The
Israel Military Industries Galil, like many weapons on the battlefield today, was born out of necessity - a
necessity driven by war. During the 'Six-Days' war of 1967, the Israeli
forces noted problems with their current service weapons of the time, the FN FAL
series of rifles (funnily enough, King Arms made one of them too!) and searched
for a new breed of assault rifles built to cope with the harsh demands of desert
fighting. It was the AK-47 (or more accurately the Valmet RK.62, an AK-47
clone) that they turned to for inspiration, being possibly one of the most
reliable and robust automatic rifles ever conceived.
Whilst remaining similar in
appearance, there are some fundamental differences between the Galil and the AK,
most notably the calibre. Pretty much all AK-47's fire a very high powered
7.62mm round, whereas the Galil SAR fires a NATO 5.56mm round, this
leads towards greater accuracy during automatic fire, plus a greater ammunition
capacity in the magazine whilst remaining at a similar length to it's AK cousin.
Other differences include efforts to make the rifle ambidextrous by adding an
additional fire-select lever near the thumb on the left hand side of the
receiver, as well as angling the charging handle upwards so that it can be operated by
either hand. Another important change covered the sighting system -
where the AK-47 had a standard notch and post style arrangement, the Galil has a
'peep-hole' sighting system, with additional flip-up sights for night time use.
The most important change was the positioning of the rear sight, and by moving
it back towards the end of the receiver, compared with the position of the rear
sight on the AK, it allows for greater accuracy. The reason is very
simple, small changes in movement at the gun, translates to a much further
movement down range, the closer the rear sight is positioned to the operator on
a gun, the less sensitive to movement the sighting picture becomes.
The Galil is the third in a
successful line-up of AEG series from King Arms, who are best known for their
range of accessories and related Airsoft products - but now seem to be making
quite name for themselves on the Airsoft gun front too. It may be true
that unlike their immediate competition, such as Classic Army and ICS, they
bring far fewer models onto the market, but for this they most certainly make up
for it with quality control. We have reviewed their FN Fal, and more
recently their Troy series of rifles and now with this, the Galil, they have
proven that although they take their time releasing new models, it's certainly
worth the wait.
Now normally when I review a new
Airsoft model, I start at the box and work my way through from there. In
this case, I was unable to, the reason being I was lucky enough to have one of
the few sample AEGs released for review purposes, almost a month before they are
available in the shops. At this stage, the box was a non-descript King
Arms foam lined box, and I wasn't provided with any instructions
<edit: We have now received an electronic copy of
the instruction manual> - possibly
because they hadn't even been printed yet - that is how new this AEG is!
At the time of writing this, the AEG will still not be released until the end of
September, a further two weeks, and what's more, it's a limited edition
production run also with only 500 models being produced. That is certainly
going to make it a sought after AEG, and with few Galil models available out of
the box (apart from the many kits, such as the likes from Inokatsu) it's
certainly the cheapest and most practical option to go for.
Weighing in at a hefty 3.20kg (the
real steel ways 3.75kg), the Galil is one extremely robust and well engineered
AEG. Like all their AEGs, the Galil is manufactured mainly of metal
components, and good quality components they are too. Steel, Aluminium and
Nylon Fibre (plastic to you and me...) are the materials of choice here, and the
finish is such that you'd be forgiven if you mistook this AEG for the real
thing. So lets take a closer look at the externals, starting from the
muzzle end of things:
The flash-hider, which is A3
'birdcage' in style and steel in construction, is removable with a standard 14mm
counter-clockwise thread - a great start because this allows for each attachment
of a silencer or tracer unit, and personally I think the Galil would look rather
good with a small sized silencer on the front of it, adding to that tactical
look.
Moving further down the gun we
have the bayonet mounting point (you're probably not going to be using this... I
hope!), a fairly wide and sturdy front sling mounting point, and the faithfully
reproduced front sighting system, and exact replica of what you'd find on the
real steel. Adjustment for windage is dealt with here, rather than
adjustment of the rear sight, and this is achieved by using a flat headed screw
driver to adjust the hooded fore-sight left and right. Also reproduced are
the flip-up night sights, which on the real Galil would include tritium inserts
which would provide a steady glow for aiming in low light level conditions.
