JWT shooting an IWI Tavor 7 (courtesy thetruthaboutguns.com)

I swear I’m not pimping for IWI. I simply believe that the Tavor bullpup is the best inside and outside toy rifle money can buy. It’s wieldy, reliable, accurate (enough) and fun! And now that you can buy a Tavor . .

IWI Tavor gas adjuster (courtesy thetruthaboutguns.com)

with a more-than-merely-adequate trigger chambered in .308 — suppressed, with a three position gas adjuster — it could well be the perfect trunk gun.

OK the Tavor’s not a rifle for hunting. Or long distance shooting. But if you’re into killing animals or doping wind, I’m sure you already have a favorite rifle for hunting and precision shooting, and upgrading would cost you a bundle.

So why NOT a Tavor?

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84 COMMENTS

  1. Yeah, one is on my list, but other things are closer to the top of the list.

    Galil ACE was the most recent acquisition.

    • Cost is the main reason for me. More specifically, I should say (cost plus wife) is the issue.

      I’d love to own a Tavor, but tend to be a cheapskate and would rather get 5 quality used guns than 1 new Tavor if I’m going to spend $1800. If I really need a compact MSR, I’ll just pick up an AK folder for about $500 (Classic Firearms has AMD 65 sidefolder for $479).

      Besides that, my wife is cooler with me spending $300-400 every now and then on a gun than she would be with me bringing home guns that cost a grand or more.

      Robert has a much cooler gun collection than I do, but I seem to be doing better in the wife department. 😉

  3. “I swear I’m not pimping for IWI. I simply believe that the Tavor bullpup is the best inside and outside toy rifle money can buy.”

    Never shot the bullpup Steyer AUG, RF?

    (As a *bonus*, transferable factory drop-in full-auto trigger packs are floating around for the right price. Tom in Oregon had him one, ask him how *fun* it was…)

  4. Because I live in Commieneticut, and it had the dreaded super deadly pistol grip, which makes it illegal.

    • Yup – if the original Tavor had released just a couple of months earlier I could have gotten it prior to the gunpacolypse of 2013. I even had a plan to order it through a shop in Pennsylvania which would have rendered it featureless enough for the old CT AWB. Now the only way it would pass is if someone makes a fixed magazine option.

    • I was going to say the same thing but with, “Because California; that’s why!”…..

      There are still work arounds to get a Tavor, but with marked up prices and the neutering they have to do to work around CA laws, it ain’t a Tavor when you have it in hand.

  5. Lack of money. Well that, and the fact that they could use a better trigger and that originally promised 5.45×39 conversion kit. Of course I heard that it had a lot of problems with that new barrel conversion technically impossible anyway. :/

  6. Because I’m replacing the cylinder heads on my car right now and I’m out of money.
    Being married, I’ve no doubt I’ll have a similarly important use for my meagre income next season, and the next, and the next, and…
    🤠

  7. Because the one I had blew copious amounts of gas into my face, so much so that I could barely get through a magazine without my eyes watering even while wearing shooting glasses outdoors.

    • That’s what I’m looking for; a reason that speaks to the firearm’s features, not someone’s preferences or finances.

      To me, a bullpup design seems optimal, so much so that I would think all close quarters to mid-range combat rifles should be bullpups. Since so few are, I wonder what it is that I don’t know that I don’t know. That in turn makes me suspicion of the rifles that are bullpups, such that I don’t buy one.

      • I can’t speak for the SAR, but I was able to mitigate gas in the face by placing a few square inches of foam from my kids arts and crafts bin in the receiver on my x95. Perfection from an expensive rifle like that right from the factory probably isn’t too much to ask. I get it. But it’s like I tell my kids: use your big human brain to solve your tedious human problems. Or cry about it instead. The outcome is obvious and the choice is yours.

        • I tell my kids to either “get smart” or “get tough”, because crying isnt going to solve anything…. whiners are only useful idiots for manipulative people.

        • Mine was a SAR, and I did attempt to solve the problem, but was unable to, so I traded it for a gun I liked better and went on my merry way. It didn’t represent enough benefit to me to spend any more time or effort on a gun that I consider to only be moderately better than an AR and that only in certain circumstances. I hope you also teach your kids that they can change their big human minds if they find something isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

      • Correct. So does the .300. But some folks would rather buy a gun without an adjustable gas block, then complain about the inherent flaw of no adjustable gas block. I’ll never understand.

  8. Price.

    It doesn’t do anything that the AR15 doesn’t do for half the price. This is the same reason that I never bought an AUG, SCAR, ACR, ARX-100, or Bren 805. Until their prices are more in line with a $800 AR they will always be the gun someone buys when they don’t want an AR or want to be different from all the guys at the range shooting their ARs.

  9. Already have a pimped out 300 blk SBR, not spending 2k on a 556 rifle, and I bought a 308 Galil Ace literally the day before they announced the Tavor 7. Maybe one for the wife eventually

  10. The Tavor is a nice rifle . . . If you’re right handed. Lefty, not so much. Can be converted but only by the factory. My RDB just works better for me. Over 1500 rounds and not a single issue. And half the cost. Seriously considering an RFB for .308. But money’s tight.

