intended for regular commerce, but rather serves as a "Show of Force" for the companies involved. Volker Leitermann, the main player at German GunWorks, is clear: "For the time being, we will not undertake such a mammoth project again." It would take too much time for the young company, which currently needs it for construction work at the site, expanding the product range (clothing, weapons, & ammunition trading, etc.).

However, based on experience, it can be said with confidence that it won't be long before the team feels the itch again and launches a new project.

GERMAN GUNWORKS online: www.germangunworks.com

HAENEL DEFENCE online: www.cg-haenel.de

STEINER OPTICS online: www.steiner-defense.com

SPUHR online: www.spuhr.biz

You can also get all the information about this great project through German GunWorks' social media channels:

– Facebook: www.facebook.com/German.GunWorks

– Instagram: www.instagram.com/germangunworks