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IWI Galil ACE

Assault Rifle / Assault Carbine / Battle Rifle (2008)

The IWI Galil ACE is a further evolution of the well-established Israeli Galil assault rifle series and represents a modernized version of the classic gun.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 12/15/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

The original Israeli military IMI "Galil" rifle of 1972 was a modified form of the Finnish RK-62 which itself was a local creation of the Polish copy of the famous Soviet Kalashnikov AK-47. A stout weapon, the Galil proved itself across the many regional conflicts involving Israel and went on to form the basis for several other related automatic weapons born from the original - these including a carbine, Light Machine Gun (LMG) and Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) forms.

However, as good as the gun was there were critiques that followed the weapon after a period of practical in-the-field use. Chiefly, as a frontline standard infantryman assault weapon, the rifle proved heavy at just under 10 pounds and several internal design qualities threatened reliability under harsh battlefield conditions. With that in mind, Israel Military Industries (IMI) engineers (now Israel Weapon Industries - IWI) engineers went to work on fleshing out a modernized version of the storied rifle and this has become the Gaili "ACE".

The ACE marks a family of automatic weapons based on the reworked Galil concept - to include a full-length assault rifle form, a shortened carbine model and a sturdy Battle Rifle (to fulfill the sniping / Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) role). The overall appearance of the weapon remains faithful to the Galil but certainly has been reworked with accessory rails support and liberal use of lightweight polymers. A "last-round" bolt catch has been implemented and the gas operation system relies on a proven long-stroke piston action with the gas cylinder affixed over the barrel assembly. An adjustable shoulder stock gives the operator some customizability and the barrel is finished with chrome-lining and is hammer-forged for robustness.

The resulting weapon is a lighter, more reliable and accurate frontline service rifle able to adopt to various battlefield roles - a plethora of variants are available which feature varying operational weights, barrel lengths and feed systems (operating from Kalashnikov, original Galil or NATO magazines) with slightly different performance specifications. Chamberings range from the widely-accepted 5.56x45mm NATO intermediate rifle cartridge to the 7.62x39mm and 7.62x51mm rifle cartridges depending on model in question.

The ACE has become the standard-issue service rifle of the armies of Colombia (with local production by Indumil), Chile (FAME) and Vietnam (Z111 Factory). Peru is also working up local production of the gun family. The weapon is known locally in Ukraine as the "Fort 227" and joins the "Fort-228" and "Fort-229" models produced by RPC Fort. Beyond its obvious military value, some global police forces have also adopted the type - as is the case in Haiti, Mexico, Philippines and Guatemala.

Specifications

BASICS [+] MANUFACTURER(S) [+] OPERATORS [+] ROLES [+] ACTION [+] CARTRIDGE & FEED [+] PERFORMANCE [+] VARIANTS [+] HONORS [+]

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