Tag Archives: imi

Reviews, Training

Green Ops Defensive Carbine Clinic AAR (Galil Edition)

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Shanah tovah!

So, I have been less active posting to the blog because I’ve been buying less and doing more. This is not a bad state of affairs, but can admittedly be on the boring side of things if you’re the reader of an Israeli firearms blog! (It also didn’t help that IWI hasn’t released any of their new guns yet… so much for release dates.)

One of the things I’ve been doing more of is training. Training is a tough commitment, but I’m in a place in my life where I’m finally in condition to do more of it, and I’ve been trying to make a priority of it. Finding good trainers is hard – most of them seem content to do CCW courses and “your first gun!” classes. There’s nothing wrong with those, but when you want more advanced training, you’re either looking harder or traveling.

I am very pleased to say that Green Ops in northern Virginia is one of those real-deal advanced training providers, and they’re worth every penny you throw their way. I’ve taken a number of courses with them, and this after-action review is for their Defensive Carbine Clinic.

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Research

The IMI Magen-1

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So, today, I’ve got something VERY special for you. Courtesy of reader Marcin at POLARMS, I am pleased to show you pictures of a true unicorn: an IMI Magen-1. The Magen-1 has been a real mystery to me. There is a single reference to it online, with basically no useful information other than “it’s 9mm”. Well, now we’ve got pictures, and they tell a lot more of the story. More after the break!

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Research

The IMI Compact 945

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Yes, that’s an actual unfired, mint-condition IMI Compact 945 (which I’ve previously erroneously called the 945 Compact) you see in the picture. You’ll recall this pistol from the article I wrote on it previously. The Compact 945 did make it into the wild, at least in a limited way.

Before I go any further, I want to acknowledge reader “Patrick from Belgium”, with the photos and manual you see in this article, not to mention some other contextual information that’s probably at least as important. The good stuff is after the break!

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Research

Racking that Jericho slide

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I was looking at a review of the new IWI-US imported Jericho over on LooseRounds, and noticed that the author had a very interesting comment about it:

… the action and slide of the Jericho sit tight inside the frame and as a side effect, reveal little of the slide itself for weapon manipulation. Unlike say, my square Glock which gives me lots of real estate for racking and manipulation, the Jericho gives much less purchase. Consider this a negative if forced to manipulate the weapon when wet or in slippery conditions.

Fair criticism, of course. IMI apparently took this to heart when they designed the Barak, which has the large, easy-to-grab, and ugly rear sight “hump”.

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But… this is also specifically a problem with the newest generation of Jerichos. The sights on the new imports are of the “snag-free” variety. However, if you look at the older IMI guns, they’ve got a much different design – very vertical, thick, and “snaggy”. The advantage is that the old style sights make the slide much easier to manipulate. You simply grab the top of the slide and push back against the rear sight.

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Want to be a real operator and do a one-handed-against-the-table slide manipulation? The old-style sights were awesome for that. In fact, the old-style sights were pretty great in general, so I’m not sure why they changed them. Snag-free isn’t everything.

Reviews

IMI 115gr 9×19 FMJ and EX-STAR Ammo Review

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You may not be aware of this, but ammo has gotten pretty cheap these days – almost the cheapest I’ve seen it since 2008. You can get quality brass-cased 9mm ammo for 20c a round, and steel-cased 5.56×45 is not far behind. As long as you’re not into .22lr, this is a good time to be shooting.

Wideners has been selling IMI 115gr 9mm FMJ ammo for under 20c a round (edit: sold out now), and IMI 115gr 9mm EX-STAR JHP for 22c a round. While I’m not a purist about shooting Israeli ammo through my Israeli guns, I’m always down for some good ammo. I ordered a couple cases. Here’s what I found…

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Research

The Mystery of the IMI 9mm Revolver

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One of the most maddening Israeli-made handguns to track down has been the “IMI Revolver 9mm”. There is simply very little reliable information about it floating around on the internet due to its age and lack of commercial imports.

There are conflicting accounts of what caliber the revolvers were chambered in (9×19, .38 Special, or 9×21), whether they were based on the S&W 1917 design or S&W Model 10 design, and whether they were ever produced in any real volume. (All sources agree that they used half-moon clips, which at is something, I guess.) Internet legend has it that the Israelis made them for the Palestinian Authority’s police units after favorably evaluating the 9mm S&W Model 547 (a different gun entirely), but the total lack of them in imported Israeli police seizure lots is baffling, if that is true. I have spent some time researching the issue, and I think I’ve got a better theory as to what’s going on.

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Research

Comparing the IMI Barak and the IWI Barak

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I was recently able to procure two Barak handguns – one an early IMI model, and the other a later IWI model. I have been working on the assumption that the IWI model is a redesign of the IMI model, and not some sort of parallel variant that no one has ever heard of.

I’ve field-stripped both in an effort to determine what differences are between them.

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