Tritium inserts are available from companies such as fire-support.co.uk who
offer a fitting service. On the Galil, all one would need to do is drill
the holes marked out on the fore and rear sights and you've got yourself an AEG
that glows in the dark.
We then have the gas-tube, made
from anodised aluminium, which accommodates the battery running inside its length.
King Arms suggest that this gun is capable of storing up to a 12v stick type
battery, albeit a slightly snug fit. You do need to make sure you battery
is constructed from standard 2/3AF cells as used in a mini-battery, anything
longer and you'll struggle. We suggest sticking to an 9.6v or perhaps even
an 8.4v (more on this later), as that provides more than ample rate of fire and
will ensure the gearbox lasts a little bit longer! King Arms have
incorporated a nice little feature to aid in battery installation, which can be
better seen in the video clip posted at the bottom of this review.
Basically, whilst pulling back on the cocking handle, giving the gas tube a
gentle tug will cause it to separate from the gun, allowing you to insert the
battery easily, and then refit the tube back onto the receiver. Nice in
practise, although on the sample AEG I had, this was a little more difficult to
remove as indicated in the video clip and required some force to get it moving.
Still, a drop of oil here should assist and I'm sure these parts would loosen up
somewhat after continued use.
Underneath this is the front
fore-grip, and being a reproduction of the SAR 5.56 model, this is plastic.
In fact, it's one of the very very few plastic parts on this gun and is of two
part construction and adds to the tactical look the Galil is trying to achieve.
The front hand-guard is the only 'creaky' part of the gun, and that in itself is
a very minor annoyance. It's certainly not going to come off easily and is
very comfortable to hold onto with raised groves along the side panels to aid
grip. I'm sure aftermarket accessories will appear in time such as front
hand-guards which comprise RAS rails for attaching accessories such as
flash-lights etc.
Moving on from here we have the
magazine well, and magazine locking mechanism, which operates very much like
it's AK counterpart. The magazine itself supplied with the gun is
manufactured from steel and holds 130 rounds, so it's about mid-cap capacity.
It looks very much like an extended and curved M16 magazine, which it would do
seeing how the SAR model is 5.56mm calibre.
The grip houses the hi-torque
motor, and is styled very much like King Arms SAW AK grip, in fact you could
probably get this to fit without too much trouble. Removed by a single
screw at the bottom, the grip slides off to reveal the motor caddy similar to
that found on all V3 gearboxes. It does have a recessed part on
the left hand side to allow movement of the dummy left hand side selector, which
unfortunately is just that, it does not function at all. A shame as it
would have been nice to see this faithfully reproduced on the Airsoft model as a
working feature and certainly useful too.
The folding skeleton stock,
constructed from steel, is very sturdy indeed with no indication of any 'wobble'
at all. On left hand side is a robust rear sling mounting point, and on
the right hand side is the hinge which allows the stock to fold up against the
right hand side of the receiver, making the Galil overall more compact.
Out of the box the stock was a little stiff to fold, but subsequent attempts
have been much easier as the parts have loosened over time. The easiest
way to fold the stock is by holding onto it with your thumb on the bottom of the
hinge, pulling your hand-down with a lever type motion will cause the latch to
disengage and you can now fold the stock - with a bit of practise easy to do
with one hand in under two seconds.
