IMI Galil Assault Rifle

The IMI Galil is a family of Israeli small arms designed by Yisrael Galil and Yaacov Lior in the late 1960s and produced by Israel Military Industries Ltd (now Israel Weapon Industries Ltd) of Ramat HaSharon. The weapon system consists of a line chambered for the intermediate 5.56x45mm NATO caliber with either the M193 or SS109 ball cartridge and several models designed for use with the 7.62x51mm NATO rifle round. It is named after one of its inventors, Yisrael Galil.

There are four basic configurations of the Galil: the standard rifle-length AR (Assault Rifle), a carbine variant known as the SAR (Short Assault Rifle), a compact MAR (Micro Assault Rifle) version, and an ARM (Assault Rifle and Machine gun) light machine gun.

Operating mechanism

The Galil series of rifles are selective fire weapons operated by a Kalashnikov-pattern gas-driven piston system with no regulator. The weapon is locked with a rotary bolt with two locking lugs that lock into recesses milled into the receiver.

When fired, a portion of the propellant gases are evacuated into the gas cylinder through a 1.8 mm (0.07 in) port, drilled at a 30° angle in the barrel, and a channel in the gas block. The high-pressure gases drive the piston rod (which is attached to the bolt carrier) rearward. During this rearward movement, a cam slot machined into the bolt carrier engages a cam pin on the bolt and rotates the bolt, unlocking the action. The arrangement of parts on the bolt carrier assembly provides for a degree of free travel, allowing gas pressure in the barrel to drop to a safe level before unlocking. To the immediate rear of the chrome-plated piston head is a notched ring which provides a reduced bearing surface and alleviates excess gas build-up. As the bolt carrier travels back, it compresses the return spring guided in a hollowed section of the bolt carrier and the return energy contained in the spring drives the moving assembly back forward, stripping a new round from the magazine and locking the action. The cocking handle is attached to the bolt carrier on the right side of the receiver and reciprocates with each shot; the handle is bent upwards allowing for operation with the left hand while the shooting hand remains on the pistol grip.

Features

The Galil is hammer-fired and has a trigger mechanism patterned after the trigger used in the American M1 Garand. The rifle's fire selector lever is on the right side of the receiver and is similar in design to the one used in the AK; it is simultaneously the manual safety. The selector's uppermost position, marked "S" ("safe") disables the trigger and covers the cocking handle slot, inhibiting the ingression of environmental debris into the receiver, but allowing the bolt to be retracted enough to check the chamber. Unlike the AK, the Galil includes a selector switch on the receiver's left side—above the pistol grip—intended to be manipulated by the thumb of the shooting hand. This switch has three positions: "R" (British terminology for "repetition" or semi-automatic fire); the middle position, "A", produces fully automatic fire; and pushing the lever fully forward will activate the safety.

The Galil prototypes used a stamped and riveted sheet metal steel receiver, but due to the higher operating pressures of the 5.56x45mm cartridge, this solution was discarded and the designers turned to a heavy milled forging. As a testament to its heritage, early prototypes were fabricated using Valmet Rk 62 receivers manufactured in Helsinki. All exterior metal surfaces are phosphated for corrosion resistance and then coated with a black enamel (except for the barrel, gas block and front sight tower).

The weapon is fitted with a high-impact plastic handguard and pistol grip and a side-folding (folds to the right side) tubular steel skeleton stock. The rifle can be used with a sound suppressor. The weapon features a bottle opener and wire cutter built into the bipod. The bottle opener feature was included to prevent damage to magazines being used to open bottles, due to the large civilian reservist components of the IDF. Wire cutters were included to reduce the time necessary for IDF troops to cut down wire fences common to rural areas in Israel.

Barrel

Early production models were supplied with barrels that had six right-hand grooves and a 305 mm (1:12 in) rifling twist (optimized for use with M193 ammunition), while recent production models feature a 178 mm (1:7 in) twist barrel with six right-hand grooves (used to stabilize the heavier SS109/M855 projectile). The barrel has a slotted flash suppressor with 6 ports and can be used to launch rifle grenades or mount a bayonet lug attachment (it will accept the M7 bayonet).

