thought i'd throw out a pic or two, just 'cause it's a little different to see.

i would kill to get any information on this that isn't just verbal, but i can't find a thing.

Israel became a recognized state in 1948, they needed to form an army, and they needed to train the army. in order to help train the army, they ordered 22 cal k98's.
i asked about this over on GUNBOARDS, and what little that is known, was that these are from either '48 or '49 ( no date on gun) and they are from a batch of only 2000 made.
1000 were marked and sent to south africa, and 1000 were marked for the Israeli Defence Forces.
AIM offered a limited number of them up for sale a few years ago @ $495, and i bought one to have at least one representative example of a military training gun.
 
i wish that the finish were better, but i should be happy that it isn't any worse. the very front is mostly worn off, but it gets much better the further to the rear you go.







the usual spring loaded floorplate has been replaced with a solid plate and a simple feedramp, the gun is loaded one cartridge at a time.



is it yards, or meters?......either way, it's weird to see the furthest distance as only 200.



this will keep the front sight hood from coming off....it's got a rivet in it. the thing may slide fore and aft, but it isn't coming off.

 
and who doesn't love seeing this on the reciever of a firearm?



a nice low serial number.
 i'd like to say that it's all matching, and i'm sure it is, but there are actually very few parts with the serial number on them, unlike the nazi k98's that are stamped on eveything big enough to get a stamp on.

Probably a conversion/restamping of a German rifle.  I have never seen or heard of any thing like it.  Just a guess though.

A great piece to have in any condition.

there was mention to watch out for conversions.  
this was purpose-built by fn as a .22 trainer.
i'm pretty sure of what i have, just wished i could find out more. i posted mostly because it's c&r, and you won't come across a ton of them.
it's been quite awhile since i checked over on GUNBOARDS about these, but i cruised on over and grabbed a link.

www.gunboards.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7543&SearchTerms=israeli

well, damn. i can't figure out how to access the gunboards archive, so this is the only link for now.

How does it shoot?

shoots awesome.
i'm doing my winter check on all my guns, and just finished that one.  the bore is excellent, and it comes with 16 count rifling.
the thing hit dead-on right as i got it, no adjustment needed.
i have to admit, i like a good kick and a loud bang, so i rarely shoot it.
it was more of an impulse buy, i just thought i had to have it to fill a small catagory, aim only had 40 for sale, so i scooped it up.
it mostly sits in the back of the safe with the others i never seem to shoot enough.
great gun though,some history, not many made, i'm happy to have it.

I'll have to keep an eye out for them, I almost bought one when AIM had the sale, figured it would be good for practice since I shoot a lot of .22 already, but wish mine was more full-size for practice.

i never realized how many .22 military training rifles there are.
a lot of sales adds are sensationalized, so when aim had the ol' "rare israeli 22 cal training rifle...only 40 available" add, i went to learn first.
i love ar15.com, don't get me wrong, but for serious, no-bs learning on older stuff, you really can't beat GUNBOARDS.
i cruised over there to their dedicated .22 cal military training rifle forum, and my eyes were opened. those things are far more prevalent, than i ever thought. i saw that training rifles could be a whole collectors' catagory by themselves, and i thought to at least get one to represent the catagory.
 it was keeping with a militery rifle theme, which is what i try to follow. i don't have any "regular" guns at all.
one of the admins over there runs the michigan collectables museum/ michigan historical collectors' society/ something close to that, knows his shit, and he provided enough info on the israeli gun, that i knew i better jump on that small and short window of oportunity and get one.
i'm not a super-serious collector, but i at least try somewhat, and this makes a good addition.