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Posted: 4/10/2005 11:42:23 AM EDT
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I think I am cursed. After having problems with my first ORF Galil I sent it back. Piad the FFL fee again and received a new one from Todd of ORF promptly. The second one was much nicer fit and finish and I was very pleased upon receiving this rifle that at least cosmeticaly this time all was in order. The first trip to the range went well. I fired about 200 rounds with no problems untill the end when I had a couple of stoppages but I figured all was good and it was just needing to be broken in. I havent had a chance to go shooting again untill today. The first round in the rifle fired. The second jammed. I pulled off the cover to find half the case stuck in the barrel and the next round embedded itno it. I pulled out the live round which was now mated with half the case of the spent round. I have never in my life seen anything like this. The rangemaster and everyond at the range were shoccked. I figure it must have been a bad round and maybe the rest of the box had more bad rounds so i emptied the mag and put all the remaining rounds therough an AR with no problem. So it wasnt the ammo. (Whinchster White box) I tried again and dammit the same thing happened. This time I was using Remmington .223. Only I watched every round and didnt let another go forward. It tore the case in half!!!! Not knowing what to do, I thought well maybe it wants .556 even though it worked pretty well last time out. (Still, 2 stoppages in 200 rounds for a 1600.00 kalashnikov design is unacceptable.) I took a chance and loaded a new mag with Federal XM193. Same thing only this time the broken case stayed in the barrel and I cannot get it out. At this point the range master told me I had to remove the rifle from the range for my safety and those around me. He instructed me to take it to the range gunsmith to check it out. He figured it would cost me 200.00 to remove the broken shell and mnake the adjustments neede to make the rifle function properly. 1600.00 and all the costs of shipping two rifles and doing two transfers for a second gun that doesnt work? No thanks. I wish I could join the Galil club but I am out. I cannot afford an expensive gun that doesnt work. This has been the most expensive firearms purchase I have ever made and it has been by far the worst firearm I have ever owned both the first and the second one. I think I will stick with AR's and AK's. BTW I have 10 like new IMI steel 30 rounders I will be putting up on the EE as well as an IDF Galil sling and a wooden Galil handguard with the springs. All are like new and hardly used.  It will all be going cheap. I am lucky that I bought the original rifle from Atlantic firearms. I know Blaine will take care of me and get me a refund or exchange it for one of his other products. He worked hard to make sutre that everything was OK on the first rifle. I also know that Todd at ORF is a straight shooter so I am not burned. Beleive it or not, I still beleive that ORF is an outstanding company. I just have some shitty luck. I have sent both emails and I will let you all know how it goes. Here is a pic opf some of the tore up shells...  |
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Turrican, I was the guy sitting to your right at the range today. I had the AMD. Your Galil was beautiful. I would give Altantic one more chance to get it right. Tell them that this time they pay for shipping. I would hate to see such nice looking rifle go bye bye. Milhouse |
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Turrican: I just got my ORF GALIL, and it is unfortunate you are having these problems. I still haven't gotten to the range with mine, and I hope I am able to report a positive experience. Of course, fit and finish looks fine, but that doesn't matter if it malfunctions. The buying experience with Blaine and ORF has been great, but again, that doesn't completely matter if it malfunctions. Please advise of the cause of the problem (if you find out) to perhaps help those of us who have made the same purchase figure it out or prevent it. Perhaps an AK74 can be made to be a GALIL look-alike and provide you with a reliable firearm. I guess if I encounter problems, that's the route I will go. Good luck, and thanks for being a good sport and keeping the rest of us posted. |
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Blaine is great and so is Todd. From now on I intend to buy only from Atlantic when t comes to online rifle purchases. I really beleive it is just my bad luck as far as the Galils that I got from ORF. I am still waiting for a range report from someone who has fired more then 100 rounds through one of these rifles though.....All I hear is that they look good. 110JB: When you get to the range be careful to make sure your rifle is cycling properly and if you have any stoppage take it apart and check to make sure there is not a spent case jammed in thechamber before you force another one through and fire it. It happened to me 3 times today! I almost did that the first time. The live round actualy pierce the case of the spent round that was wedged in there and forced the two together I have never seen anything like it in my life. I am just glad I didnt pull the trigger! I hope you dont have any of the problems I have had and most likely you wont. I would just hate to hear of anybody getting hurt. On a more positive note: As always Blaine is the man and has come through for me even today on a Sunday with an email to tell me he will give me a return or exchange. I dont think I will try a third time with an ORF Galil. He said for me to ship it back to ORF again. |
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Turrican: Thanks for the advice; I will be careful with breaking mine in. I am no gunsmith, but my understanding is that your rifle is failing to eject the spent case(?) Putting my typical troubleshooter hat on, I am guessing the following things could be going wrong: - Ejector not working properly to grab the case of the spent shell and get it out of the way for the incoming/feeding live round. - For some reason the round upon firing is too tight in the chamber, disallowing the ejector from doing its job. The round being too tight in the chamber could possibly be the result of being too tight before firing (meaning the diameter of the chamber is too tight) or too tight after firing (meaning the diameter of the chamer is too loose, allowing the cartridge to expand and jam). - Maybe a combination of the above? Any other possibilities? I am hoping some of the gurus on the board who have built their own rifles (wish I had the time to do so, but I don't) can offer some advice on how to fix this, as if I encounter it, I would like to simply get it sorted out. Also, Turrican, please email me at [email protected] on what you would like to get out of those magazines. Thanks, Jon |
