Been looking at the parts kits from Apex, and wondering how big of a pain it would be to get one built.  Barrel options, and receiver?

Could I take a Galil ACE and convert it back to a standard galil, or is that out of the question?

Any builders in the house that could steer me in the right direction?

Thanks.

For receivers, there are basically two options:

Assault Weapons of Ohio, and CNC Warrior. The AWO receivers have a not-so-good reputation, and some builders won't touch them. Over $300.

The CNC Warrior receivers are great, but are over $600.

I do not know if there are flats available.

That's about all I have to put in. I sold my parts kit because I didn't want to pay $600 for a receiver and then pay someone to build it.

I know, I know, "Go be poor somewhere else."

I have a little money saved up, as I have wanted one for a long time now.  It just depends on how big of a cost it is.

I have two Galil's built  from parts kit. Both are using AWO receivers. ($250)  The AWO 5.56 receiver was fine out of the box the 7.62x39 was a ORF Old stock and required tweaking. The critical part is head spacing and I chose to go to a skilled builder to help with that.  The rest of it is a straight forward build very much an AK STYLE build. The kits I bought were from APEX  2 years ago. The good was that they came came with barrels, the bad was that while the metal was generally in good shape it had little of the original finish and the furniture was uglier that a mud fence. I bought a US compliance hand guard and sanded the pistol grip and had them cerakoted.
It is entirely doable project. The only other thing to know about the kits is that the tritium night sights are likely to be dead. Somewhere on here is a link to a company that sells sealed tritium vial I used those to refurb my night sights. The fellow who helped me me with the head spacing and made my 7.62x39 barrel told me that AWO 2nd gen receivers resolved the earlier issues with the old ORF pattern recievers.
I am into the 5.56 $250 for the receiver $400 for the kit  with barrel, $40 for the tritium and  $40 ish the hand guard. I paid the the fellow who head spaced $100. So it is not a cheap project but  cheaper than buying an ACE.
Edit
I forgot I had traded for my Cerakote but the guy would have charged me 250 to blast and and coat it.  Have to Air dry the furniture.

Adding up you numbers in my head I get $1040 for your finished project.

New Galil ACEs on GunBroker are $1650 and up. The extra money gets you a BHO, picatinny rails, STAGNAG mag compatibility, and probably most importantly, a factory warranty.

If you absolutely have to have an old school Galil, building is your only choice. If you want a Galil to shoot, I think it's a hard argument to make that rolling your own is better.

AJ

  Since Better is a relative term I try to avoid it, the OP asked if it was Feasible I shared my experiences  and belief that it is feasible .  The points you make illustrate what you value, which is cool. While  I can't speak for anyone but  using your numbers  there is a 50% saving in building ( I should say here I am not particularly skilled and would describes my self as a bumbling tinkerer) for me that is a significant savings. Also from a financial standpoint , buying one piece at  time  allows me to defer costs  (yeah some people save up and go all at once that never works out for me)  Another reason I choose to build is that for me the process is often every bit as a important as the product , Each time I build something learn more about the platform I am working in.  Lastly and this is just may be being old , The ACE is a fine rifle,  but it is not a Galil AR, ARM or SAR  and I is what I wanted ,

I really want an old school Galil, I think that the ACE looks awful. I was looking at the APEX parts kits and they no longer have barrels for them, where can I get a barrel? I am pretty close to pulling the trigger on this, I just don't want to get a project started that I can not finish because parts do not exist.

I completely agree, better is subjective. If the OP wants a original type Galil, building is the only way to go.

AJ

Lewis and Black is making is making Barrels as I recall, and I am assured by a few machinist it is one of the easier barrel to make if you have a lathe. Additionally I may have a spare Apex barrel ( I will have to check) if you are interested.

Yes, I am interested. The barrel is the only thing holding me back from ordering both the receiver and the parts kit.

Im in this process myself. I have it all together, but head space is killing me. These US barrels just aren't easy to play with. Gonna have to send it out to have this done so it will be finally finished. I may change my thinking on this one and get it as short as possible, SBR maybe even.

Just got a flyer from APEX they have 98% complete Galil barrels

I did a couple Galil kit builds not quite two years ago and they were not exactly cheap. One was with a AWO receiver and one with a CNC Warrior receiver.

The one with the CNC receiver got some new old stock parts including a virgin Israeli barrel, gas block, bipod, pistol grip, handguard, carry handle and rear handguard retainer. Needless to say all that new stuff was sort of pricey.

The other one just got the barrel that Apex supplied with the kit. The only NOS part was the handguard as the ones that came with the kits were awful.

I think I wound up with about $1000 in one and $1700 in the other as I had the receiver engraved.

