ICS Galil ICAR AR

I’m always somewhat dismayed that with so many unique and interesting airsoft replicas available most players opt immediately for an M4 variant; pretty much every single airsoft manufacturer will have a line-up dominated by replicas of the American service weapon. But then again, as it’s used by so many militaries worldwide it does tick a lot of boxes.

There are also numerous other RIFs that seem to take pride of place on the walls of your local airsoft shop, but one to me that is often overlooked is the Galil replica from Taiwanese manufacturer I Chi Shivan (ICS). They have been in business since 1983 and from 1998 onwards have dedicated themselves purely to the creation of high-quality airsoft replicas. I’ve owned many ICS models over the years, and my current L85 is one of theirs. Earlier in the year, though, I noticed that a buddy of mine had moved to an ICS Galil AR and was getting on really well with it; it seemed solid, reliable, and of superb quality. When I questioned him about its performance he declared himself well satisfied, so when Fire Support kindly offered to send me a Galil for review I jumped at the chance!

One Of a Kind

The Galil in the real world really is one of a kind, designed by Yisrael Galil and Yaacov Lior in the late 1960s and produced by Israel Military Industries Ltd (now Israel Weapon Industries Ltd). Early in the 1960s a large proportion of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) were armed with the FN FAL, which in general terms was a superb battle rifle.

However, the 1967 Six Day War showed the limitations of the FAL, in that it fared badly in the harsh, dusty desert conditions. It was also long and heavy, and as the IDF were winning their fair share of victories by adopting highly mobile manoeuvre tactics, it was not the ideal weapon to use from vehicles.

The IDF decided at that point that what they really needed was a lighter and handier rifle than the FAL. Numerous AK variants had been captured from the Arab armies, and these had functioned far better than the FAL. It was decided that the AK action should be studied further, and an ingenious design was offered for testing by Yisrael Galil. His rifle was based around the Finnish m/62, and indeed the first batch to come off the production line used Finnish m/62 bodies delivered from Helsinki! Although the Galil shared many operating similarities with the AK, whilst the AK-47 and m/62 fired the 7.62x39mm Soviet round, Galil’s rifle fired the smaller 5.5x45mm M193 55-grain round. At the time, the United States was replacing France as Israel’s main weapons supplier, and of course there was no way that they would be supplying ammunition from the CCCP!

In service, the Galil proved to be a highly effective and reliable weapon, especially with vehicle-mounted troops. Its side-folding stock meant that the overall length of the rifle could be shortened swiftly and easily by those working from armoured personnel carriers for instance. It was also a very versatile weapon, forming the base of a system; the AR (Automatic Rifle) was the standard infantry rifle, with the ARM being the model that was used in the squad support weapon role to replace the heavy barrelled FN. Later the SAR (Shortened AR) and finally the MAR (Micro AR) were added to the line, all in 5.56mm. Initially the Galil came with a wooden forestock, although in later models that changed to polymer. Numerous accessories made the Galil a very modular platform, and it even had the ability to fire rifle grenades. The Marksman Assault Rifle MK1 was introduced in 1996 with a padded stock and scope as standard, and several 7.62mm models were also available, most notably a version optimised for accuracy to be used in a sniper role.

With the USA as a supplier that was downsizing its own military though, Israel was given the opportunity to acquire large numbers of M16s at knockdown prices, the American rifles costing less than it did to manufacture a Galil. This relationship continued with the Israeli adoption of the M4, and many Israeli friends of mine who have served in the IDF have never even laid hands on the Galil; a sad fact, as it really is a superb battle rifle with everything going for it.

Galils are still in the hands of some units, and have been exported worldwide, the South African Defence Force (SADF) for instance use a modified Galil known as the R4, and Ukrainian forces use the sniper variant which is produced under licence as the FORT 301.

Standing Out

So, if you want to be a bit different, then the ICS Galil is certainly a replica worthy of your consideration. ICS produce versions of both the Galil AR and the ARM, so in theory you could equip an entire team with this distinctive rifle, with the wood stocked ARM as your support gun. Essentially both models are the same internally, with the ARM adding a bipod and carry handle.

