The IWI Tavor was TTAG’s Rifle of the Year. No wonder, then, that the company’s U.S. facility in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania recently shipped its twenty thousandth Tavor. As you’d expect, the guns are starting to show up wherever you find American operators operating in operational environments. (Nick and I hung with a Tavor-wielding competitor at a recent carbine match.) The Israeli manufacturer’s PR company – the indefatigable Laura Burgess Marketing – let slip the fact that the gun will soon appear in olive drab. How great is that? [See: operators, above.] Not as great as the possibility that TTAG may soon be journeying to the land of the Israeli supermodels to troll the beaches of Tel Aviv test IWI’s small arms. Watch this space.

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56 COMMENTS

  1. Awww, c’mon. If ever there was an excuse to break the moratorium on Israeli supermodel links….

  2. There’s an updated version with better ergonomics and an adjustable lop right? Any idea when that will show up in the US?

    • I find the ergonomics to be awesome *if* you use the Israeli hold (i.e. forearm ramp locks the stock into your shoulder). It makes for an incredibly stable shooting platform while also reducing your target profile.

      My first impression was that it was awkward to shoulder, but I was trying to hold it like an AR. After I figured out the hold I tried it out again and bought one on the spot. I absolutely love mine.

      • Seconded and passed. The ergonomics are frakkin’ outstanding, especially compared to an AR/M.

        The Tavor was supposed to be legally on sale here over a decade ago, and I’ve been waiting ever since. Now that it’s finally going to be available in a real caliber (7.62 NATO) instead of varmint 5.56 popgun, there will be one in my safe in the semi-near future.

    • I just checked out the Olive Drab Tavor pictures and I would love to have one also. It is a toss up between that and FDE. All I know is that my Baby Eagle (Jericho 941) needs some companionship and this rifle would do the trick.

  8. Ooooo that’d be fun! MAC had a blast there if the videos were any indicator. 🙂

  9. Maybe it’s a good thing I haven’t been able to afford a Tavor so far. I would have gone black, but I’ll take OD over that now that its an option.

    Of course, I still need to figure out where I’ll get the extremely high funds necessary.

  12. Is anyone familiar enough with both the Tavor and the Chinese QBZ 95 carbine to give a comparison of quality and key feature differences other than caliber? Yes, please ignore the availability question!

    • I have handled the Type 97NSR (similar ergonomics to the QBZ 95 and is Canada-legal) and the Tavor. The Tavor wins hands down. Don’t feel bad that you can’t get one in the U.S. , the only thing the Type 97 has going for it is a 66% lower price.

  15. Did you see the lime green ones!!! I need one!! And I hope they make the pink for my girlfriend!!

    • You want the 7.62. It’s OK, I just skipped buying one because I knew sooner or later, they’d chamber it for a round that works.

    • Yep.

      If they’d just started rolling them out a few months earlier. I had a plan to have a guy in Pennsylvania put on a fixed CT-legal muzzle brake, and then would have been good to go.

  18. I liked how every time they mentioned the AR-15, it would cut to a clip of IWI’s ACE-23

  19. The marketing dude was “It’s accurate, reliable…” blah blah.

    He obviously doesn’t understand the market, people buy unreliable inaccurate guns all the time. It is from the IDF, who are looked upon quite positively by the US gun market, and it is new strange design.

    The real question is will be last? All the prior new hotnesses dropped out of favor in a couple of years. The SCAR is the only one that still gets any descent sales, but even that pales in comparison to AR-15s.

  21. Hey I hear you can even get full auto Tavors now too! Just contact a Mr Leland Yee in CA. He’ll hook you up for the right price.

  22. These guys get it. Starting at 1:35 “..the Civilian market in the US is bigger than all the military and law enforcement market in the world.” ‘Merica

    Then at 3:02 I heard a reporter say “I can remember my M16” and I burst out laughing. With joy.

    I know nothing about the weapon but that was awesome.

  23. Can we get some kind of Lottery to win one of these things. I swear to all things holy, I’ll read every day, put in 7 minutes per article, and shine your shoes real bright and shiny. Please don’t make me beg.

  24. “U.S. civilian market is bigger than all of the law enforcement and military markets for all of the world.” Wow. I knew that firearms was big business in the states, but that puts a very special perspective on who we are as a people. There is a reason that the antis have been “brainwashing” people for at least two generations about the “evils” of firearms (thinking back to a time when people could walk the halls of their schools with a firearm without going on lockdown shows how far the antis’ agenda has progressed). You can’t take over a people who has the means to put an end to your reign.

    When people realize that the fiat promises their elected leaders used to buy their votes will not be honored, I hope that there are parts of this country who continue to hold the American exceptionalism values of the founding fathers to heart and create regions that resemble what this country used to be about.

    • Highly unlikely. They’ve already cut their 5.45 development and there was an actual international market for that caliber.

      • Unless they cancelled production of the X95R (MicroTavor, MTAR21) I’m not sure what you’re referencing. The 95R is chambered in 5.45×39 (not that anything should be save for carnival games)…

        More important, the announcement was recently made that the TAR21 will finally be available in a caliber that will stop something – 7.62 NATO…

  27. I’d love to have one but it looks like the gun from Hell if you are left handed as I am. Hot brass to the face.

  28. I would love to have one, Tavor, but I am left handed and it looks like it would be nothing but brass in the face.

    • Child’s play to swap from RH eject to LH eject. All you need is a LH bolt and less than 30 minutes (as someone reading from poorly printed instructions).

      If you have the bolt handy, and have some experience? It takes less than 15 minutes and almost no tools. This isn’t an AR/M…

      • Thanks for the information on the left hand conversion and sorry for the double post but I did not get the message I usually get that it had been posted.

  29. At $1,800 or so, they’re pricey; roughly double a decent (not top of the line, I understand) AR. I like the bullpup design, but then I always come back to the idea that, since bullpup has been around for a long time, why aren’t most rifles in that design? Well, turns out there are some reasons. I also like the left side charging handle. I don’t know whether it’s reciprocating, but I definitely prefer left side.

    So, I don’t know, maybe I’ll spring for one next year, when I’ve heard more feedback on long term usage and reliability. It’s definitely something to keep my eye on, though.

    • They’ve been in use for over a decade, designed to replace the failed/ancient AR/M platform.

    • I believe Riflegear has had them. All that’s necessary is some form of bullet button and a 10 round mag. They sell standard and CA versions of most modern rifles.

  31. I definitely want one, but I can’t decide between this and a SCAR first.
    I think it’s fantastic that newer platforms keep evolving, however it is true that the AR-15 continues to dominate the market. The AR is still the best for customizing your own unique weapon, as the availability of parts is phenomenal.

  32. any commentary on the large, open handguard? can see all sorts of stuff finding its way in there…

  33. I am watching it again and again and again…..Still, I don’t remember anything from before or after she said that she remembers her M16.

  34. I want one, but the price would have to get down to $1500 or below before I could justify it.

  35. SWEET!

    Just sold mine on GB for $1577.

    I liked it, but several things made me sell it:

    (1) Part availability. Bazillion places selling bazillion parts for the AR platform.
    (2) Nothing so incredibly better about the TAVOR over the AR platform.
    (3) Manipulating bolt hold open latch is a royal pain.

    So, buh-bye Tavor, it was fun to shoot you. Great rifle, just not for me.

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