#Iwi

What is up my fellow firearms enthusiasts. It’s Benjamin F coming at you pre-written with another Featured Deals of the Week. As always please lock your seatbacks in the upright position before breaking open your wallets.

The rumours have been doing the rounds for a while but Israel’s IWI has now announced the introduction of their new AR-pattern rifle, the ARAD. The ARAD uses a short-stroke gas piston operating system rather than the AR-15’s direct impingement system but shares many features with Stoner’s iconic rifle.

The 5.56x45mm Carmel was introduced recently by IWI Israel. We haven’t really gotten a chance to get our hands on one until now when we caught up to IWI in Tel Aviv, Israel. No word yet on whether or not the rifle would be introduced to the U.S. commercial market but it does look like IWI wants to market it for the international export marketplace with military users.

NOTE: We previously reported that the Tavor 7 might be fielded as a designated marksman rifle for the IDF. However, according to our source at IWI, the prior article we cited from the Jerusalem Post contained misleading wording with comments from IWI taken out of context. They have advised that there are no formal plans for the IDF to formally adopt the Tavor 7, at least not yet. While the IDF is considering a compact DMR and it seems that the Tavor 7 bullpup would fit the bill in that respect, the Tavor 7 has not been selected for fielding at this time. The below is a version of today’s earlier article that has been corrected to more accurately represented the present facts.

In an effort to find a new light machine gun a team of Indian Army and Defense Officials have started a tour to visit firearms manufacturers, including  Arsenal in Bulgaria. The tour then continues to Israel and Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), before heading on to South Korea for a visit to S&T Motiv (previously Daewoo Precision Industries).

Now don’t get me wrong. The AR-15 is an amazing platform and I own several. I love how ergonomic and modular the rifles are along with the availability of parts in the market. I have been trying to get away from the AR-15 control system and look at new options because it’s never bad to look at your options.

Rumors that Israel Weapon Industries have discretely been developing a new 5.56x45mm assault rifle/carbine have circulated for a couple of years now, culminating with a brief (since taken out) TFB post on leaked material in July 2018. For the last nine months or so, nothing else emerged anywhere on the “mystery” IWI rifle, until the opening of the 2019 LAAD Defence & Security exposition in Rio de Janeiro on April 2. Sharing IWI’s booth with better known items such as the company’s TAVOR bullpup X85 5.56x45mm assault rifle and 9x19mm submachine gun, GALIL-derived, multi-caliber (5.56x45mm, 7.62x39mm, and 7.62x51mm) ACE rifles, 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm NEGEV light machine guns, the now-sleek 9x19mm UZI PRO submachine guns, the plethora of JERICHO pistols in different calibers, and some other stuff, sharp-eyed visitors could, then, distinguish three examples of hitherto unseen in public CARMEL rifle.

If you haven’t followed our recent coverage of OSS Suppressors, the Millcreek, UT based company has undergone a near-complete transformation in the past few years. What used to be a hexagonal, multi-part suppressor that would confuse even veteran NFA owners, is now a sleek, round, one piece tube available in either steel or titanium and in multiple lengths. The centerpiece on the OSS design, the forward vents/ports, however, remain, acting to help eliminate the blowback pressure in semiautomatic firearms. Instead of forcing gasses back down the barrel, increasing cyclic rates and dirtying up the action, the OSS Helix design vents gases forward. And now IWI has seen the benefits of the OSS system, making the brand their official suppressor.

There have been many turns in India’s move towards their major infantry modernization, and getting new high-quality rifles to replace the current and troublesome INSAS rifle. ( INdian Small Arms System)

Many of us have been long awaiting the arrival and debut of the 7.62mm Tavor 7 and the 12 gauge TS12. Unfortunately there have been a few setbacks in getting the small arms in from Israel. In the case of the Tavor 7 the reason is that the rifle itself is a 4 MOA gun, something that the U.S. sales reps knew wouldn’t be a good fit for the U.S. market. Thus, IWI in Israel is redoing the rifle in order to make it a 1 MOA rifle, suitable for an acceptable standard of accuracy in the United States.

A YouTube channel called 45Snipers has published a video showing a very detailed 3D model of the IWI Tavor X95 rifle and demonstrating how different parts and assemblies of that weapon work. The animation starts with stripping the rifle down to the firing pin then adding the parts and naming them and then it goes on showing how the action and controls of this weapon system work. You can find the mentioned video embedded below.

Thanks to Tom Bostic of Tommy Built, I got a G36 carry handle with the Hensoldt dual optic. I was going to put it on my Archangel conversion stock of my Ruger 10/22 but it did not fit. Then I decided to mount it to my Tavor X95. I present the G36 Tavor Collaboration.

Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems, India’s first privately owned small arms manufacturer, are set to begin building IWI X95s in Madhya Pradesh. The new joint venture with IWI will produce not just the X95 but also the Galil designated marksman variant, the Negev light machine gun and the original Tavor bullpup rifle.

Recent imagery of the Latin American-based special operations competition organized by U.S. South Command has shown that some members of the Panamanian contingent were using 5.56x45mm IWI X95 select-fire carbines during the small arms live fire portion of the course. In particular, there were only two Commandos of the Panamanian team that were pictured with the X95s with a tan FDE finish. The other team members ran through the carbine portions with 5.56x45mm NATO M4 carbines as they had been doing every year. However for the competitors running the X95s, it appears they actually came from a different branch of service than the M4 wielding teammates, due to the uniforms (Multicam versus digital) and gear they were donning.

For those of you interested in getting your hands on the TS12 bullpup shotgun that was announced at SHOT 2018, IWI is providing us with shipping updates so you can plan your gun budget accordingly. The TS12 in black will be available sometime around November with the FDE and OD Green models appearing in early 2019. Black Tavor-7s will be available any day with the Masada pistol rolling out in January of 2019. Full details can be found in the press release below