Still haven't started yet because I can not find a barrel. Apex has barrel blanks, but that requires a little bit more skill that I had in order to get it ready for the rifle. So if anyone can point me in the right direction for a barrel, please let me know.

I have a new commercial barrel that I would be willing to sell. it is one of those that APEX was selling with the kits a few years ago. It's threaded and chambered, but will still need the extractor groove cut and gas port drilled. PM me if you are interested.

 You'd do well to call Jeff Miller at Hillbilly Firearms.  He can walk you through that in a few short minutes.

just sent mine out. Hopefully be back in a couple weeks.

@Highpower308

Where did you get the carry handle handguard?

Keep eyes open on various threads and GB for some of the elusive bits. I got an excellent ARM hand guard and handle as well as a virgin IMI ARM barrel with correct gas block. Had Tenngalil build it. CNC receiver, had lightening cuts made. It was not cheap but it's stunning and more IDF authentic than a pre ban. Tenngalil is the guy to build it, but he's not fast.

I'll definitely do that. At this point, my main concern is getting the basic parts kit, since they won't be around forever. I'll order one sometime before the end of the year.

Edit: Have any spares?

I just ordered an AR kit from Apex with a NOS barrel. I'll eventually pick up a receiver and then send it out to a builder to at least have the barrel installed and head spaced.

Also does anyone know the exact differences between the AR kits and the ARM kits Apex is selling? I mistakingly ordered the AR kit instead of the ARM, and they shipped it before I got a chance to call and change it.

From what I can tell they are basically the same rifle, except the ARM came with a bipod, and the gas block to accept the bi pod. I'm a bit confused as Apex says the AR kits ship with an ARM gas block.  The ARM kits they sell don't come with a bipod, so I'm confused as to what the difference is.

It's a good question.  I ordered the ARM but got a hybrid gun with an ARM gas block, ARM fore end but an AR hand guard ferrul.

I am just gonna keep my eyes peeled for an ARM carry handle setup.  There IS a pretty neat QD ARM type bipod out there on the aftermarket....but I don't remember who makes it.

Somewhat tardy weigh in to your thread.  L&B does indeed offer ARM/SAR barrel configurations.  The challenges of turning, chambering, etc. are not insurmountable for anyone familiar with this machining process.  We've bee somewhat swamped/backordered and are struggling to find the optimum solution of demand vs exposure.  As others have stated, the headspacing is the critical element requiring a skilled/experienced individual when it comes to this build.  A custom build from someone of Jeff Miller's caliber isn't inexpensive (if I can employ a double negative in English).  That being said, you can do this if you're patient and willing to sub out some of the work.  CNC Warrior's receivers were developed with and in conjunction with Jeff's plans/assistance.  They're rock solid and worth the money regardless of the lack of other viable options.  Consider calling Jeff at Hillbilly Firearms, asking a lot of questions and then diagraming your objective.  He may be able to alleviate some of your "don't know what I don't know" issues and simultaneously provide you with the confidence and path to completing this build in a very satisfactory manner.

R. Tucker
Lewis & Black, LLC
[email protected]
https://lewisandblack.com

mine will be back on Saturday. Will have to refinish it, but I'm excited.

I had mine built up as a pistol in SAR config. I'll get the stamp process rolling soon.

Looking forward to pics!

Apex has Galil parts kits on sale: $349

@Highpower308

What's the translations of those markings? I recognize aleph - does its numerical value of 1 mean semi? What about the other two positions?

Order an apex parts kit with the barrel if apex has any left. These barrels are super easy to headspace out of the box and don't require extractor cuts. I've headspace 2 kits with a .750" barrel block and a big ass crescent wrench. Its not that hard. These barrels are a steal at $40 if bought with a kit. Sarco has the new style "quick release" bipod for $35 shipped and they will work on any ARM gas block. None of these new kits come with the carry handle mount but there is a guy out of Florida making some that don't require you to cut your handguards for I think $65. I can post pics if anyone wants.

Another quality receiver option is from Tortort.
They have a 100% finished receiver or an 80 %receiver that you complete by putting in the fire control holes, milling for the trigger guard area and ejector. The available nitrided barrels are 1:12 twist and fine for light / short projectiles. The original IMI barrels were 1:7, at least the one I used on a prior build was.

I am building another ARM for myself and waiting on a Tortort receiver. I have one of the nitrided 1:12 barrels that looks great but not sure if I am going to use it. I might just take dimensions off it and turn a barrel from a blank in 1:7 or 1:8 twist. I would love to find a hammer forged blanks or maybe I will spring for a stainless steel Krieger that would look cool.

Galil builds are not inexpensive or drop in easy but anyone that has skill can make it happen.