Soldier of Fortune 11/13

ARE MERCS KILLING MACHINES?
NOVEMBER 2013
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By Gary Paul Johnston
A
t birth in 1948, Israel hit the ground running, wasting no time in defending the
area in which its roots had been buried for thousands of years. While the Jews
had plenty of guts, they had few guns but those provided by Great Britain and
the United States. Most of these were left over from World War II and included arms from Germany and other European countries.
Other than light machineguns and
handguns, the main infantry small arms
favored by Israeli forces were long
range rifles, M1 carbines and submachine guns, the latter most popular with
mechanized troops who operated in
tanks and vehicles, both armored and
unarmored. The most common calibers
of the rifles Israel used included .303
British, .30-06 and 7.92x57mm (8mm)
Mauser, while the SMG’s were pretty
much exclusively 9x19mm, except for
the M1 carbine, which fired the .30 car66
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bine (7.62x33mm) intermediate cartridge.
In the 65 years that have followed, Israel’s rifles have evolved into largely
long range precision rifles in .308 Win.
(7.62x51mm NATO) caliber with the intermediate .223 Rem. (5.56x45mm
NATO) cartridge becoming the general
purpose round. The .30 carbine continues to hang on with Israeli civilian defense in the M1 carbine and (with
limited success) in the Magal, a variation of the Micro Galil. In Israeli sub-
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machine guns, the 9x19mm is still king.
With Israeli-issued rifles in the intermediate 5.56x45mm cartridge, two
schools of thought exist—a full size
rifle and a compact one for use in vehicles and where compactness is important. Where full size rifles are favored,
they are the U.S. M16A1 and the Galil.
For close quarter battle and use from vehicles, the submachine gun and short
barreled rifles are being replaced by a
5.56x45mm rifle of Israeli design. It is
called the Tavor.
Like some other Israeli-designed
weapons that have been named for a famous place in Israel, the Tavor is named
for a mountain there, Mt. Tavo, which in
Hebrew is pronounced Tavor.
Developed by Zalmen Shebs, of Israeli Military
Industries
(IMI) from 1991 to
2001, the Tavor was introduced in 2002
as the Tavor Assault Rifle-21 (TAR-21)
to denote the 21st century. To date the
rifle has been produced in a number of
variations, as follows:
TAR-21
GTAR-21
CTAR-21
STAR-21
MTAR-21
X95L
TC-21
X95 SMG
X95R
X95S
X95 NATO
18” bbl.
18” bbl. w/M203
launcher
15” bbl. compact.
18” bbl. w/bipod and 4X
ACOG
13” bbl. Micro (X95)
16.5” bbl.
16.1” bbl.
13” bbl. 9mm
13” bbl. 5.45x39mm
10.8” bbl. 9mm suppressed
7.62x51mm NATO
(under development)
polymer rail, which is
bolted over the
Much of the shooting was done using
an Aimpoint Comp M4 Red Dot Sight
with a Sling System Easy Sling.
right side cocking handle slot, if the rifle
were converted for left-handed use.
On the left side, at roughly 45 degrees, is the non-reciprocating polymer
cocking handle, as positioned for a
right-handed user, on the bottom lies a
polymer fore end retained by two
opposing screws. A button on
the left side suggests that
the fore end might fold, but
this appears to be merely a
positioning device for the
fore end. Removing the
fore end allows a special
M203 grenade launcher
mount to be installed in
its place, as found on the
GTAR-21 rifle.
On the bottom of the
fore end are locating
holes for a short section
of rail, on which can be
mounted a vertical foregrip. Because of the center
of balance of all bullpup rifles, I believe such a grip is of great value, especially the GripPod, which instantly
becomes a bipod. However, this particular rail is proprietary and, since it did
not come with the rifle, no vertical grip
could be mounted.
Back up on the front of the top rail is
a folding front sight that is adjustable
for elevation. All but disappearing when
folded, the front sight leaves a notched
In all of its forms, the Tavor is designed to accommodate close quarter
use, whether from mechanized transport
or in house-to-house urban environments. It is now being issued to some elements of the IDF.
A few years ago, IMI was purchased
by Israeli Weapons Industries. Now with
a U.S. subsidiary, IWI USA, in Harrisburg, PA, a semi-automatic variant of
the TAR-21 is available in America, except in socialist states that do not allow
such firearms. Called the Tavor SAR,
the new rifle is identical to its military
counterpart in every respect other than
its limitation to semi-automatic operation. SOF recently received a sample
Tavor SAR on which to report.
At the front of the Tavor SAR’s hammer-forged, lightweight, 1-in-7” twist,
16.5” barrel is an A2-style flash suppressor with a lock nut. Very little (four
inches) of the hot barrel protrudes from
the handguard to injure one’s hand. At
the top of the handguard is a full-length
numbered alloy rail similar to a U.S.