      • Ah, good. I’m not familiar with the 7.

        Still, in 5.56, the RDB is several hundred dollars cheaper and mine is fantastic. Brass drops at my feet and more accurate than I am. Great trigger on it as well.

        My wife and I both shoot long arms lefty, so easy ambidexterity is important. With the RDB and the RFB they’re automatically ambi. And cheaper than a Tavor.

  11. I’m a former Tavor owner. They’re too expensive for what they’re capable of; their capability being severely limited by their trigger. Also it looks like a design still rapidly being refined, with many new refinement developments not being backward compatible with older generations of the same basic design. It is fundamentally a great gun, but when I see the 308 version with a lot of useful new features, I just have another reason to wait until those features get added to the 5.56 before I pony up that kind of cash. I don’t want to spend that much on a gin that will be obsolete in a couple years that I can’t upgrade to the new specification. For all it’s advantages, it’s just not as modular as the AR so I will wait until the development cycle slows down and there are a much larger number of a single version (for purposes of general “platform” support) before I jump back on the Tavor band wagon.

  12. because I think they are ugly a.f. my ar’ s pretty much do the same damn thing, and I can get 4 or maybe even 5 cheap ar’ s for the price of one styr Aug or tavor. not practical to add yet another 5.56 chassis to the couple styles and multiple rifles I already have.

  13. I held one and hated it…oh and I ain’t got the dough. Still working on my 1st AR(and no hurry)…

  15. I wanted to love the Tavor. I wanted to get a Tavor. Thankfully for me, I shot one before buying one. I could never own one. The gas to the eyes was simply unbearable. I shoot a fair amount suppresses, and the Tavor, without any suppressor attaches, was worse than any of the other rifles I own that I suppress. I just can’t shoot a rifle that makes me cry after only one magazine. Wanted to love it. Couldn’t do it.

  18. Maybe someday. Other priorities — guns, ammo, gear, and things besides gun stuff — come before a bullpup.

  20. The Tavor is just one of those things I haven’t come across at a price I’d be willing to pay yet.

    OK, that’s not true but when I did see it for a price I’d be willing to pay it was at a gun show right next to a table of stuff I’d been looking for for quite awhile which were ALSO at prices I’d be willing to pay.

    The options were a Tavor for $1500, a .30-06 Garande in amazing condition for $1700 or a NIB M1A for $1200. I went with the M1A and spent the balance of the cash I had on hand on spare mags for various guns and ammo. I have not regretted the choice.

    • Good call. The Tavor is only getting better (the new 7 has some good features which will eventually percolate down to a 5.56 model), and that’s a good price for the M1A. That’s too much for the Garand – you can do much better via the CMP.

      • I’m not sure the CMP would get me as good of a rifle in terms of the Garande. I mean, in terms of shooting sure but not in terms of overall quality.

        This thing was like one of those older cars you find where granny put it in the garage and never used it. Damn near flawless. Like collectors grade damn near flawless. I was somewhat surprised that such a Garande existed outside a private/museum collection. IIRC it was part of an estate sale on consignment with the shop.

        Still, I judged the M1A to be the better deal at the price point it was at.

  21. I wanted one, but I handled one at a gun show and as a lefty shooter. I didn’t like the way the safety rode on my trigger finger and the cost.

  25. The Aug Steyr is the superior platform.

    In either case I’m not throwing down $2K or even up to $3K for what is basically an AR15 alternative.

    • You must be one of those people who still believe there’s any difference between “The News” and professional propaganda.

      What you “have heard” is a lie. Full stop.

    • I have relatives over there.

      The good news is that they are not becoming as bad as many of their neighbors, and probably never will. The bad news is that the Israeli government is becoming faintly fascist due to the disproportionate influence of the religious right, who wish to force their values on the overwhelmingly secular majority.

      It’s still a great place to visit though. I’m just glad I don’t have to live there.

  28. If I were to drop $1800 on a ri fle I’d at least expect to see some nicely figured walnut on it.

  29. Because I have an FS2000 and AUG, and owned a X95. X95 got traded away, because the FS is friggin awesome. I wish that FN still was bringing them in, or that someone would make a FAMAS. Just bc I want one.

  31. I don’t own a Tavor because I don’t get enough disposable income to be buying more guns and buying the ammunition to shoot said guns.

    The truth is I want a Tavor, and a galil Ace, and that new TS12 they’re showing off. Doesn’t mean I’ll get them anytime soon though….

  33. I own both a Tavor and a AUG A3. I think the AUG handles better, but would not get rid of the Tavor. Someone (I forget who, but I bought one) makes a replacement ejection port cover with a gasket that takes care of the gas blowback problem. Added the Geissele trigger to my Tavor (and a Ratworks trigger bar to my AUG), so both have decent triggers. If I absolutely could only keep one, I guess it would be the AUG.

    But I am real interested in the new Tavor in .308, and will get one soon. Same reason I like my .45s over my 9mms.

