Not home defense, just a range toy.

Want:

• ability to suppress -- i.e. threaded barrel and ability to take an aftermarket KNS gas doodad.


• reliability -- if it doesn't work, it won't get shot, won't be fun, and I'll probably sell it.  Selling the JRA would be much much more straightforward than selling the SBR!


• self-service -- I'm accustomed to assembling and servicing my own AR15s.  I've got the tools etc.  This would be my first Galil, so I'm sure there are new skills and tools.  Looks like it takes down reasonably, but are there rivets on other things?  Oof

Price is a consideration (900 vs 1350), but if the SBR is much more fun, then it would seem to be worth it.  I'm somewhat concerned about the hassle of NFA -- I know what I'm getting into from having suppressors ... The SBR would probably be a cooler novelty gun, and handier / lighter as well.  I'm guessing the 13" handles better as a carbine vs the heavier 18", but maybe that's overthinking.

I've seen people have great luck with JRA and some horror stories.  The SouTacs probably don't have the same user base (100s? 1000s? with JRA vs 50 maybe from SouTac), but I know they also build non-SBRs and are a capable builder.

Any input?

I mean, if I like ARs so much I could get a BRN180, but that doesn't seem to be the same.

Never heard of soutac.  I do own a 18" JRA that runs fine and a 13" SAR SBR built by hillbilly.
The 13", if its built correctly, its a lot funner range toy.  Can you not just get them to build it as a pistol and then if it runs good, you SBR it?  Galils are pretty easy to swap in a stock or brace.
In my case, hillbilly has a great reputation.  I ordered a kit and a receiver, SBR'd the receiver, and sent it all to him to put together.  There wasn't really the gamble you're taking if you go with the small noname shop.

I dont know if i would take the gamble with the noname shop if all they offer is the SBR/NFA.  You wouldn't even get to take the gun home and shoot it for 9 months.  It could be a dud the entire time you're waiting for the stamp.

There was 1 dude on the akfiles who got a SAR build from southern tactical.  If thats soutac, then we have at least 1 data point.  His gun had canted parts pretty bad.  It got sent back immediately.

Right, southern tactical here https://www.sturmgewehr.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25468-wts-southern-tacticalgalil-sar-sbr-tortort-hebrew-marked-1350ea/

Thanks for the tip on more fun toy. That's the idea. Blam blam.  Why couldn't JRA make it in a 16 or 14.5? Or maybe I can do that myself with a barrel chop?

Maybe a better compromise would be an ATI Galeo 13" pistol, which could late become an SBR. I'll have to look into that model and ATI reviews.

I have a JRA.

First time I took it out it was malfunctioning every 3-4 Rds.

I ordered a replacement recoil spring and it was visibly shorter than the one in it. Took it back out and fired a couple mags flawlessly. Figured that fixed it.

Next time I took it out it was back to jamming. Not quite as often. Maybe every 5-6rds.

I haven’t messed with it anymore since.


It’s a beautiful piece, but I haven’t been able to get it to run right yet. Attached File