Modernizing the Century Arms Golani

Those of us who love military rifles have this overwhelming desire to modify them as soon as we get them home. For those who like an older design upgrading them can be somewhat of a challenge.

After reviewing the Golani from Century International I bought it. My first intention was to leave it as is and use the good ol iron sights, no flashlights, scopes etc.

The more I thought about it I realized that a lot of Golani owners probably want these add ons in order to make the Golani a more capable modernized rifle. I made a list of the most common add ons that shooters add to their AR15’s without making it ridiculously heavy and clumsy.

With list in hand I started an internet search for items fitting the criteria I set for the Golani/Galil rifle. Finding a suitable quality rail system wasn’t terribly easy as most systems were plastic or of poor design. I found an excellent rail system made exclusively for the Golani. The rail system is made by UTG from aluminum with a durable black finish. As you can see from the picture it replaces the factory handguard. Rails are on all four sides and come with rubber covers. The top rail extends back to the rear sight. Installation is simple and takes about 15 minutes to complete using the included six hex bolts.

Specs

Material:AluminumWeight:13.6 ozPieces:2Rail Type:Picatinny/WeaverNo. of Rails:4Length:11.4 inchWidth:2.3 inchHeight:3.2 inch.

An optic was next but which type? I’ve used many kinds of optics on AR’s from red dots to Trijicon ACOG’s. A scope that has become popular of late is the designated marksman scope. The power range is from 1X4. This allows the shooter to engage targets from CQB range to 500 meters. They also have a long eye relief averaging four inches. This allows the shooter to keep both eyes open using the 1X setting. This prevents a limited field of view when things get up close and personal. Leapers makes just such a scope.

Specs

Magnification:1X – 4XTube Diameter:30mmObjective Diameter:28mmField of View @ 100 yards:85.0′ – 24.0’Eye Relief:5.0″ – 4.0″Exit Pupil:11.0mm – 6.0mmClick Value @100 yards:1/2″Length:254mmWeight:14.3 oz Parallax Setting:100 YdsBatteries:CR2032 3V

 Etched glass/Mil-Dot

I would also like to thank the folks at Leapers/UTG for supplying the mount and scope for this test. They were very helpful with my questions concerning optics and materials used in making these two excellent accessories. Leapers was the only company I could find who made a quality rail system for the Galil/Golani. Obviously they keep track of customer needs. Leapers  Reticle

The next item I wanted to add was a good quality sling. My criteria includes a sling that is easily adjusted for length, quickly removed, comfortable, adaptable and lastly durable. For anyone who has an AR15, Golani, FN SCAR or whichever you know there are a huge number of slings to choose from. Some are very well made and fit most shooters needs while others are junk that won’t last six months before falling apart. It’s really not a good idea to cut the budget on your sling. You’ll save money in the long run buying quality the first time out.

I scoured the internet for anything new I may have missed since the last time I looked for a new sling. I currently use a Troy single point sling on an AR but this time I wanted one that would also allow single point mounting as well as dual point mounting.

I found what I was looking for at Mounts Plus. I contacted my friend Stephen at Mounts Plus about a new sling and had one in mind. Stephen steered me in the right direction by suggesting the A.R.M.S. company SWAN sling rather than the one I had my eye on. He was right this is a fantastic sling and I’m glad I bought it.

The SWAN (from Mounting Solutions) sling has metal QD (quick disconnect) hooks on both ends. If you look at the picture above you’ll see one of the QD hooks. Note the lighter green nylon piece attached to a small metal ring. The hook is spring loaded. Pulling the nylon piece trips the catch releasing the hook allowing you to remove the sling. Pushing the hook over the connection locks it back in place securely. This feature allows the sling to change from dual mount to single point.  The next picture up shows a similar tab halfway up the body of the sling. This tab can be pulled up or down which lengthens or shortens the sling. This allows the user to carry the rifle close to the body.

