Place of origin Israel Used by See Users | In service 2008–present | |
 | ||
Type Carbine
Assault rifle
Battle rifle Wars Colombian conflict
Mexican Drug War Designer Israel Military Industries | ||
The IWI ACE (formerly IMI Galil ACE) is an Israeli family of rifles developed and originally manufactured by Israel Military Industries (IMI); it is currently manufactured by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and also produced under license by FAMAE, Indumil, RPC Fort and Z111 Factory. It is produced in three calibres: 5.56×45mm NATO, 7.62×39mm, and 7.62×51mm NATO.
Contents
- Weight reduction
- Last round bolt catch
- Long stroke piston system
- Gas tube
- Port sealing
- Stock
- Trigger
- Barrel
- Accuracy
- Variants
- Users
- References
The ACE family is based upon the mechanism of the IMI Galil, but using a modernized design and materials to increase its accuracy and lower its weight, while maintaining the Galil's ergonomics, ease of maintenance and reliability under battle conditions. Emphasis was placed in particular in increasing its reliability and accuracy under adverse or battlefield conditions.
It is the main assault rifle of the Colombian army and Colombian police, for whom it is manufactured locally under license by Indumil. In addition, it has been selected as the future standard assault rifle of the Chilean Army and the People's Army of Vietnam.
Weight reduction
The original Galil had weighed up to 9.6 lb (4.4 kg), depending on its variant, and this weight was criticised by the Israel Defense Forces. The heavy weight was a result of IMI having built the Galil rifle from a machined all-solid steel billet action in order to increase the structural integrity and survivability of the weapon.
The ACE has a significantly reduced weight. IWI redesigned the action to integrate the steel with polymer, which is much lighter than the fully steel receiver of the original Galil. While the upper receiver is machined steel and the receiver top features a MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail, polymer has been introduced to the lower receiver of the weapon to reduce the gun's weight.
Last round bolt catch
Another addition by IWI to the original Galil is the last round bolt catch, for the versions of the ACE in 5.56×45mm NATO. The bolt hold-open feature is a common request of military customers, to reduce reloading times during combat.
Long-stroke piston system
The rifle uses the Galil's long-stroke piston system. The long-stroke system is found in the M1 Garand, AK-47 (upon which the Galil's internal mechanism design borrowed heavily) and more recently in the IWI Tavor.
Gas tube
The gas tube, unlike the AK-47 system, is mounted on the rifle via a dovetailed slide machined on the receiver upper-front block. This avoids any movement of the gas block influencing barrel vibration, which would degrade accuracy.
Port sealing
IWI have sealed the internal mechanism of the gun, by the addition of a sliding vertical cover. As a result, the internal mechanism of the ACE is sealed and protected from the accumulation of dirt or sand.
Stock
The standard buttstock found on the ACE is a six-position telescopic stock that can be fitted with an optional cheek-piece to improve the sighting of the weapon when using an optical sight. An optional right folding version of the standard buttstock is also available.
The forearm consists of MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rails on all 4 sides for mounting accessories such as aiming optics. The side forearm rails have central grooves to provide routing channels for electric wiring used by pressure switch activated accessories. The forearm comes with quick detachable polymer covering panels that can be mounted to protect the rails when a side or bottom rail has no accessories mounted to it.
Trigger
The ACE adopts the Galil Sniper trigger instead of the original Galil trigger, in order to improve accuracy compared to the standard Galil. This is a two-stage trigger, which IWI have modeled on the two-stage trigger of the M1 Garand.
According to American Rifleman, the two-stage trigger is “clean and smooth with a 4 lb. 13 oz. [4.8 lbf, 21.4 N] trigger pull according to a Lyman digital trigger gauge.”
Barrel
The barrel is chrome-lined, cold hammer-forged, with a 1:7″ twist for 5.56×45mm NATO, 1:9.5″ for 7.62×39mm and 1:12″ for 7.62×51mm NATO.
Accuracy
According to American Rifleman: “Although this rifle is clearly based on the AK design, it demonstrated a superior level of accuracy potential compared to several of its cousins. The best single group [of 5 rounds at 100 yards] of 0.83″ and five-group average of 0.98″ was produced using the Federal Premium 123-gr. [8.0 g] Power-Shok soft-point load” (testing done using 7.62×39mm 16-inch barreled variant).
Variants
The ACE is available in three calibers with multiple barrel lengths for each type:
At some point, the ACE 52L was removed from production.