6 Oct 15

IMI Tavor Rifle:

Last weekend on the East Coast, we did and Urban Rifle Course.

We have several ARs, one Kalashnikov, and one Tavor. This is the latest of a dozen Tavors weā€™ve had in Class, and all, including this one, have run well. Out of five-hundred rounds fired, there was only one hiccup, a failure to eject.

The Tavorā€™s solid, one-piece stock and simple, expeditious field-stripping, with no small parts to get lost, and its ā€œbullpupā€ pattern, which makes it very compact (handy for low-profile transport) and puts most of the weight at the rear, all make it attractive as a patrol rifle and for personal defense.

I donā€™t own a Tavor yet, but I may.

There are three ā€œissuesā€ with the Tavor that currently give me pause:

1) The factory trigger is heavy, gritty, and not conducive to any kind of accuracy.

2) The trigger itself ā€œdanglesā€ in space, not well protected

3) There is no way to push the bolt forward. No forward-assist.

The Tavorā€™s factory trigger is, in fact, so disagreeable that my friend Bill Geissele put-together a drop-in replacement almost immediately after Tavors began to be imported. Several others now make replacement triggers too.

In fact, my student had a Geissele Trigger installed in his copy of the Tavor, and it was wonderful! Like all Geissele triggers, it really works. I highly recommend it to all Tavor owners!

The ā€œtrigger guardā€ on a Tavor is big enough to accommodate all fingers, not just the trigger-finger! The effect is that the trigger just dangles in space and is thus not well protected from inadvertent contact. The rifle really needs a more protective trigger-guard, in my opinion.

A bolt forward-assist on an autoloading rifle is always a subject of controversy. Some will argue that such a capability is superfluous, and they have a point. However, my opinion is that on all military rifles, there needs to be a built-in capacity for the operator to force the bolt in both directions.

The lack of a forward-assist is particularly annoying when one performs a ā€œchamber-check,ā€ in an attempt to confirm a round is chambered. When the bolt is withdrawn from battery only part way, when released it only falls forward from half-way back. When it then does not fall forward with enough force to put it into full battery, there is no way to ā€œbumpā€ it the rest of the way.

Perhaps this is seldom an issue with clean rifles and clean ammunition, but with dirty rifles and ā€œsoiledā€ ammunition, often encountered in real war, it is an issue!

I realize that other very good rifles, like the FAL and some ARs, share this same issue. But, In my opinion, it detracts from the rifleā€™s true utility as a competent weapon.

When I talk with the Tavor folks at the SHOT Show in January, Iā€™ll, once again, bring all this up. Iā€™m sure theyā€™ll politely listen to me, and may agree, and may not!

ā€œā€˜Tactā€™ is the art of making a point, without making an enemy.ā€

Isaac Newton

/John