The
receiver, based on the Valmet, a licensed AK-47 clone is again constructed of
high grade alumunium and like it's AK counterpart is pretty basic in appearance. No bells
and whistles, just a functional and sturdy design which comprises a top
removable cover (just like the real thing) and a left and right hand fire
selector switch. On the real Galil, the left hand switch is functional and
is designed to complement the right hand selector, making the gun truly
ambidextrous. Unfortunately on the airsoft model, this is purely for show
and serves no purposes - a shame really as it would have been quite a useful
feature to include. I'm sure someone will bring out some aftermarket
modification to get this working, I see no reason why it couldn't, after all,
most V3 gearbox designs include a selector on the left hand side. The King
Arms model is fully licensed and trademarks have been faithfully reproduced with
permission from Cybergun. These include the markings 'S.AUTO GALIL, CAL
.223 REM, MODEL 392, IMI-ISRAEL' and 'ISRAEL MILITARY INDUSTRIES LTD. (I.M.I) on
the right hand side of the receiver. No-where does it state on the gun
that it is indeed an Airsoft model, apart from the magazine which reads 'FOR
AIRSOFT USE ONLY, KINGARMS' on its base.
On
the top of the receiver is the rear sighting system, which as discussed earlier
gains advantage from it's position towards the end as opposed to the positioning
on the AK-47 which the Galil is based upon. The sighting system has two
modes of operation, an adjustable 'peep hole' sight, which would be set for 30
or 50m on the real steel, and flip-up 'night time' sights which coupled with
tritium inserts give a gentle permanent glow for low light level conditions.
There is no windage or further elevation adjustment on the rear sight other than
the preset positions, so adjustment has to be made at the foresight, which is
achieved by turning a flat headed screw on either side of the hooded post sight
for windage, and using the supplied tool for elevation adjustment of the post.
Out of the box I found my Galil to be shooting a little to the left, so
adjustment had to be made here to counteract this - but more on that later.
Pressing the release catch on the
upper allows the top cover to be removed, exactly like any AK variant, which
allows us access to the battery compartment, and we can see a little better how
the 'blowback' mechanism which cycles the bolt functions. The system is
mechanically connected to the top of the piston, via a modified V3 gearbox,
therefore it is the backwards and forwards movement on the piston in operation
which cycles the bolt. You can see this working in the video clip we have
taken, available at the bottom of the page, but in essence it is a robust and
simple way to do it. Now, it's not got some fancy mosfet breaking system
on it, so as when firing an AEG on the full auto the piston doesn't always
return to the rest position, so does the bolt not always return to the fully
closed position. The purists amongst you might not find this acceptable,
but I can assure you compared to some other 'blowback' offerings on other AEG's,
this version is far simpler and much better constructed. Using a double
spring arrangement, if the bolt's movement is restricted, lets say by a stray
finger, the AEG will continue to operate as normal, and the steel guide-rod
which the bolt is mounted upon look as if it's up for the job. A squirt of
silicone spray on these moving parts during your routine AEG maintenance will
help keep the whole mechanism running smoothly.
The
Galil is a very nicely weighted AEG and shoulders almost instinctively.
This is part helped by design but also by the battery position being in the top
of the AEG, thus maintaining a neutral centre of gravity and although the stock
is steel in construction, the balance remains perfect whether it is folded or in
the extended position. In practise I've always found peep-hole sights a
little bit difficult to see through, so I usually drill the hole out a little
bit larger to make for a better sighting picture. On this AEG, I found the
perfect combination to be using the rear flip-up notch sight, in conjunction
with the standard front post sight which makes it far easier to see what you're
looking at.
So, now for the fun bit, shooting
the Galil! The 130 round magazine is easy to load by hand, although one
would say a little time consuming, so a speed loader was the order of the day
here. Fully loaded and a freshly charged battery, it's time to see what
this beauty can do. The first thing we decided to do was put the Galil
through the chronograph to see if King Arms claim of 300fps was accurate, and it
was. With the hop-up set the off position, over 10 shots using Excel 0.2g
ammo, these were the results:
316
313
316
317
317
314
319
315
317
317
Average: 316.2fps
Therefore
with the hop-up in the optimum position for range at level flight, 300fps is
pretty much what you'll get - and pretty consistent readings too.
