Tavor, c Nick Leghorn

One of the major selling points of the Tavor rifle was that you could swap calibers with the push of a couple buttons and a conversion kit. They promised that we’d see kits for 5.45, 9mm and 300 AAC Blackout, but it looks like they’re scaling back their promises. According to a posting on the Bullpup forum, callers are being informed that due to “issues” with the Soviet-era 5.45×39 caliber conversion kit they’re stopping production and will not produce any more. Naturally, this has annoyed many of the people who bought the Tavor specifically due to the caliber conversions that were advertised. We will update you with more when we hear back from the Tavor reps.

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50 COMMENTS

  1. The stated reason was a lack of a reliable US-made magazine; that’s a little meh in my eyes, given how well my AR-15 in that caliber feeds from ASC mags. More likely is that someone ran the numbers again and decided that there was no real market for a $3000 5.45×39 bullpup rifle. Better hope they don’t do it for 9mm, too…

    Still, they left the door open to producing it later on if they could find reliable US-made magazines. *shrugs*

        • Don’t worry, you didn’t miss them. I’ve had my eyes peeled for the 5.45 kit for the past year and a half, ready to buy the first one available. Promises and preorders, but no product. I love my Tavor and I still respect IWI, but this cancellation has a vaporware-Bushmaster-ACR-conversion-kit feel to it.

  3. Reading between the lines, I think IWI called their attorneys and realized a combloc ammo conversion kit was legal suicide.

    Since the chamber of a bullpup is near the shooter’s face, it represents a major injury risk if the ammo fails spectacularly-which is much more likely to happen with poorly made, imported old Combloc ammo.

    On a conventional AK, a kB! means a singed hand and ruined gun. On a Tavor, you’re getting some explosive facial plastic surgery. That’s a product liability suit just waiting to happen.

    • I don’t think so.

      Could you please cite us any incidents in the US of this happening with 7N6, ever? 7N6 surplus has an extremely good reputation for reliability. The Soviets, for all their faults, weren’t really in a habit of issuing bad ammo to their troops.

      Besides, plenty of us run Russian steel-cased ammo through our Tavors all the time. No problems.

    • That is complete BS. Catastrophic failures are handeled just fine in bullpups. They are well engineered to handle it. Hell there was an article here in TTAG about a 300 blackout failure in an FS and the writer said the gun held up spectacularly.

      I really wish you old fudds would get over this whole issue. Bullpups have been in service for 30 years and have proven themselves in this regard. Just get over it already.

      • Sure, we gun geeks don’t see a problem .

        But some nimrod , probably the guy who whips the cylinders on his revolver shut Hollywood style, will pull a stupid and , in the New American Tradition, end up suing IWI.

        • Could you explain to all of us what scenario you’re referring to? Because, right now, I have no clue what you’re talking about. Surplus 7N6 is extremely good stuff (albeit corrosive), and the new Russian ammo, while dirty, isn’t known for kabooms, either.

      • yes yes yes ur correct thats why chamber is surrounded by steel and also under cheek or heavy aluminum as well not to mention polymer

    • False. Does anyone get sued when a malfunction in an M4 damage their thumb? Nope.

      Combloc ammo is amazing anyways. I’ve had my Federal pop a primer and jam my AR beyond all field repair. 7.62x54r that’s 30 years old? My VEPR eats it like candy and craps the cartridges into the next lane. Never one malfunction. 30 yrs old. The quality is amazing.

    • The instructions for using the 5.45×39 kit are in the manual. This was not some spur of the moment idea that they’re retracting on.

    • Haha, while mathematically you’re not wrong, I kinda doubt that Tavor owners would have amounted to very much of an impact on the overall consumption of 5.45×39.

        • Last time I looked on your website you said you were closing up shop due to legal situation. What ever will you do with 50 silencers you cannot sell? If you have to start giving awAy your guns, ammo, and ballistic vests I’m just down the road in Franklin and would help relieve you of gear before the BATFE shows up. I’ll give them a good home.

