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Breathing new life into the Galil
The Galil rifle is an icon of the Israeli Defense Forces. It was developed by Yisrael Galil and Yaacov Lior in the 1960"²s. Originally it was produced by IMI until production shifted to IWI in the mid-2000"²s. The Galil was heavily influenced by the AK47 and Valmet rifles with good reason, the AK is known for its reliability in arid and sandy environments. It was used primarily by mechanized and armored units within the IDF, but other units used it as well. One of the key complaints about the rifle was that it was too heavy for a 5.56mm rifle.
The Galil never gained the same popularity or usage as the M16 did within the IDF and was eventually phased out of service.
IWI has spent some time rethinking the Galil and making substantial improvements to the design. The modernized Galil is known as the ACE. The new Galil ACE has several improvements over its predecessor that make it lighter, more ergonomic and also more friendly to modern force multipliers like red dot sights, night vision, lasers, vertical forend grips and other accessories commonly used by modern militaries these days.
The Galil ACE is light weight when compared to a standard Galil. The Galil tipped the scales at 8.7 lbs empty which was a bit heavy for most users tastes and it drew criticism many would agree was deserved. The new Galil ACE only weighs 6.2lbs empty which is a substantial reduction in weight over its chubby older brother and puts it in the AR15 realm of heftiness.
The charging handle has been moved to the left side of the receiver and features a spring loaded dust cover which allows the charging handle to move back and forth while minimizing the ability of dirt to ingress the action. Another big change is the charging handle has been removed from the bolt carrier completely — you now charge the rifle from the left side only (not as friendly to left handed shooters).
The safety/fire control lever is on both the left and right side of the rifle. The left side thumb lever on the ACE is more ergonomic than the one featured on the Galil and easier to manipulate as well. The AK style selector lever on the right side of the ACE gives you that familiar AK type control that many are used to.
The rifle is available in 5.56, .308 and 7.62×39. The 7.62×39 variant uses standard AK magazines and is intended primarily for export sales. A sniper version chambered in .308 is also available.
The stock is totally new on the Galil ACE. While it still has a familiar Galil type folding system, it now uses an AR15 style stock. The stock tube isn't an AR15 buffer tube, it's smaller and more square in shape. But the stock is very similar in appearance and function to the AR/M4 stock.
The Galil ACE has an integrated monolithic rail that runs across the top cover and gas tube. It's rather ingenious how they have implemented it. The top cover and gas tube index together so that they are rigid when the top cover is installed yet the rifle still brakes down like a traditional Galil. All the operator needs to do is push in the button at the rear and pull the top cover off like any other AK variant.
The sights have been modernized too. The rear sight is no longer permanently affixed to the top cover. The rear sight is mounted to the 1913 rail and is removable by the user. The front sight is still fixed to the front gas block on the examples I've seen, but I can see IWI possibly going to a 1913 rail mounted sight up front too in the future.
The magazine release is still a standard AK type paddle located just in front of the trigger guard. The lower of the ACE is polymer now and the mag release/catch is part of the new polymer lower.
The front handguard of the ACE features rails on 3 sides with flush fitting rail covers being part of the complete system. With the rail covers mounted the Galil ACE has a round feel to the handguard that's very comfortable. With a push of the thumb, the rail covers can be removed making way for a wide variety of accessories to be mounted.
Hopefully one day the Galil ACE will make it to the US market. Right now IWI is tight lipped about any potential plans to introduce the Galil ACE into the US market. I know that IWI is planning to be very aggressive in the US market with their products so I'm anxious to see what they have in store for us over the next couple of years. Stay tuned for video of the ACE being fired.
Source : Breathing new life into the Galil | The Bang Switch
The Galil rifle is an icon of the Israeli Defense Forces. It was developed by Yisrael Galil and Yaacov Lior in the 1960"²s. Originally it was produced by IMI until production shifted to IWI in the mid-2000"²s. The Galil was heavily influenced by the AK47 and Valmet rifles with good reason, the AK is known for its reliability in arid and sandy environments. It was used primarily by mechanized and armored units within the IDF, but other units used it as well. One of the key complaints about the rifle was that it was too heavy for a 5.56mm rifle.
The Galil never gained the same popularity or usage as the M16 did within the IDF and was eventually phased out of service.
IWI has spent some time rethinking the Galil and making substantial improvements to the design. The modernized Galil is known as the ACE. The new Galil ACE has several improvements over its predecessor that make it lighter, more ergonomic and also more friendly to modern force multipliers like red dot sights, night vision, lasers, vertical forend grips and other accessories commonly used by modern militaries these days.
The Galil ACE is light weight when compared to a standard Galil. The Galil tipped the scales at 8.7 lbs empty which was a bit heavy for most users tastes and it drew criticism many would agree was deserved. The new Galil ACE only weighs 6.2lbs empty which is a substantial reduction in weight over its chubby older brother and puts it in the AR15 realm of heftiness.
The charging handle has been moved to the left side of the receiver and features a spring loaded dust cover which allows the charging handle to move back and forth while minimizing the ability of dirt to ingress the action. Another big change is the charging handle has been removed from the bolt carrier completely — you now charge the rifle from the left side only (not as friendly to left handed shooters).
The safety/fire control lever is on both the left and right side of the rifle. The left side thumb lever on the ACE is more ergonomic than the one featured on the Galil and easier to manipulate as well. The AK style selector lever on the right side of the ACE gives you that familiar AK type control that many are used to.
The rifle is available in 5.56, .308 and 7.62×39. The 7.62×39 variant uses standard AK magazines and is intended primarily for export sales. A sniper version chambered in .308 is also available.
The stock is totally new on the Galil ACE. While it still has a familiar Galil type folding system, it now uses an AR15 style stock. The stock tube isn't an AR15 buffer tube, it's smaller and more square in shape. But the stock is very similar in appearance and function to the AR/M4 stock.
The Galil ACE has an integrated monolithic rail that runs across the top cover and gas tube. It's rather ingenious how they have implemented it. The top cover and gas tube index together so that they are rigid when the top cover is installed yet the rifle still brakes down like a traditional Galil. All the operator needs to do is push in the button at the rear and pull the top cover off like any other AK variant.
The sights have been modernized too. The rear sight is no longer permanently affixed to the top cover. The rear sight is mounted to the 1913 rail and is removable by the user. The front sight is still fixed to the front gas block on the examples I've seen, but I can see IWI possibly going to a 1913 rail mounted sight up front too in the future.
The magazine release is still a standard AK type paddle located just in front of the trigger guard. The lower of the ACE is polymer now and the mag release/catch is part of the new polymer lower.
The front handguard of the ACE features rails on 3 sides with flush fitting rail covers being part of the complete system. With the rail covers mounted the Galil ACE has a round feel to the handguard that's very comfortable. With a push of the thumb, the rail covers can be removed making way for a wide variety of accessories to be mounted.
Hopefully one day the Galil ACE will make it to the US market. Right now IWI is tight lipped about any potential plans to introduce the Galil ACE into the US market. I know that IWI is planning to be very aggressive in the US market with their products so I'm anxious to see what they have in store for us over the next couple of years. Stay tuned for video of the ACE being fired.
Source : Breathing new life into the Galil | The Bang Switch
