IWI Galil

Origins

In the Six-Day War of 1967 Israeli infantry carried the Belgian FN FAL. It was accurate and powerful, but many soldiers found it heavy and prone to jam in desert sand and dust. Egyptian and Syrian soldiers carried the Soviet AK-47, which Israeli troops admired for its reliability. The Israel Defense Forces held trials to choose a new rifle. The candidates included the American M16 and Stoner 63, the AK-47, the German HK33, and a design by Uziel Gal, the creator of the Uzi. The winner was a rifle by Yisrael Galili and Yaacov Lior of Israel Military Industries. It was based on the Valmet Rk 62, a Kalashnikov derivative built in Finland, and early prototypes were made on receivers bought from Valmet. The rifle, named after Galili, was adopted in 1972.

Design & Construction

The Galil keeps the Kalashnikov's long-stroke gas piston and rotating bolt, which are tolerant of dirt and poor maintenance, but it is chambered for the 5.56x45 mm NATO cartridge rather than the Soviet 7.62x39 mm. Its receiver was machined, following the Finnish pattern, rather than stamped. Israeli improvements included a folding metal stock, a safety lever that could be worked with the right thumb as well as the traditional Kalashnikov lever, a charging handle bent upward so it could be worked by either hand, and flip-up night sights with luminous dots. Magazines held 35 or 50 rounds. The rifle came in three main versions. The ARM had a bipod and carrying handle and could serve as a light support weapon. The AR was the standard rifle without the bipod, and the SAR had a shorter barrel for vehicle crews and special units. The ARM's bipod included a bottle opener, reportedly to stop soldiers opening bottles on their magazines. A 7.62x51 mm version and a sniper rifle, the Galatz, followed, as did the compact MAR, or Micro Galil.

Combat Use

Only a few Galils reached units before the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, and most Israeli soldiers fought that war with the FAL and other rifles. By the 1982 Lebanon War the Galil was in wide use. It proved reliable, but it was heavier than the M16 rifles and carbines that the United States was supplying in large numbers. Many IDF units, especially paratroopers and infantry, turned to American M16s and CAR-15s, and the Galil remained mostly with armored, artillery and second-line troops. Abroad, Israel sold the rifle to many countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia during the Cold War / Modern Era. South Africa built it under license as the R4 and used it in the Border War in Angola and Namibia, and Colombia also manufactured it.

Legacy

The IDF phased the Galil out of front-line service in the 1990s and 2000s in favor of the M16, M4 and the Israeli Tavor. In 2005 the small-arms business of Israel Military Industries was privatized as Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), which later introduced the modernized Galil ACE with a lighter receiver and rails for sights. In Israel older Galils passed to reserve units and security personnel, while the South African R4 and its shorter R5 and R6 versions, and Colombian-made rifles, remained standard issue in those countries for many years. The Galil family, together with the Finnish rifles it came from, showed that the Kalashnikov system could be refined into a well-finished Western rifle.