Another item I wanted was a front rail grip. I decided on the Grip Pod also from Mounts Plus. Now I know what you’re thinking, this thing is ugly and kinda big. I couldn’t agree more and yes it’s not very attractive but in this case function trumps form. The Grip Pod is in use by all branches of the military as well as federal law enforcement agencies. The military version differs from the law enforcement type having steel reinforced legs. The law enforcement version doesn’t have these steel reinforcements. It’s still very strong and darn near impossible to break.

Note in the above picture you’ll see a round button at the top front. This is the button that is pushed to activate the spring ejecting the two legs very quickly. When the user is ready to retract the legs you simply use one hand to pull the legs together and push them up locking them back in place. It also has a heavy screw attaching it to the rail system. This also allows the Grip Pod to be removed or attached easily.

This video demonstrates the Grip Pod in use.

The last item on the list is a flashlight. I chose the Hoyt H-1. This light fits in any 25mm rail mount. It’s powered by two CR-123 batteries and has a run time of 100 minutes at 155 lumens. This model has four modes. I chose to use mode 3 which with one click is a full power beam of 155 lumens. Two clicks and you have a disorienting full power strobe setting. The light comes in a hard plastic black waterproof case.

Conclusion

Not everyone will want all of these additions to their rifle. Customizing any gun is purely a personal preference so I am by no means saying everyone needs to use these items to have the perfect rifle. My intention in this article is to show the owner of this or a similar rifle different options they have available to them. The pros and cons are for the reader to conclude based on their own needs and experiences.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the article and found it useful. Your questions and comments are always welcome!  Remember any purchase you make from Mounts Plus by clicking on the ad here on the blog and enter Gunner777 at checkout you get 10% off even on ACOGs etc.

Remington Wins Bid For Army M4’s

The Army awarded Remington Arms Company an April 20 contract to make tens of thousands of M4A1 carbines. By outbidding Colt Defense — the original maker of the M4 — Remington may end up being the only winner in what many gun makers have labeled as the Army’s well-intentioned but doomed effort to arm soldiers with a better carbine.

On the upside, the award means that more soldiers will go into combat with the M4A1, a SOF version of the carbine that features a more durable barrel and a full-auto capability. The Army’s decision to dump the three-round burst setting will give soldiers a more consistent trigger and better accuracy.

It’s part of the service’s dual-path strategy to improve the individual carbine. Army weapons officials recently completed phase one of the service’s Improved Carbine Competition and will soon announce which companies proved they have the infrastructure and production capacity to turn out thousands of new weapons. Gun makers that advance to the second and third phases of the competition will have hundreds of thousands of test rounds fired through their prototypes before the Army announces one winner.

Many small-arms firms believe the endeavor is a waste of time since the Army has shown no interest in new calibers or features that would increase modularity. In the end, the winner of the competition will likely lose when the Army conducts a business-case analysis comparing it to the new-and-improved carbine that emerges from the parallel effort known as the M4 Product Improvement Program.

Questions have already started to surface over just how successful the PIP will be since the Army recently canceled a search for an improved bolt and bolt-carrier assembly. Companies such as LWRC International, Remington and Smith & Wesson that competed for the bolt and bolt-carrier assembly portion of the PIP were notified by the Army April 10 that none of the submissions offered enough improvement over the M4’s existing bolt and bolt-carrier assembly. It will be interesting to see if similar efforts to improve components such as the selector-switch assembly and the forward-rail assembly suffer the same fate.

News from Russia — Izhmash Goes Bankrupt!

Izhmash, the manufacturer of assault rifle AK-47, or Kalashnikov, officially went bankrupt over unpaid debts, according to the Russian Ria Rovosti news agency.

More than 100 million AK-type rifles are estimated to have been built since they were first introduced by inventor Mihail Kalashnikov in 1947.

Izhmash is a unit of the Russian Technologies Corporation, a state holding company with mining, arms and automotive assets.

A court has given the green light to Izmash factory being wound up, following a lawsuit issued by a creditor owed 814,000 rubles ($275,000). The Kalashnikov maker is now in receivership, and an administrator has been appointed by the court.