Feeding

The Galil is fed from a curved, steel box magazine with a 35-round capacity (SAR and AR versions), a 50-round capacity (ARM model) or a special color-coded 12-round magazine blocked for use exclusively with ballistite (blank) cartridges, used to launch rifle grenades. An optional magazine adaptor enables the use of STANAG-compliant 20 and 30-round magazines from the M16 series. The magazine is inserted front end first in a similar manner to the AK family.

Sights

The L-shaped rear sight has two apertures preset for firing at 0–300 m and 300–500 m respectively (the rear sight can only be adjusted for elevation). The front post is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation zero and is enclosed in a protective hood. Low-light flip-up front blade and rear sight elements have three self-luminous tritium capsules (betalights) which are calibrated for 100 m when deployed. When the rear night sight is flipped up for use, the rear aperture sights must be placed in an offset position intermediate between the two apertures. Certain variants have a receiver-mounted dovetail adapter that is used to mount various optical sights.

IMI Galil Variants

AR

The standard rifle version which is fitted with a high-impact plastic handguard and pistol grip, a side-folding (folds to the right side) tubular metal skeleton stock as fitted to all variants except the Galil Sniper.

SAR

The SAR carbine variant of the AR is configured with a shorter barrel (332 mm). Due to the shorter barrel a corresponding shorter piston and gas tube as well as a unique gas block are found on the SAR.

ARM

The ARM light machine gun variant is additionally equipped with a carrying handle, folding bipod and a larger wooden handguard. The wooden handguard remains cooler during sustained automatic fire and has grooves for bipod storage. When folded, the bipod's legs form a speed chute for rapid magazine insertion; the bipod will form a wire cutter and the rear handguard ferrule, which retains the bipod legs, can be used to open bottles by design, in order to prevent soldiers using magazine lips for this purpose which damaged them.

MAR

The most recent addition to the Galil family of weapons is the MAR compact carbine, which retains the internal features of the original Galil with a completely new frame, operating system and an even shorter barrel. Introduced to the public at the 2nd International Defence Industry Exhibition in Poland in 1994, the weapon was developed for use with the army and police special units, vehicle crews, army staff, special operations personnel and airborne infantry.

The MAR, or the Micro Galil, is a reduced-size version of the Galil SAR (706 mm stock extended / 465 mm folded), weighing 2.98 kg empty. Compared to the original carbine, the MAR has a shortened barrel (210 mm), receiver, piston, gas tube and foregrip. The firearm is fed from a 35-round steel magazine which can be clipped together to increase reload speed. The MAR has the same rate of fire (630-750 rounds/min) as other 5.56 mm Galil models. An optional magazine adapter inserted inside the magazine well allows the use of standard 20 and 30-round M16 magazines. The lever safety and fire selector (located on both sides of the receiver) has four settings: "S"—weapon is safe, "A"—automatic fire, "B"—3-round burst, "R"—semi-automatic mode. The barrel has a multifunction muzzle device. The MAR is equipped with a folding tubular metal stock and a flip aperture sight with two settings: 0–300 m and beyond 300 m. The MAR can also be equipped with a night vision device (attached through an adapter mounted to the left side of the receiver), a daytime optical sight (mounted via a receiver cover adapter), low-light sights with tritium illuminated dots, a vertical forward grip with integrated laser pointer, silencer and a nylon sling. Upon request, the weapon can be supplied with a bolt catch, plastic magazines weighing 0.164 kg or an enlarged trigger guard for use with gloves.

7.62mm variants

The 7.62 mm Galil is derived from the 5.56 mm base version. The rifle retains the general design layout and method of operation of the 5.56 mm variant. In 7.62mm the Galil is available in several different configurations including a SAR carbine, full size AR rifle and ARM light machine gun. These weapons are fed from 25-round box magazines (previously 20-rounds). The barrel has four right-hand grooves with a 305 mm (1:12 in) rifling twist rate.

The 7.62 mm Galil Sniper (Galil Tzalafim, or Galatz) is a derivative of the ARM that is used with high quality 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition for consistent accuracy.

