what caliber for galil?

[Revolver Ocelot]

I was talking to hillbilly firearms today about an upcoming galil build and when we got on the subject of the barrel he asked what caliber do you want, 5.56, 5.45, 7.62x39? I knew that they could be converted to other calibers but I had never really thought of it.

So here's my question, if you were building a galil what caliber would you want it in and why?

 

[TurtlePhish]

5.56, it's standard and magazines are available.

 

[The_Armed_Therapist]

It's hard to argue against 5.56 on this one. Perhaps if I had several 5.56 ARs or something already, and was lacking anything in one of the other two...

 

[NCsmitty]

5.56, it's standard and magazines are available.

Unfortunately the cheap ammo is not.

Leave it in the 5.45, at least that is mostly available and still relatively cheap.


NCsmitty

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

converting it to another caliber will just leave me using ak mags which are certainly available. The only benefit I can see to having 5.56 is it is inherently more accurate but otherwise more expensive. I plan on making it into something of a sar clone but truthfully have little idea what that will do to the ballistics for the other calibers mentioned.

 

[WardenWolf]

Actually I believe the 5.45 is inherently a bit more accurate than 5.56, but not enough to matter.

Magazines are honestly a non-issue because Tapco makes an excellent Galil magazine that's available for $14. If you can deal with the cost of ammo, I'd say keep it in 5.56.

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

I prefer steel mags generally, I tend to keep my guns free of plastic, call me old fashioned

 

[WardenWolf]

The problem, Revolver Ocelot, is that it's almost impossible to find serviceable steel Galil mags. The original magazines are often severely worn out, and because of their awkward 35-round size you can't find replacement springs for them. There are literally no direct replacements available for the original magazine springs, and no viable substitutes. You pretty much HAVE to go Tapco.

 

[bannockburn]

If it were mine I would chamber it in 5.56, mainly because the Tapco mags are readily available and relatively inexpensive. I also have quite a bit of 5.56 ammo on hand.

 

[tahunua001]

I voted 5.45 but it's a bit of a wash.

if I owned a galil I wouldn't use it for anything but a range toy, I have ARs that are better SD guns than a galil(though not by much as the galil fixes some of my issues with the AK platform) so I don't need the 5.56 and if I want something with a little(emphasis on the little) more OOMPH I can grab an SKS.

the 5.56 would operate better but not everybody owns a galil in 5.45 and for the time being, 5.45 is still the cheapest of the 3.

 

[WardenWolf]

There is one more alternative for Galil magazines: there's a drop-in AR mag adapter available for about $100 that lets you use standard AR15 magazines. This isn't just some ghetto adaptation; IMI themselves made it. There's both originals and copies floating around for around $100. They can even take a Beta-C mag, though at that point you're talking a 15-pound gun.

 

[paintballdude902]

.300 blackout............................... jk



id go 5.45 since its cheap but its hard to find locally so u have to order it

 

[bigdaa]

The AK74 ammo is still the cheapest albeit corrosive.

I may be swayed by that particular situation from the get go if I could stock 10,000 rounds up.

 

[WardenWolf]

Revolver, here is what I would do for my Galil build, since you're having it done custom from the get-go:

1. Go 5.56
2. Have them install an AK optics hardpoint on the receiver.
3. Get a normal AK dust cover and do the minor modification to the front to make it fit; a Galil dust cover won't let you slide a scope on.

The reason is that a Galil can be a highly accurate rifle, but the problem is you can't scope it without jumping through a lot of hoops. If you're building it from the start, you have the opportunity to make it right so you can use proper scope mounts. When you want to use optics, just swap the dust cover and slide them on.

You may also consider having the receiver lightened. The Galil, being a milled receiver, has a lot of extra meat on it that can be removed. My Century Golani is possibly the most solidly-built gun I own, but it's a brick.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Personally, I'd leave it in whatever the stock caliber it comes in. That is what the weapon was designed and optimized around. At the end of the day, reliability is the most important parameter (unless this is a social range firearm at what point get whatever you want). Ammo prices will drop. After the last ammo scare in 2008, it dropped back to the historical norm. It will this time. Reversion to the mean is a powerful concept.

 

[JustinJ]

What do you plan to do with it?

 

[Z-Michigan]

I usually use something in the .270 Win / .308 Win class when I'm hunting Galil, out to 300 yards or so. Beyond that range I find that a flatter shooting magnum, such as 7mm Rem Mag or .300 Win Mag, is best, to about 500 yards which is the farthest realistic range for that type of game animal.

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j/k. 5.56.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

The only Galil I am interested in are the 7.62x51 NATO models. In terms of poodle shooters, I think the SIG would be a more refined version of the AK in that caliber than the Galil. And I wouldn't waste a Galil parts kit on a Russian cartridge. I'd just get an Arsenal AK in either of the ComBlock rounds.

 

[TRX]

Galil (and Valmet, and R4) magazines have a slightly higher latching lug on the front due to the slant-cut receiver. Sometimes AKM mags will work, sometimes they won't.

.223 Galil mags are easily available and (relatively) inexpensive.

The 5.45 and 5.56 cartridges *do not* interchange in the .223 AKM magazines I have. I didn't want to get into bending the feed lips to experiment. Unless you can find 5.45 Galil magazines somewhere, you'd have to tweak the mags to work with 5.45. And like the once-vast supplies of cheap 7.62x25, cheap surplus 5.45x39 is going to run out eventually too. Proper 5.45 bullets are .001" smaller than 5.56 bullets, dies are oddball and expensive, and I've never seen any Boxer primed 5.45 brass, though I'm sure there's some out there somewhere.

If it's a .308 receiver, you might as well stay with .308.

I can't see any real advantage to converting one to 7.62x39. The cost difference in ammo cost isn't what it once was, and it's not going to get better.

 

[JustinJ]

The 5.45 and 5.56 cartridges *do not* interchange in the .223 AKM magazines I have. I didn't want to get into bending the feed lips to experiment. Unless you can find 5.45 Galil magazines somewhere, you'd have to tweak the mags to work with 5.45. And like the once-vast supplies of cheap 7.62x25, cheap surplus 5.45x39 is going to run out eventually too.

Supply will certainly go through ups and downs but unlike 7.62x25 the 5.45 round is still in use in at least one kind of large country that comes to mind.

 

[dcarch]

I said 7.62x39 simply because I really like that caliber, it's always proved terminally effective in my experience, and it's still fairly easily to find at a reasonable price. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

What do you plan to do with it?

I plan to use this as a defensive carbine/truck gun aside from the usual range trips. For this purpose I intend to try and lighten the rifle some as well by getting the lightning cut in the receiver, giving it a sar gas system and shortening the barrel with a permanently attached flash hider to keep it legal. I'm still throwing around the idea of taking apart the stock and leaving the steel hinge for strength but adding the back end of an ace folding stock to reduce the overall weight.

 

[WardenWolf]

I'd like to see whatever milling work you have done to the receiver once it's done. I plan to send my Century Golani under the knife at some point. Despite what some people have said about the Century builds, it has excellent build quality and is honestly the most solid-feeling semi-automatic rifle I own, VEPR .308 included. It's just too dang heavy for what it is, though, and I can't easily scope it without having an AK hardpoint installed. I fully believe its accuracy can be up there with good AR15 rifles, but I need glass to see what it can really do.

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

I was just thinking of doing the same lightning cut found on the right side of most imi galil's I have seen, nothing special. I'm going to talk it over with jeff over at hillbilly firearms about it and see if he has any ideas, I really don't care if it stays "traditional or not, I'm more concerned with function and handling.