        • From embody’s web site:

          “The State of Tennessee thought it would be a good idea to prosecute a 01 FFL/SOT with illegal possession of a silencer when the cops, prosecutors and judges have the form 3 in their possession… The charge is ridiculous. There is no basis for the charge. I plan on suing the police and prosecutors for illegal and malicious conduct.

          I am currently out on bail after being charged on July 29, 2013 with a felony illegal weapons possession. I asked for a speedy trial in early August and have still not been indicted and no trial date has been set. I expect the DA to continue to violate my rights as long as they possibly can, then at the last moment to drop the charge.”

        • “Judge Mondelli is a DUMBASS

          District Attorney General Incompetent or Corrupt?

          I vote CORRUPT !”

          Comments like this on his website are sure to prove he is a responsible gun owner and one of the good guys.

  7. I have a Tavor and I couldn’t care less. I have had no intention on switching calibers I am perfectly happy with shooting steel cased .223 through it. It works great and shoots great.

    Now if they ever start making a larger framed Tavor model that shoots 7.62X51 and takes Magpul LR/SR mags then we are talking!

    • A 7.62×51 X95 that takes SR-25 mags and meets the MD OAL of >= 29″ would be a day one buy for me. I’m thinking 20″ barrel here.

    • Most likely. Supposedly there’s more demand for .300BLK kits than there was for 5.45. But I was sure hoping for the 5.45.

      “As stated previously, we have been unable to find a 5.45 magazine that will work “reliably and consistently” in the TAVOR SAR.

      While this is a disappointment for many of you, and for us as well, we will never put a product on the market that only works some of the time, if at all. We think most of you appreciate this commitment to quality and reliability.

      We regret this outcome for the 5.45 conversion kit, but until we can find a US made mag that works all the time we must refrain from putting the kit on the market.

      FYI, the 9mm kit starts shipping the day after Christmas.

      The .300BLK is in development but we still need another 40,000 rounds of ammo to complete our testing. This quantity has been impossible to procure as of this date.”
      Michael Kassnar
      IWI US, Inc. – VP of Sales & Marketing

  17. If they do the same for the 9mm kit,I will be pissed. I don’t really see what the benefit of 545 vs 556 is other than cost. And really, you shouldn’t be shooting cheap corrosive through a $2000 rifle imo.

    • Corrosive ammo does not drip acid into your chamber upon firing. You shoot it, you wash it out with generic windex, problem solved. In the Tavor’s particular case, the frame/body is mostly plastic and the bits that would corrode are all in the dedicated 5.45×39 kit anyways. The Tavor is especially well-suited for corrosive ammo, if anything.

      Besides, the price differential between 7N6 and M855 is like 24c a round now. You better damn well believe I’ll shoot corrosive when the difference is $240 per case. That adds up fast…

  18. While I love IWI/IMI for their desert eagles, thee best semi-auto handguns on earth, I despise bullpups as they are a flawed design from the start. And the 5.45 fans are more than happy with the available ak and ar platforms so I don’t imagine there will be much blowback from this announcement.

  20. I still kinda want a tavor. This was never really on the map for me. Though I am still interested in the 9mm conversion.

  21. I think the price point on IWI Tavor rifles are ridiculous at best. I’m not slamming people who chose to shell out the cash to buy one in any way – but way overpriced in my opinion. There are much better rifles out there at that price point. If you want a bullpup in 5.45×39, just get an AK74 bullpup. The Tavor conversion kit alone would have cost more than the entire AK rifle in bullpup. Ridiculous? Hmmmmm…

    I’ve shot the Tavor and it’s a decent shooter but nowhere near great and not remotely worth my money.

    • Yeah I mean who wants to spend $1800 on a rifle with 10 years of combat proven performance in a very hostile environment and stake their life on that? People need to wake up and buy a AR-15 because they love getting dirty and work flawlessly.

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