The precision rifle is a semi-automatic-only rifle with a similar operating system to other Galil variants, but optimised for accuracy. The rifle is fed from a 25-round box magazine. It uses a heavy profile match barrel that is heavier than that used on other variants. It is fitted with a multi-functional muzzle device, which acts as a flash suppressor and a muzzle brake. It can be replaced with a sound suppressor which requires the use of subsonic ammunition for maximum effectiveness.

The weapon was modified with a two-stage trigger mechanism with an adjustable pull force, a wooden buttstock that folds to the right side of the weapon and a heavy-duty bipod, mounted to the forward base of the receiver housing that folds beneath the handguard when not in use. The buttstock is fully adjustable in length and height and features a variable height cheek riser. The rifle comes with mechanical iron sights and an adapter used to mount a telescopic day sight (Nimrod 6x40) or a night sight. The mount is quick-detachable and capable of retaining zero after remounting. The precision rifle is stored in a rugged transport case that comes with an optical sight, mount, filters, two slings (for carrying and firing) and a cleaning kit. Recent production models feature synthetic plastic furniture and a skeletonized metal stock.

Other variants

Other variants are:

• Magal: A law enforcement carbine variant of the Galil MAR chambered in .30 Carbine.
• SR-99: A Modernized version of the Galil Sniper.
• Golani: A civilian version with a new-production milled semi automatic receiver built in the United States with all other components original IMI Galil production parts.
• Galil ACE: The new generation of the Galil rifle, designed by the Colombian military industry, Indumil. It's available in three versions, (Micro, SAR and AR) at 5.56, 7.62x39mm and 7.62x51mm. It has five picatinny rails for optical devices and accessories, and is lighter and more accurate than past generation Galils. It can be stripped without any tools.

Galil
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Israel
Service history
In service	1972–present
Used by	Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Congo, Djibouti, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Lesotho, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Trinidad and Tobago
Wars	Lebanon Conflict, War in Somalia (1992–1993), South African Border War, Operation Enduring Freedom/ISAF – Afghanistan, Iraq War, Insurgency in the Philippines, Guatemalan insurgency, Colombian Armed Conflict
Production history
Designer	Yisrael Galili, Yaacov Lior
Manufacturer	Israel Military Industries (IMI), Bernardelli, Indumil, Ka Pa Sa State Factories
Specifications
Weight	SAR 5.56mm: 3.75 kg (8.27 lb) AR 5.56mm: 3.95 kg (8.7 lb) ARM 5.56mm: 4.35 kg (9.6 lb) SAR 7.62mm: 3.85 kg (8.5 lb) AR 7.62mm: 3.95 kg (8.7 lb) ARM 7.62mm: 4.45 kg (9.8 lb) Sniper: 6.4 kg (14 lb)
Length	SAR 5.56mm: 850 mm (33 in) stock extended / 614 mm (24.2 in) stock folded AR, ARM 5.56mm: 987 mm (38.9 in) stock extended / 742 mm (29.2 in) stock folded SAR 7.62mm: 915 mm (36.0 in) stock extended / 675 mm (26.6 in) stock folded AR, ARM 7.62mm: 1,050 mm (41.3 in) stock extended / 810 mm (31.9 in) stock folded Sniper: 1,112 mm (43.8 in) stock extended / 845 mm (33.3 in) stock folded
Barrel length	SAR 5.56mm: 332 mm (13.1 in) AR, ARM 5.56mm: 460 mm (18.1 in) SAR 7.62mm: 400 mm (15.7 in) AR, ARM 7.62mm: 535 mm (21.1 in) Sniper: 508 mm (20.0 in)
Cartridge	5.56x45mm NATO 7.62x51mm NATO
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	630–750 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	SAR 5.56mm: 900 m/s (2,953 ft/s) AR, ARM 5.56mm: 950 m/s (3,116.8 ft/s) SAR 7.62mm: 800 m/s (2,624.7 ft/s) AR, ARM 7.62mm: 850 m/s (2,788.7 ft/s) Sniper: 815 m/s (2,673.9 ft/s)
Effective range	300–500 m sight adjustments
Feed system	5.56mm: 35, 50, 65-round detachable box magazine 7.62mm: 25-round box magazine
Sights	Flip-up rear aperture with protective ears, flip-up tritium night sights, hooded front post