The bankruptcy is part of the re-organization procedure that was launched last year by Kalashnikov’s parent company, Russian Technologies State Corporation. Its director Maksim Kuzyuk said the bankruptcy procedure would help save the brand and most of the company’s property.

Izhmash, which has 5.3 billion ruble loan debts, registered 2.4 billion rubles of loss in 2011. Its production volume decreased by 45.5 percent last year. A major blow for Izmash came when the Russian Defence Ministry announced that it would not purchase the newly-created rifle the AK-12, which was unveiled in February.

April/10/2012

This is an article from a Turkish newspaper. The rumor of the company going under has been swirling since 2009. This time it’s the real deal. Will they re-organize and stay in business? It is Russia so it’s anyone’s guess at this point.

I’ll try to keep everyone up to date as I hear updates.

KRISS Vector

I recently had an opportunity to review a KRISS Vector carbine. This very interesting gun chambered in 45 acp and uses a standard Glock 13 round magazine. An adapter is also available from KRISS allowing the user to carry 30 rounds in the magazine. The weight is only 5.7 pounds, accurate easy to use and a very enjoyable gun to shoot.
The complete review is over on “The Firearm Blog” KRISS Review

Just click the link. I hope you enjoy it!

Century Arms G-1 FN-Fal

I recently wrote an article for “The Firearms Blog” I wanted to share with readers of my blog.
Link to article

Century Arms C-93 (H&K93)

I recently wrote a review for “The Firearm Blog” on the Century C93. This rifle is a clone of the H&K 93 at a much more affordable price. This turned out to be a very pleasant experience. I hope you enjoy the review and as always feel free to comment:-)

Click this link to read this review: C-93 rifle

Modernizing the Golani

My review on modernizing the Golani has been posted on Guns for Sale.com. I hope everyone enjoys it:-)

Golani Link

Golani Century Arms

I have a post you might enjoy on Guns for Sale.com This one is on the Century Arms Golani rifle.
Link to the Golani review

Happy Shooting

Read my gun reviews on “The Firearm Blog” as well as Gunners Journal

My reviews for GFS have been moved to “The Firearm Blog”

Hello all I wanted to announce I will be writing gun reviews weekly for the online gun shop and accessories dealer Guns for Sale.com. These reviews will be posted from now on at “The Firearm Blog”—link above:-) I will still post on Gunners Journal.
My ethics that apply to the blog will be in place as always so the reviews you read on Guns for Sale.com will be 100% correct and honest to the best of my ability.
Your questions and comments can be posted on their website and I will respond as quickly as possible as has always been the case here. They are good folks and I encourage you to look over the guns they stock at very fair prices.
The first article should be out in the next week or so.

Happy Shooting,
Phil
Gunner777

Winchester Model 1897

Norinco’s version of the Winchester model 1897 shotgun in 12 gauge riot gun version

Videos at the bottom of the article showcasing the old west shotguns of J. Browning

   I’ve always had a real love for older military weapons and shotguns are no exception. The Winchester model 1897 has always been of particular interest to me. I started looking for an original Winchester 97 a few months ago but having found only one in fair condition. I had just about given up since the ones in shooting condition were higher priced than the budget would allow. I did notice a few Norinco clones in my daily GunsAmerica list. After looking at them and checking them out on the importers website I decided this was a good alternative. List price on this model is $450 however they can be found for less. Now the military version with bayonet mount and heat shield is higher at a retail of $550 but again can be had for less.

