The Galil (Hebrew: גליל) is an Israeli assault rifle that was produced by Israel Military Industries.
History[]
After the FN FAL was adopted in the Israeli army in the late 1950s, soldiers later discovered some of the FAL's shortcomings and flaws during the Six-Day War in 1967; while the Israelis were eventually the victor of the war, the problems with the FAL became so apparent during the war that some soldiers even went out of their way to equip themselves with an Uzi fitted with an extended barrel.
During said war, the Israeli managed to get ahold of many AK-47s and began to evaluate them; the AKs proved to be much more reliable than the FALs they were currently using, along with other various reasons. This caused the Israel Defense Force to begin developing a new automatic rifle which would combine both the reliability of the AK-47 and the accuracy of the M16 and FAL. Several designs were submitted over the course of a few years, in the hopes of them becoming Israel's next service rifle; the United States offered both the M16A1 and the Stoner 63, and Germany offered the Heckler & Koch HK33. Uziel Gal of Uzi fame also submitted his own indigenous design, but it was deemed too complex and thus, was rejected. Another indigenous design was submitted by Yisrael Galil, based on the Valmet Rk 62.
Tests were carried out over a few years from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, with Galil's design emerging as the winner. His design would then be named the Galil in his honor.
A few years later, in the 1970s, the Galil ARM and SAR were submitted to Swedish service rifle trials by Försvarets Fabriksverk, also known as FFV, as a potential rifle to replace the Ak 4 in service, a locally produced and slightly modified Heckler & Koch G3 clone. While both the SAR and ARM submitted were export models originally produced by IMI, these were redesignated as the FFV-890 and FFV-890C for the SAR and ARM models respectively; the 890 was later discarded in favor of the 890C and was subsequently modified by FFV to decrease its weight, reduce its size, optimize it for cold weather operation and to lower manufacturing costs. The 890C was one of the two finalists in the competition, but ultimately lost to the FN FNC, which would become known to the Swedish army as the Ak 5.
In the 1980s, the South African Defence Force adopted the Galil as the R4 to replace the R1 (a South African version of the Belgian FN FAL) and was used during the South African Border War.
Design Details[]
The Galil shares many similarities with the Kalashnikov rifle, and is based directly on the Finnish Rk 62 rifle, itself a derivative of the Kalashnikov rifle. A crude early prototype known as the "Balashnikov" provided the basic layout for the Galil design.
Receiver[]
The receiver is a heavy milled steel, built to withstand the pressures of the NATO cartridges. All exterior metal surfaces are parkerized to prevent corrosion.
Operating system[]
Unlike the AK, the charging handle is positioned toward the top of the receiver cover (pointed upward), which makes it easier to charge the weapon left-handed. The operating mechanism of the Galil is exactly the same as the Kalashnikov; the actuator rod is permanently attached to the bolt carrier, and when a round is fired, the gas impinges upon it, pushing the bolt carrier back and unlocking the bolt via rotation. Upon unlocking, the bolt performs a primary extraction movement upon the spent casing, ensuring positive extraction and ejection.
Gas system[]
The gas block is located on the barrel, with a bipod attachment directly below. The gas port is drilled to .070 inches and is drilled at a 30 degree angle relative to the bore. The piston rod, which is permanently attached to the bolt carrier, is connected to the gas block itself.
Sights[]
The Galil uses an aperture rear sight, with a front sight post. The front sight features a protective hood, and is fully adjustable for windage and elevation. The rear sight only adjusts for range; the two apertures are set for 0-300 meters and 300-500 meters.
Manual of arms[]
IMI Galils are gas-operated, shoulder-fired, select-fire weapons. They feed from 35-round box magazines.
The magazine is inserted via a "rocking" motion, positioned so that the lug on the front of the magazine engages with its recess in the magazine well, into the magazine well. It should be pulled to the rear until it snaps into place.
In order to operate the charging handle, the selector must be off safe. The charging handle is pulled all the way to the rear and then released to chamber a round. As the bolt carrier group goes forward, the bolt will strip a round out of the magazine and feed it into the chamber.
When a round is fired, the gas produced by the propellant in the cartridge goes into the gas tube and impinges upon the operating (actuator) rod, which then unlocks the bolt and cycles the bolt carrier rearward, which causes it to cock the hammer as it travels. The bolt carrier then strips another round from the magazine and chambers it as it travels forward, and locks the bolt, sealing the round in the chamber.
When the last round is fired, there is no bolt catch mechanism to catch the bolt carrier group and prevent it from closing on an empty chamber. Thus, when the shooter reloads, he will need to rack the charging handle to chamber the next round. If the shooter experiences a malfunction, in most cases racking the charging handle (or reloading, if the magazine is bad OR empty), will solve the problem.
Variants[]
- Galil AR: Standard version with a skeleton stock.
- Galil SAR (Short Assault Rifle): Also known as G'lilon, is the carbine version of the Galil AR, it has a different gas block.[1][2]
- Galil ARM (Assault Rifle Machinegun): A light machine gun configuration of the Galil AR, comes with a carry handle, a pre-equipped bipod, and a heavier handguard. It can use optional 50 round magazines.[3]
- Micro Galil: The MAR(Micro Assault Rifle) is a compact version of the Galil SAR, it comes with polymer made furniture (like the handguard and grip). The gun comes in the standard 3 setting fire selector, however, some have been reported with an extra 3 round burst mode. It is fed by standard Galil magazines, but adaptors can be added so it's compatible with STANAG magazines. An updated version, known as MAR Model 699, it comes with a left carry handle and a Picatinny rail on the top handguard, for mounting optics.[4]
- Galatz: The Galatz, a shortened form of Galil Tzalafim (Hebrew: צלפים, Sniper in English), or colloquially known as Galil Sniper is the marksman version of the Galil AR in 7.62 NATO and 5.56 mm NATO, is semi-automatic only and feds from standard 25 Galil AR 7.62 mags or specialized 12 round magazines or 35 round for the 5.56 version. It's pre-equipped with a Nimrod 6x40, and the stock is replaced by an adjustable wooden stock. An updated version, known as SR-99, comes with new stock, grip, and a handguard made out of polymer.[5][6]
- Golani: Civilian export version chambered in .223 Remington.[2]
Derivates[]
Bernardelli VB-STR[]
Is an Italian copy of the Galil AR, and comes with a carbine version called VB-SR, they are compatible with STANAG magazines.[2]
Vektor R4[]
A licensed version of the Galil series produced by Denel, a South African manufacturer.
MA-1 Mk.I[]
Myanmar copy of the Galil.
IMI Magal[]
A prototype derivate of the MAR, chambered in .30 Carbine.
IWI ACE[]
A series of updated versions of the Galil, with new furniture and systems.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.gunstar.co.uk/israel-military-industries-imi-galil-sar-semi-auto-5-56-mm-r/rifles/1265251
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://www.military-today.com/firearms/galil.htm
- ↑ https://weaponsystems.net/system/598-IMI+Galil+ARM
- ↑ http://www.military-today.com/firearms/galil_mar.htm
- ↑ http://www.military-today.com/firearms/galatz.htm
- ↑ http://tonnel-ufo.ru/eanglish/weapon/sniper-rifle-imi-sr-99.php
External Links[]
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