What arrived with me from Fire Support though was the AR variant with polymer forestock. Externally the quality of workmanship is immediately apparent, the replica feeling solid with nary a squeak or rattle. Everything is firmly in its place – the ‘polymer’ pistol grip and forestock show some very minor mould lines, but nothing that would put me off in any way. All the metalwork is a nice matte black with dark grey highlighting around the gas block/front sight areas and the hinge for the folding metal butt stock.

The receiver area shows unmistakeably the AK heritage of the Galil, with the same selector lever on the right-hand side; this however becomes fully ambidextrous as there is a further selector on the lefthand side of the pistol grip. It’s a very neat arrangement. The charging handle is also in the same place as an AK, but modified in design, and pulling this to the rear reveals a sliding hop control. The magazine release is also very AKlike, with magazines being inserted front lip forward. The Galil AR comes with a pair of 400 BB High Capacity magazines as standard, which is all to the good.

There are couple of external features that really are worthy of note on the ICS Galil. The first of these is that all the markings are in Hebrew, each rifle having its own individual serial number too. The second is the addition, just like the real thing, of flip up iron night sights, working in conjunction with the regular iron sights and clearly marked with large white dots. Internally things are just as good.

The one-piece Version 3 gearbox is the standard offering for almost all AK replicas on the market today, but it was a surprising departure from ICS’s signature split gearbox design. Those who like to modify their replicas internally will be happy as the internal parts are off-the-shelf, standard V3 components that can be interchanged or upgraded with just about anything on the market today. The gears are all metal too. The only thing I’d like to have seen is a metal spring guide in place of the included plastic one. Bushings are solid 6mm steel. The motor is the Turbo 3000 short type, so no problems there.

All in all the Galil is quite a tight package, with good materials, solid construction, tried and tested internals, but ultimately, how does it perform?

Downrange

As always the true performance of any airsoft replica only comes out in a game, and I was lucky enough that it arrived before a new site opened locally to me, giving me the ideal opportunity to try it out. Now Fire Support do say on their website “ask us about FPS” which is a way of saying “this replica might be a bit warm”, and when I tested it I got a mean average with the new .20g NUPROL BBs of 393fps. Luckily it’s simple enough to change out the spring, but I would indeed ask as most good retailers will be able to sort that out before shipping it to you!

Once I’d got the beast down to a more reasonable 335fps it was time to take it into skirmish territory. Normally I would run on a mixture of real or mid capacity magazines, but the 400 rounders from ICS meant I could run light with just a belt kit set-up, and I’m glad I did as the new Darkwater Airsoft site near Hythe in Kent has some serious slopes to contend with! I’ve always found ICS HiCaps to function flawlessly and the Galil versions performed perfectly, winding easily and feeding effectively.

The standard iron sights were easy and simple to acquire, and as I’ve owned a number of different AKs over the year, operating the controls was straightforward.

With the folding stock extended this is a long rifle, so if you’re of smaller stature you might want to try before you buy; that said, with a long rifle comes benefit. The internal barrel of the Galil is a whopping 509mm long!

It’s a pretty stock brass affair as standard, but with the introduction of a tightbore into the AR I believe you could make this accurate as heck. Not that it’s a slouch in this respect, as out of the box you’ll be hitting targets out to a good 60 metres.

Conclusion

I ran the Galil on a 7.4V 800mAH Li-Po battery which fitted easily under the, again AK-style, top cover, and ran the gun excellently all day; if you already own an AK and have older style 8.4V stick batteries those will work perfectly too. Rate of fire was more than respectable on full-auto, and on semi the trigger was crisp and efficient. All in all the Galil AR turned out to be a great skirmish gun.

So, if you’re looking for something a bit different, something that in the real world is a first rate battle rifle, and that the same can be said for in airsoft form, then I would say to you to give the ICS Galil AR some serious consideration. It’s one of those replicas that I’ve never owned, and having now had a chance to try one in earnest, I’m scratching my head slightly over why not.