Mil-Std1913 rail; at about 45 degrees
below and to the right of it is a 5-1/2”
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TAVOR’S BULLPUP
Continued from page 66
portion barely visible with the top of the
rail. Although not found in the 84-page
manual, it appears that this “sight” could
be used while keeping the head very low
behind the butt of the rifle, as in looking
over a wall, this due to the light recoil
from the 5.56x45mm cartridge.
Behind the cocking handle
the lock allows the swivel to be remounted on the right side for a lefthanded user.
Behind the sling mount are four vent
holes and beneath these lie the trigger
and enlarged, universal trigger guard
and pistol grip. At the top right side
IWI name and location and above that a
steel serial number plate (no doubt with
additional identification hidden elsewhere). Finally, there is a well designed,
non-slip rubber butt plate. All versions
of the Tavor SAR can be had with either
matte black or flat dark earth stock furniture.
Field Stripping
In addition to matte
black, the Tavor SAR
can be had in flat dark
earth.
slot on the left side of the Tavor is a
steel QD sling swivel mount, although
no mounts came with the rifle. This
mount extends through the polymer
stock to the right side, where a lock
holds it in place. Removing a pin and
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68
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of the grip
is the selector with
an indicator on the
right side. Although I
could find no mention of
it in the booklet, at the
bottom of the pistol grip is a cap, and
above it on either side is a small rectangular plugged hole. Taking two loaded
cartridges and pushing them in on both
sides simultaneously released the cap to
reveal a fairly large storage space within
the pistol grip. The cap is simply pushed
back in to lock.
Farther back lies the barrel lock
which, like a number of other components, requires special armorer’s tools
to disassemble. Behind the lock on the
right side are the ejection port and
case deflector and on the left side the
port cover, as installed for a righthanded user. Below is the magazine
well, in front of which is a “trigger”like magazine release lever that can be
operated from either side with the
hand, or even another magazine.
Near the back of the stock on both
sides is a QD sling mount. Above the
left sling mount is the Tavor SAR’s
Specifications:
Designer:
Operation:
Caliber:
Muzzle velocity:
Barrel length:
Rate of twist:
Overall length:
Weight: (gun alone)
Feed fevice:
Safety:
Sights:
Stock:
Finish:
Price:
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To the rear of the magazine well is a similar
opening housing the preassembled fire control group IWI calls
the sear mechanism, and a pivoting
polymer cover housing the bolt-open device called the bolt carrier stop lever.
Pulling down on the checkered rear section of the carrying stop lever while retracting the cocking lever and then
letting it go forward will hold the bolt
open. Two cross pushpins retain the sear
mechanism which, when removed, allows the carrier stop lever and housing
to be removed. The hammer must be left
cocked before removing the sear mechanism.
Hinged at the bottom, the butt plate is
secured by another pushpin at the top.
With the hammer cocked, opening this
butt plate allows the entire bolt
carrier/piston assembly group to be removed out the rear as a unit.
Once the bolt group is removed, it
will be noted that there is significant
free play in the captive recoil spring and
its rod, and the bolt control rod that
moves with them. Pulling this sub-group
all the way to the rear will allow the bolt
cam pin (control pin) to be pushed out
from right to left using the point of a
bullet, or similar tool.
With the pin removed, the bolt can be
pulled out from the front of the carrier
IWI Tavor SAR
Zalmen Shebs, of IMI
Long stroke gas piston, semi-automatic
.223 Rem. (5.56x45mm)
3000 fps
16-1/2” or 18”
1-in-7” RHT
26-1/8” (w/16-1/2” bbl.)
7.9 lbs. (w/16-1/2” bbl.)
Most AR-15 type magazines
Thumb safety blocks sear
Flip-up BUIS adj. for W/E
Matte black or flat dark earth reinforced polymer
Mil-spec matte black
$1,999.00 (MSRP)
A SureFire Scout Light mounted handily on Tavor SARʼs
fore end side rail.
followed by the firing pin and its spring.
With the use of the firing pin tip to push
out the extractor pin, the AR-15 type extractor and spring can then be removed
for cleaning, taking care not to lose the
pin or spring! Reassembly is in reverse
order, but it must be remembered to pull
the recoil spring buffer group all the
way to the rear when replacing the bolt
control pin.
Operation
Incorporating proven concepts of operation, the Tavor uses what can only be
The Tavorʼs grip cap can be removed for storage use. The
selector is located conveniently at the top of the grip.
described as an advanced AK-type bolt
group. While the Tavor is operated by a
long stroke gas piston, the floating piston is much smaller than the diameter of
the hollow operating rod, which is
pinned to the carrier. The piston enters
the gas cylinder for about 5/8” and,
when the rifle is fired, the piston is
driven all the way to the rear, pushing
the operating rod and bolt group with it
to bottom out against the polymer buffer
joined at the rear, and in turn against the
butt.