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Don't disagree with you...just trying to figure out the problem for the potential benefit of others (including me). But don't mind me, I also own an old Land Rover, so I'm used to paying large sums of money and having to still figure things out for myself. Best of luck to you |
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Let me start by saying that I'm not a gunsmith but this happened to my postban Galil (not and ORF Galil) a while back and the guys at the range said that the rifle was improperly headspaced. It's my understanding that if the headspacing is off, the bolt face may sit too far back from the case which can result in the round blowing itself in half when fired. My rifle would also extract the back half of the case and then ram the next round into the front half of the first case. Fortunately, the bolt couldn't lock up and therefore couldn't strike the primer on the second round strongly enough to fire it. If it had, the rifle would have blown up. I got to looking at the second round and noticed that the firing pin had hit it, but just barely. haven |
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That sounds exactly like what is happening to me. It doesnt matter this is one rifle I will never see again. Blaine from Atlantic is hooking me up on an exchange for something else. I will be selling the following items if anyone is interested they will be on the EE 9 steel 35 round steel Galil mags like new New wooden IMI handguard IMI Galil sling with hooks SA Galil night sites very bright blades only |
I don't either. I think you should be having a man to man with one of the fine folks at ORF. They have a reputation for making things right, and perhaps if you spell it out for them, they will do so for you here That is a great gun to have (if it works proper) and a fair amount of money to pay for one Give them the chance to get it right, and let us know how its handled sorry you had these problems, as it hurts all of us a little to hear about these things |
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Todd hasnt returned my emails but he told Blaine to do whatever to take care of me. I'm glad I bought it from Blaine. I am moving on and trying some of the other stuff Blaine has in his inventory. He has so much cool stuff it was a tough decision. as far as the Galil goes. at least everyone knows that if they do buy one they can see that A.F. and ORF stand behind what they sell. I listed all of the accessories that I had bought for the Galil in the EE in the rifle accesories section. I am selling it all cheap. |
This is the second ORF Galil he has been through. I would have had enough by now as well. I think TURRICAN handled this better than most. |
I was considering a Galil from ORF, but now there is no way I will risk my money. I would rather have one of the other builders do the work. For that much $$, the rifle should have zero problems. Either you have quality control, or you don't. 
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I've had three IMI Galils, the only time I ever had a case split was when I used "cheap" ammo. My money say's it's not the weapon, it's the ammo ... Keep in mind that the Galil was designed as a main battle weapon and if ORF is building them to original specs, then you really need to use a better ammo. Try something that's Berdan primed and made for battle. Look for some of the South African battle packs or something similar, I'll bet it runs much better ... |
| The only Galil's I've owned were factory IMI's...those digested everything from cheapo reloads to high-dollar match ammo. If the chamber is tight enough to grab the case that badly. it wouldn't chamber.....and you tried different brands.....so, all I can say is this; long ago, I owned a BSA manufactured Lewis. Each time I fired it, it would blow the case and chamber the next round into what was left of it......in my case, it was very excessive headspace. Can't say if that's your problem but it's all I can think of that would be weapon related to cause your problem..... |
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I guess you didnt read the whole post I used lots of different ammo different batches and different mags. The galil is said to be designed around the xm193 originaly. Maybe you could suggest some better ammo besides USGI federal XM!(# or Remmington or Whinchester. I woyuld be glad to tray but if a military riflle requires expensive match grade ammo the it aint no military rifle. Oh and by the way you said you wanted to bet money. Mext week we will hear from Todd on the problem. How about I start the betting at 500.00 that its the rifle? any takers?
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Turrican, Excessive headspace fits the symptoms. Only other thing I can think of would be pitting or roughness in the chamber, which allows the case to "grow" into the irregular surface. The case gets such a secure grip that the extractor just tears the head off. But that condition will be visible to the naked eye. Clean your rifle real well, & inspect the chamber for signs of roughness. I agree w/Terry that it probably isn't an undersized chamber, or you would have difficulty getting it into battery. But just to check, try manually dropping a round into the chamber, muzzle down, w/o closing the bolt, & check to see that it seats fully. My money is on the headspace, & you should not have to pay a dime to have that corrected. A new rifle is expected to be safe to shoot. Keep Atlantic & ORF up to date on your findings, & I bet they will take care of you. Best, Matt |
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Thanks for the advice guys but that rifle is long gone. It is back at ORF. I said I would stick to AR's and AK's but I lied. Blaine sent me a PTR 91 and I am in love with it. I have shot it every day this week and it is awesome. In my opinion it will run circles around that Galil at half the price and twice the power! Have fun with your Galils those of you who have working ones. I will be shooting something else. |
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From the picture alone I can tell your issue is excessive headspace. The round has extra room in the chamber and when you fire it the case stretches until it splits. I had this happen with my 1919. But with the 1919 you can just dail the headspace in manually. In your case it is either the barrel or the reciever that is junk. It is FUBARed. I hope they make it right for you. Edit: read all posts. I am glad they made it right. Don't give up on galils though they are a great rifle. |
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