IMI Galil

Galil
An IMI Galil
TypeAssault rifle
Place of origin Israel
Service history
In service1972–present [1]
Used bySee Users
WarsLebanon Conflict, War in Somalia (1992–1993), South African Border War, Operation Enduring Freedom/ISAF – Afghanistan, Iraq War, Insurgency in the Philippines, Guatemalan insurgency,Bosnian War, Colombian Armed Conflict
Production history
DesignerYisrael Galili, Yaacov Lior
ManufacturerIsrael Military Industries (IMI), Bernardelli, Indumil, Ka Pa Sa State Factories
Specifications
Cartridge
  • 5.56x45mm NATO [1]
  • 7.62x51mm NATO [1]
    • ActionGas-operated, rotating bolt
    Rate of fire630–750 rounds/min
    Feed system5.56mm: 35, 50, 65-round removable box magazine
    7.62mm: 25-round box magazine

    The Galil is a family of Israeli small arms. They were designed by Yisrael Galil and Yaacov Lior in the late 1960s. They were made by Israel Military Industries Ltd (now Israel Weapon Industries Ltd) of Ramat HaSharon.

    History

    The Galil's design is supposed to make it work well in warm weather. It was designed from the Finnish RK 62.[2] The RK 62 itself was designed from the Soviet AK-47 assault rifle. It was chosen as the winner of a competition for the Israel Defense Forces. This competition included many other designs. Some of these were the M16A1, Stoner 63, AK-47 and HK33. The Galil was officially brought into service in 1972. It replaced the FN FAL.

    Design

    Features

    An Estonian soldier on patrol in Iraq with the compact Galil SAR in 5.56x45mm.
    Galil rifle in Israeli service

    The Galil is fired by a small hammer. It has a trigger mechanism which was designed from the trigger used in the American M1 Garand.[2] The rifle's fire has three positions: "R" (First letter of "repeating", which is a British word for semi-automatic fire); the middle position, "A", gives fully automatic fire; and pushing the lever fully forward turns on the safety so that the weapon can not be fired.

    The weapon is made with a plastic hand guard and pistol grip. The rifle can be used with a sound suppressor. A suppressor makes the weapon quieter. The weapon has a bottle opener and wire cutter built into the bipod. The bottle opener was built in to stop damage to magazines. This was because the magazines were being used to open bottles. Wire cutters were built in to reduce the time that IDF troops took to cut down wire fences. This is because there are many wire fences in rural areas of Israel.

    Barrel

    The barrel has a flash suppressor. It can be used to launch rifle grenades or attach a bayonet. It is possible to attach the M7 bayonet to the Galil.[2]

    Feeding

    The Galil gets its ammunition from a curved, steel box magazine. It can hold 35 rounds. There is a special colour-coded 12-round magazine which is used for blanks. The magazine is put into the gun in a similar way to the AK group. A special attachment can allow the Galil to use STANAG magazines.[2][3]

    Types of Galil

    Djiboutian National Police officers with the 7.62mm Galil AR.
    A Nepalese peacekeeper with the 7.62mm Galil SAR.

    AR

    The AR is the normal rifle version. It has a plastic handguard. The handguard can take a lot of damage before breaking. The stock of the AR can fold (to the right side).

    SAR

    The SAR carbine type of the AR has a shorter barrel (332 mm, 13.07in). Because the barrel is shorter, the mechanisms inside the barrel are also smaller.

    ARM

    The ARM version is a light machine gun. It has a handle to carry the weapon, a bipod which folds and a larger handguard. The handguard is made from wood. The wooden handguard stays cool when the weapon is being fired fully automatically. The bipod can be used as a wire cutter. The back of the handguard can be used to open bottles. This was put in to stop soldiers opening bottles with the magazines, as this damaged them.[2]

    MAR

    MAR stands for Micro Galil. It is a smaller version of the SAR. It weighs 2.98 kg without a magazine. The MAR gets its ammunition from a 35-round magazine. Two of these can be attached to make reloading quicker. The MAR has the same rate of fire (630-750 rounds per minute) 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 MAR has four settings: "S"—weapon can not fire, "A"—automatic fire, "B"—3-round burst, "R"—semi-automatic fire. The MAR can have many different sights attached to it. The MAR can also be given with plastic magazines (instead of steel magazines). These weigh 0.164 kg. They can also be given with more space around the trigger so that soldiers wearing gloves can fire it.

    Other types

    Some other types of Galil are:

    • Magal: This is a version of the Galil MAR. It is for use with police forces. It fires .30 Carbine rounds.
    • Golan: 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 Galil ACE is a new group of Galils. They were designed by a Colombian company called Indumil. There are three versions of ACE: Micro, SAR and AR. It can have all its parts removed without using any tools.

    Users

    Peruvian Marines here are using the 7.62mm Galil AR.

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bishop, Chris (1998). Guns in Combat. Book Sales. ISBN 978-0-7858-0844-2.
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Kokalis, Peter (2001). Weapons Tests And Evaluations: The Best Of Soldier Of Fortune. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-58160-122-0.
    3. ↑ "Photo by S. Smith". Photobucket.
    4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Jones, Richard; Ness, Leland S. (2009). Jane's Infantry Weapons: 2009-2010. Janes Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
    5. ↑ "Indumil – Industria Militar Colombiana". www.indumil.gov.co.
    6. ↑ "IWI Galil ACE 5.56 mm assault rifle (Israel), Rifles". Jane's Information Group. Archived from the original on August 17, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
    7. ↑ "Navy.mil - View Image". www.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
    8. ↑ Haapiseva-Hunter, Jane; Hunter, Professor Jane (1999). Israeli foreign policy: South Africa and Central America. South End Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-89608-285-4.
    9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Uudised - Kaitsevägi". www.mil.ee.
    10. ↑ "geo-army.ge". geo-army.ge.
    11. ↑ Haapiseva-Hunter, Jane; Hunter, Professor Jane (1999). Israeli foreign policy: South Africa and Central America. South End Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-89608-285-4.
    12. ↑ "Kopassus & Kopaska - Specijalne Postrojbe Republike Indonezije" (in Croatian). Hrvatski Vojnik Magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-08-22. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
    13. ↑ Hogg, Ian (2002). Jane's Guns Recognition Guide - 3rd Edition. Collins Reference. ISBN 978-0-00-712760-3.
    14. ↑ Picture of the Knesset Guard on Israel's 52nd Independence Day armed with Galil, Israeli Knesset Official Website.
    15. ↑ "Nuevo armamento para SSP de Cancun - Grupo SIPSE, sipse.com". Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
    16. ↑ "Rice Not Guns - German Arms in the Philippines". www.bits.de.
    17. ↑ Walter, John (2006). Rifles of the World. Krause. p. 616. ISBN 978-0-89689-241-5.
    18. ↑ "home". Archived from the original on 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2011-07-23.

    More reading

    • Kokalis, Peter (2001). Weapons Tests And Evaluations: The Best Of Soldier Of Fortune. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-122-0.

    Other websites

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Galil.