Rotating clockwise looking from the
rear, the bolt has three locking lugs with
the bottom (feed) lug channeled in the
center, giving the impression that it is
two small lugs. However, none of these
lugs are perpendicular to the bolt body
at their rear, but rather are angled forward roughly 12 degrees.
Pulling back the cocking handle
causes it first to pivot, and this leverage
provides the unlocking of the bolt and
initial extraction. Then the handle and
bolt group must be pulled all the way to
the rear and let go in order to strip and
chamber a round from the magazine.
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may be a hair better with ours. After all, he’s had a fair bit of experience
with these machines. Specifically? More than anyone else in the world.
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NOVEMBER 2013
69
Continued from page 69
Made of polymer, the 30-round magazine has windows on both sides along
with counter numbers, assuming there is
enough light to see them. The Tavor will
also accept standard U.S. mil-spec magazines and Magpul PMAGS, but the latter tend to be a tighter fit. Magpul’s
EMAG will also work, but is looser than
others.
Down Range
As with most other bullpup self-loading
rifles, the Tavor’s trigger is stiff, breaking at about nine pounds with some
creep, which does little to enhance accuracy. The trigger is narrow, round and
smooth; for my hand, the grip places it
in the first joint of my index finger, so
that’s how I fired it. An optional, wider
trigger shoe might improve shooting.
Both open sights and a U.S. military
issue Aimpoint Comp M4 in an
A.R.M.S. ThrowLever Mount were used
to test the Tavor offhand. Since I had
QD sling swivels, I mounted an Easy
Sling from Sling Systems on the left
side of the rifle, where it hung at just the
right height for fast access to the shoulder. Fast hits could be made on torsosize targets out to 50 yards and beyond,
and slower hits could be made out to
150 to 200 yards.
For accurate groups, the
Tavor was fired from the
bench using a Vortex
1–4x30mm Viper
optic in a Gator-
Grip Mount from Precision Reflex. With
several types of match grade .223 Rem.
Ammunition, the rifle produced fiveshot groups from 2.5–4 inches at 100
yards. No malfunctions of any kind
were experienced, but because the muzzle is closer than most conventional rifles, a 5.56mm suppressor like
Gemtech’s titanium TREK-T would be
just the ticket with this rifle, and with it
the brand new protective suppressor
cover from MantaRail.
Caliber Conversions
The Tavor-21 and some variants are also
offered in 5.45x39mm and 9x19mm,
and now caliber conversion units for
these cartridges are available for the
Tavor SAR. While these conversions do
not require returning your rifle or taking
it to a gunsmith, having some knowledge and mechanical ability is important, much of which is covered in the
IWI manual. A black only variant is the
Tavor SAR-IDF with a Mepro-21 Reflex Sight.
With the Tavor-21 and its variants
now being issued not only within the
IDF but also its being adopted by a
number of other countries, it comes as
no surprise that American firearms enthusiasts and law enforcement are also
interested in it. Check out the
Tavor SAR at your dealers, or
contact IWI USA at 717-6952081(iwi.us).
Other Contacts:
CONTACTS
TAVOR’S BULLPUP
A.R.M.S. Mounts Inc.
(armsmounts.com)
Aimpoint, Inc.
(Aimpoint.com)
Gemtech Inc.
(gem-tech.com)
GripPod Systems
(grippod.com)
MantaRail Covers
(mantarail.com)
Precision Reflex, Inc.
(precisionreflex.com)
Sling System, Inc.
(dsarms.com)
Vortex Optics
(vortexoptics.com)
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER: Any content in this
publication, including technical data, reports of any
activities, information, events and circumstances
under controlled situations and under supervised
control have not been tested nor approved nor were
under the control of Soldier of Fortune Magazine.
Reports are transmitted from independent sources to
which SOF has neither supervision nor control. The
data is transmitted for reporting events by the author.
Soldier of Fortune Magazine, its agents, officers,
consultants nor any other individual or entity reject
any and all responsibility for any reporting in this publication. Any reports in this publication do not provide
detail for comprehensive safety techniques, training
techniques, training precautions that are absolutely
essential for any covered or similar activity. The
reader MUST not attempt any reported activity, technique or use of equipment based upon any reports in
this publication. Comprehensive training, guidance
and supervision is always necessary when engaging
in any activity of which any report in this publication
mentions or gives any reference to. The views of the
authors do not represent the views of the Soldier of
Fortune Magazine
Spent brass flies from the ejection port, as the Tavor SAR
sends 5.56mm bullets toward the
target. Recoil was nil with almost no
muzzle rise.
70
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