Out of the box I found the
accuracy to be a little off, with the shots straying a little to the left,
however at 10m all of the shots were falling within a 4-6 inch diameter circle,
which is more than acceptable. Even on full auto, the groupings remain
tight which shows good consistency from an excellent hop-up and barrel unit,
which as I've said with previous King Arms reviews is very good, considering the
first thing I do with a new Classic Army gun is ditch the barrel for a Systema
one and replace the hop-up rubber for Marui. One minor criticism is that
usually an AEG will not fire the remaining 3 or 4 BB's as there is nothing left
in the magazine to feed these through the hop-up unit, so they simply fall out
when you remove the mag - the Galil didn't feed the last 10 or so! Now,
we're putting this down to possibly a slightly weaker magazine spring not having
the 'umph' to push up those remaining rounds when it's not under load.
This could probably be solved by disassembling the magazine and stretching the
spring slightly, or by putting some packing at the bottom of the spring, much
like a spring guide with a bearing to give it an extra bit of, well...
springyness?
The
rate of fire using the recommended 9.6v battery is extremely quick, with the
bolt cycling at a fair old speed, in fact, you can see the camera struggled to
catch it properly in our little video clip. Don't worry though if you've
got a load of 8.4v stick batteries laying around, you can put them to good use
in the Galil albeit with the rate of fire being slightly lower.
Maximum range is yet to be
established, due to the limited distances on our 'shooting' range, but I would
imagine it's going to be on par with any gun with a similar barrel length and
fps set-up. At 55m you could see it'd had still got some give in it, so
this is going to be equally at home in woodland or CQB environments, and of
course with the folding stock, the latter is going to be a breeze!
Although the muzzle has a 14mm counter clockwise thread for a silencer, I don't
see it helping to reduce the sound of the Galil in operation, as a lot of the
noise is coming from the moving parts which operate the bolt, and the bolt
itself. Still, it'd look quite nice with a stubby silencer on the end for
that added 'tactical look'.
Conclusion
The
Galil is yet another excellent offering from King Arms who are fast making a
name for themselves for producing high-quality, all metal AEG's that work out of
the box with no further tinkering or modification, which is more than can be
said for some of their direct competition. The prices are usually equal to
their competitors too, so if I had the choice between a King Arms brand and
another of the same model, I'd choose the King Arms every time. King Arms
are also an extremely friendly company to work with too, with excellent support
and always quick to answer questions send via email - not to mention they carry
such a large range of aftermarket accessories too!
My
mind is not completely made up on the idea of a moving bolt on an AEG though, I
just don't see it as a huge selling point
for any brand. Yes it might add a touch of realism, but if that is what
Airsoft manufacturers are trying to achieve, then someone needs to come up with
an affordable alternative to the Systema PTW brand and produce an AEG that stops
firing when the magazine is empty, and requires you to cock the action when a
fresh magazine is inserted - now that would be realism I'm sure we'd all like to
see, without paying the £1000 price tag! That isn't a criticism of King
Arms, that is a criticism of the Airsoft industry as a whole.
Overall, as we expected, we're
very pleased with the Galil. No-one more than me as I love to see fresh
ideas and I positively cringe when someone releases yet another M4 or AK clone,
the Galil however was a pleasant surprise. The tactical looks with a
slightly more modern touch, especially without the wooden furniture made it
right up my street and it's certainly something I would consider buying.
My most recent purchase was a CA SA58, and for the very reason that it wasn't
just another M4 or AK, so personally, I can't wait to see with what King Arms
come up with next.
A special thanks go yet again to King Arms
for allowing dEFCONAirsoft to be one of the first to review their latest
product. At the time of writing this (13th Sept) the Galil is not yet
available in the shops, but should be in the next few weeks. Expect to see
hi-capacity magazines, scope rails and other accessories following shortly.
-
(right click the icon above and
choose 'Save Target As' to view our video clip of the King Arms Galil SAR bolt
in action)
-
(Official King Arms video on You Tube)
All material within is copyright dEFCONAirsoft 2007. dEFCONAirsoft
is kindly sponsored by Fire-Support. Some of the views expressed
within these pages are not necessarily the views of dEFCONAirsoft or any
of the sites affiliated with us.