An original military Winchester 1897 from WWI

   I know some will say that it can’t be a Norinco because imports of this brand have been halted by the government. That’s true to a point but the ban did not include shotguns. They can be difficult to find but they are out there. The riot gun model I bought is also very popular with Cowboy action shooters. In fact the best gunsmith for the model 97 is nicknamed Coyote Cap in the Cowboy action game. He’s actually very fond of the Norinco version of the 97 and provides a service of smoothing the action for competition at a cost of $130.
   I found mine at K&R guns. Why I hadn’t noticed it before is beyond me but they do carry a lot of shotguns:-) I was able to purchase mine for $360 NIB. The early Norincos were not particularly popular since they used the same cheap wood that is used on the Chinese AK’s. Now they use first quality Missouri Walnut thanks to Coyote Cap makiing a trip over to the factory and convincing them of the changes needed to make the gun not only more authentic but much more attractive. A few internal changes were also made to update a few parts for better function. If you watch “Lock and Load” with Gunny R. Lee Ermy he did an episode a few weeks ago on military shotguns designed by John Browning of which the 97 is one of them. You can also get the older 87 model in lever action as well as the double barrel coach gun all from Norinco. In fact he used Norinco shotguns for this episode. If you do a Google search you can find a downloadable copy of this episode–it’s very informative and entertaining. As you can see the bluing is very high quality as is the wood and finish on the walnut. It’s really a very attractive shotgun. One other option if you want the “trench” gun version you can buy the bayonet heat shield part for about $30 and convert the riot model to the military model.

Tom Sizemore in the movie Pearl Harbour with a model 97

   If you do another Google search you’ll find a lot of movies that feature the old model 97. It’s been a popular shotgun for a very long time. I enjoy the unique features of this shotgun. The exposed hammer you can lower with a round chambered as well as a trigger disconnect that allows you to fire a round each time you work the slide as long as the trigger is held back. That’s some serious firepower with five in the tube and one in the chamber. It also handles well with the short 20 inch barrel and 14 inch pull.

A real beauty!

   At first the action was a bit stiff but after removing most of the heavy grease the Chinese tend to use for shipping it smoother up some. Then I used a liberal amount of Slip 2000 carbon remover to remove anything else hiding in the tight spots. I followed this up with Slip 2000 lube and that really helped. The best cure is to go out and shoot a good number of rounds to break it in. The tolrences are pretty snug and shooting it also helped. I’ll admit that an action job to smooth the internals would really make a significant difference. Now that I’ve fired 80 or so rounds I’m satisfied with the action. There is one caveat in using this shotgun and that’s working the slide action. Don’t choke up to much on the stock when chambering a round because the action will bite your thumb pretty good. It’s not really a problem though. After you do it once you won’t do it again! Now I’m shooting it without any thought to the action getting my thumb. It just takes a bit of getting used to. One addition some may want is a recoil pad if you plan on shooting any slugs in the Deer woods. With a plastic butt there is no protection from the heavy recoil of a 1 1/2 ounce slug. Even though I’m not very recoil sensitive it did get my attention a bit.

   I took it out to the range with a mix of buckshot, slugs and target loads. I shot a total of 75 rounds of all types and had no malfunctions. The collar that secures the feed tube to the barrel loosened up after shooting a fair number of slugs. I tightened it up and it never came loose again. Not much can be said about accuracy with a shotgun except with slugs. I did back off to 35 yards and grouped 5 slugs into a 4 inch group. Not to bad at all with a bead sight. The shot spread with double 00 buck was about shoulder width at approx 25 yards.
   Even though this is new shotgun it is a piece of history and a lot of fun to shoot. If your thinking about getting into the Cowboy action shooting game this would be a great shot gun to use. In fact one funny term the Cowboy shooters use for this particular shotgun is “Norchester” for Norinco Winchester:-) I don’t shoot Cowboy matches but it’s such a neat shotgun to just take out and have a relaxing time I would recommend it just for the enjoyment factor even though it would sure fill the need for a home defense shotgun. Heaven knows I’ve avoided some bad situations on duty just by racking a round into the chamber of my issue shotgun.
For some real custom work at a reasonable price go to this link for Cowboy Cap. His story of trips to China to improve the model 97 Norinco makes is very interesting and informative. Link to Cowboy Cap
IAC importers of Norinco old west shotguns LINK

Lock and Load with R. Lee Ermy

Norinco quality has certainly gotten a lot better!

  
  

  

  

  

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