IMI Galil The IMI Galil is an assault rifle made by the Israel Military Industries based in the AK - 47 and the FN FAL , the Galil wasn ' t heavy used because Israel received large shipments of M - 16 and Car - 15 assault rifles when the Galil still was in phase of tests . Description . The experience , gained by the Israeli Defense Forces ( IDF ) during the Six - days war of 1967 , showed the deficiencies of the FN FAL rifles , which were the main armament of the IDF infantry . The FAL rifles were too sensitive to fine sand and dust of Arab deserts , and too long and bulky to carry and maneuver . On the other hand , the same war showed the advantages of the Kalashnikov AK - 47 assault rifles , used by Arab infantry with great success . After the end of this war IDF decided to develop a new assault rifle , which will eventually replace the FN FAL battle rifles and some of the UZI submachine guns . It was also decided that the new assault rifle should be built around the new American low - impulse cartridge , known as 5 . 56x45mm . During the late 1960s the IDF tested two rival designs , one of the Uziel Gal , and the other of the Israel Galili . The latter design , based on the Finnish Valmet Rk . 62 assault rifle ( a license - built AK - 47 clone ) , eventually won the competition and was selected as a new IDF assault rifle in the 1973 , but its actual adoption was delayed by the next Israeli - Arab Yom Kippur war of the 1973 . The machinery and documentation package was bought from Valmet and transferred to the state owned Israel Military Industries ( IMI ) company . There are some rumors that the first production Galil rifles were built on the Valmet - made receivers . The basic Galil rifle later evolved into several configurations , including the full - size 5 . 56mm AR and ARM assault rifles , compact 5 . 56mm SAR rifle for the tank and vehicle crews , 7 . 62mm NATO AR selective fire and 7 . 62mm NATO semi - automatic Galatz sniper rifle , 5 . 56mm MAR subcompact assault rifle , also known as Micro - Galil , and some other modifications , like the unsuccessful . 30 Carbine Magal police rifle . While being a successful weapon , the Galil was not widely issued to the IDF during its lifetime , because during the late 1960s and early 1970s Israel received large shipments of the US M16 and CAR - 15 assault rifles at the very low prices . M16 rifles became the major armament of the IDF , with the Galils mostly issued to the Armored corps , Artillery corps and some units of the Israeli Air Forces . The Galil rifles were exported to the various South American , African and Asian countries . Estonia also received some Galil rifles in the early 2000s . The slightly modified Galil rifle is manufactured by the South African Vektor company , a division of the DENEL . Those models included the R - 4 ( Galil AR ) , R - 5 ( Galil SAR ) and R - 6 ( Galil MAR ) assault rifles , and are used by the South African Military . Another offspring of the Galil is the Croatian APS - 95 assault rifle . The semi - automatic only versions of the both 5 . 56mm and 7 . 62mm Galil AR rifles were widely sold to both domestic and foreign civilian and law enforcement markets . In general , the Galil rifles are fine weapons , but somewhat heavy and expensive to manufacture . Technical description . . Basically , the Galil assault rifle can be described as a modified Kalashnikov AK - 47 design , key differences between the Galil and the AK - 47 are as follows . The Galil featured a machined steel receivers of the original AK - 47 rifles , but of slightly different shape . The AK - 47 - style safety - selector switch at the right side of the gun is complemented by the additional smaller switch at the left side of the receiver , above the pistol handle . The cocking handle is bent upward , so it can be operated with either hand . The sights of the Galil featured a front hooded post , mounted on the gas block , with the rear diopter sight , mounted on the receiver top cover . Rear sight is of the flip - up type , with settings for 300 and 500 meters . Additional folding night sights with luminous inserts can be raised into position , which allows to aim the gun in the low light conditions at the ranges of up to 100 meters . The barrel and the flash hider can be used to launch the rifle grenades from the barrel , using the blanc or live cartridges ( depending on the rifle grenade type ) . The Galil ARM also features a folding detachable bipods and a carrying handle . The bipod base incorporates a bottle opener and a wire cutter . The standard folding buttstock is patterned after FN FAL Para , folds to the right to save the space . Some of the late production Micro - Galil ( MAR ) rifles also are fitted with the Picatinny - type rail , which allows to mount various sighting devices . Standard AR and ARM rifles can be fitted with scope mounting rail on the left side of the receiver . All 5 . 