  34. I do. Price was a concern, but I saved my pennies over a year and shopped around for a deal. I did buy a X95 trigger from IWI when they had Black Friday and made it better.

  35. I have shot a Tavor quite a bit and they are very fun, but not $$$$ fun. Out of the Tavor, AR-15, and Mini-14, the funnest semi-auto 5.56 in my opinion is the Mini-14. Again, just using FUN as the only criterion.

  38. I suppose I dumped a lot more money into mine then any rifle is truly worth. But I do love it. 300 BLK suppressed in a compact package is what I wanted and what I got.

    It’s not an SBR, so I don’t have to send a form to the ATF when I want to cross state lines. But it’s still small enough with a suppressor on to navigate confidently through the house.

    I have a few ARs and no desire to shoot them because I like my x95 more. I’d also like to point out that when I rack the charging handle, I’m confident I have a round in the chamber, like with my AK. My wife and I never feel that 100% confidence when yanking on the charging handle of an AR. Thats huge for us.

    Not to mention the x95 charging handle is in a far more practical spot compared to an AR. At least it feels that way to me.

  39. Because, I love my suppressed PS90. I believe it’s better with risk mitigation, less recoil and darn fun to shoot.

  40. Slowly loving my X95. I just gotta keep shooting to get more used to it. Shot 300 rounds with last week. Getting there.

    • Ah, good. I’m not familiar with the 7.

      Still, in 5.56, the RDB is several hundred dollars cheaper and mine is fantastic. Brass drops at my feet and more accurate than I am. Great trigger on it as well.

      My wife and I both shoot long arms lefty, so easy ambidexterity is important. With the RDB and the RFB they’re automatically ambi. And cheaper than a Tavor.

  44. I don’t own or want an IWI Tavor because it’s useless.
    4MOA out of the box is unacceptable.
    Needing to replace major components just to have any level of ambidexterity is unacceptable.
    Being unable to switch shoulders on the fly is unacceptable.
    The trigger is absolutely abhorrent.
    The best toy rifle money can buy? It’s one of the worst, especially at their price points. By your own admission in the article, the Tavor falls short on everything a rifle is supposed to be good at, and the Tavor-7 is only slightly less awful. For the same amount of money you can build a field or competition ready AR -and- a decent optic.
    I refuse to buy a Tavor, because why the fuck would I want to buy a suped up Mustang when the same money could buy an M3?

  46. Because the word “bullpup” is just another excuse to charge an additional $500 to a $1000 more for an otherwise mundane firearm, that’s why.

  48. Because I won’t support businesses who have a hand in occupying Palestine and oppressing their people.

    • You are aware that Jordan occupies twice as much Palestinian territory as Israel, right? And that Israel’s citizenry is 20% Palestinian? That Palestinian Israelis have all the rights and privileges of Jewish Israelis?

  49. why? ’cause it ain’t Murican! xD

    and… it’s a shitty overpriced junk, when there are actual battle tested bullpups like the Oz improvement on the AUG, Thales F90, and others that are at least more original and less NERF looking, like the upcoming MDR, and even the Kel-Tec RFB.

    • Tavor’s origin is Israel, which is constantly in state of war. All variants of Tavor sold through IWI are semi-auto derivatives of the standard issue Tavor that’s been in service with the IDF for over a decade. Not battle tested? utterly ignorant.

      • Uh no ‘genius:’ they’re not “constantly in state of war” ya legalese clueless ignorant statist: ISISraEL is involved in domestic police action.

        360AD says:
        January 24, 2018 at 02:32
        Tavor’s origin is Israel, which is constantly in state of war. All variants of Tavor sold through IWI are semi-auto derivatives of the standard issue Tavor that’s been in service with the IDF for over a decade. Not battle tested? utterly ignorant.

        Yieah, keep ‘she doth protests too much’-ing.

        Obviously, smallarms alone don’t win wars/battles, but the only REAL “battle” that the Tavor/X95 was deployed was in 2006 Lebanon War, where the IDF got their fucking asses kicked by a bunch of Hezbollah wielding 1960’s Comm Bloc weapons.

        So to market THAT bullpup as “battle-tested/proven” is fucking high-larious.

        “Tested”? “Proven”? To what? LOSE??

        That some genius marketing. xD

        Apparently, you’re confusing your historically clueless wishful thinking and declarative statements as ‘facts’.

        Uh, no, bubba.

        xD

        Also, no one ‘constantly in state of war’ produces utter junk like Fobus and the piece of shit polymer CAA et al variety.

        But keep up with the IMI/IWI/IDF-dildofuckery. Surely, your cheeleading will magically change their designs, and fake history, Mr. ‘NOT’-“Ignotant.”

        xD

  50. Price and accuracy. For the cost of a Tavor, a highly accurate AR could be had. For the price tag, what exactly would I be getting over the AR? Better ergos and weight balance? It’s a rifle, its sole purpose is to reach a target at distance. The two mentioned advantages of a bullpup aren’t enough to justify the price tag.

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