56mm Galil rifles are fed using proprietary 35 or 50 rounds curved box magazines with AK - 47 style locking . M16 - type magazines can be used via the special adapter . 7 . 62mm Galil rifles are fed using proprietary 25 rounds box magazines . Civilian semi - automatic Galil variants sometimes are fitted with 10 rounds magazines to comply with local firearms laws . Variants . AR . The standard rifle version which is fitted with a high - impact plastic handguard and pistol grip , a side - folding ( folds to the right side ) tubular metal skeleton stock as fitted to all variants except the Galil Sniper . ARM . The ARM light machine gun variant is additionally equipped with a carrying handle , folding bipod and a larger wooden handguard . The wooden handguard remains cooler during sustained automatic fire and has grooves for bipod storage . When folded , the bipod ' s legs form a speed chute for rapid magazine insertion ; the bipod will also form a wire cutter and the rear handguard ferrule , which retains the bipod legs , can be used to open bottles by design , in order to prevent soldiers using magazine lips for this purpose which damaged them . MAR . The most recent addition to the Galil family of weapons is the MAR compact carbine , which retains the internal features of the original Galil with a completely new frame , operating system and an even shorter barrel . Introduced to the public at the 2nd International Defence Industry Exhibition in Poland in 1994 , the weapon was developed for use with the army and police special units , vehicle crews , army staff , special operations personnel and airborne infantry . The MAR , also called the Micro Galil , is a reduced - size version of the Galil SAR ( 706 mm stock extended / 465 mm folded ) , weighing 2 . 98 kg empty . Compared to the original carbine , the MAR has a shortened barrel ( 210 mm ) , receiver , piston , gas tube and foregrip . The firearm is fed from a 35 - round steel magazine which can be clipped together to increase reload speed . The MAR has the same rate of fire ( 630 - 750 rounds / min ) 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 lever safety and fire selector ( located on both sides of the receiver ) has four settings : " S " — weapon is safe , " A " — automatic fire , " B " — 3 - round burst , " R " — semi - automatic mode . The barrel has a multifunction muzzle device . The MAR is equipped with a folding tubular metal stock and a flip aperture sight with two settings : 0 – 300 m and beyond 300 m . The MAR can also be equipped with a night vision device ( attached through an adapter mounted to the left side of the receiver ) , a daytime optical sight ( mounted via a receiver cover adapter ) , low - light sights with tritium illuminated dots , a vertical forward grip with integrated laser pointer , silencer and a nylon sling . Upon request , the weapon can be supplied with a bolt catch , plastic magazines weighing 0 . 164 kg or an enlarged trigger guard for use with gloves . 7 . 62mm variants . The 7 . 62 mm Galil is derived from the 5 . 56 mm base version . The rifle retains the general design layout and method of operation of the 5 . 56 mm variant . In 7 . 62mm the Galil is available in several different configurations including a SAR carbine , full size AR rifle and ARM light machine gun . These weapons are fed from 25 - round box magazines ( previously 20 - rounds ) . The barrel has four right - hand grooves with a 305 mm ( 1 : 12 in ) rifling twist rate . The 7 . 62 mm Galil Sniper ( Galil Tzalafim , or Galatz ) is a derivative of the ARM that is used with high quality 7 . 62x51mm NATO ammunition for consistent accuracy . The precision rifle is a semi - automatic - only rifle with a similar operating system to other Galil variants , but optimised for accuracy . The rifle is fed from a 25 - round box magazine . It uses a heavy profile match barrel that is heavier than that used on other variants . It is fitted with a multi - functional muzzle device , which acts as a flash suppressor and a muzzle brake . It can be replaced with a sound suppressor which requires the use of subsonic ammunition for maximum effectiveness . The weapon was modified with a two - stage trigger mechanism with an adjustable pull force , a wooden buttstock that folds to the right side of the weapon and a heavy - duty bipod , mounted to the forward base of the receiver housing that folds beneath the handguard when not in use . The buttstock is fully adjustable in length and height and features a variable height cheek riser . The rifle comes with mechanical iron sights and an adapter used to mount a telescopic day sight ( Nimrod 6x40 ) or a night sight . The mount is quick - detachable and capable of retaining zero after remounting . The precision rifle is stored in a rugged transport case that also comes with an optical sight , mount , filters , two slings ( for carrying and firing ) and a cleaning kit . Recent production models feature synthetic plastic furniture and a skeletonized metal stock . Other variants . Other variants are :