The Golani gets a bad rap, and much of it deservedly so. But, if you go to uzitalk.com and go to the Galil Talk section, you will learn that there are ways to pick out a Golani that maximizes the chances of getting a good one, or at least one that requires only minor fixes. Still, it is a crap shoot and dealing with Century is certainly not a pleasant proposition from everything that I’ve heard. That said, some time back, armed with as much knowledge as I could get about picking one, I picked one up. From the start I really wanted to like it and have it work. Up until today the results have been somewhat mixed with the worst of it my own fault.
The first time out with the Golani I went through sixty or so rounds without a malfunction. Right as I was about to put the gun away and shoot something else I decided to use up a box of Remington UMC that I had bought at Walmart as an impulse buy. As soon as I went to the UMC the malfunctions started with crumpled rounds and failure to chamber. I had a few of the rounds left that had been flawless, PMC Bronze, and function returned to normal. I decided that the UMC had been the culprit. I set the rifle aside for some months and only returned to it this past Monday for a trip to the DNR range at Wilson Shoals.
I brought three 5.56 rifles and a supply of Lake City green tip 62 grain as well as some PMC 55 grain 5.56. I chose to shoot the green tip through the Golani. For the first 25 rounds function was fine. Then, all hell broke loose with the same failure to chamber and crumpled rounds as with the UMC. I had meant to bring my five other mags but had forgotten them so I put the rifle aside and moved on. Once I got home I compared the mag that I had used to my others to try and gain some insight whether it was a mag problem. It sure was. Although the mag that I had used had a floor plate that appeared to be for a Galil mag it was most definitely not a Galil mag. Other than the floor plate everything was different. In fact, it seemed to be for 7.62 x 39 Russian. I’m still not sure what the mag is for as it is rather unusual compared to standard metal AK mags. I think that what happened was when the rifle was cool it would just work, but when the rifle heated up and things heated up it was enough to take the mag out of a function mode. It was an interesting theory but I was still stuck with a rifle of uncertain function. I decided to take the rifle to the indoor range today and perform a function test with the five remaining proper mags (Israeli surplus), three 35 round and two fifty round.
I started out shooting at 25 yards with the Lake City 62 gr. Green tip. With four of the five mags there were the same old crumpled rounds, but less than I had experienced earlier in the week. I wasn’t sure that the one mag that seemed to be functional would remain so and was strongly considering getting rid of the Golani at that point. Fortunately I had decided to also bring some PMC Bronze 55 gr. and as a last ditch effort gave it a try. From that point onward function was 100%. It was like a completely different rifle. Better yet, the grouping even seemed to tighten up. When I function test I’m not all that concerned about grouping or aiming all that much, and only have a target up so as not to seem odd, but I could see from my hits that the .223 was right over the bull. In the photo below of a six inch target at 25 yards that big jagged hole over the bull only appeared once I switched to the PMC .223. Okay, maybe the rifle (chambered for 5.56 if the stamp on the receiver is to be believed) likes 55 grain better than 62 grain, but considering the accuracy improvement with the resolution of the reliability issue this rifle seems to sing with .223 and falter with 5.56, at least the two flavors that I tried. I was only able to confirm function in three of the five mags due to ammo limitations, but I anticipate that the other two will be fine. The next 200 or so rounds though the Golani will be .223 and after that I will have a much more complete answer, but I am very optimistic that I have learned what this rifle needs to be fed. I’m glad that I didn’t give up on it.
So there you have it. Ammo can play a big part in reliability and in this case the answer seems to be using .223. Something to consider.
The first time out with the Golani I went through sixty or so rounds without a malfunction. Right as I was about to put the gun away and shoot something else I decided to use up a box of Remington UMC that I had bought at Walmart as an impulse buy. As soon as I went to the UMC the malfunctions started with crumpled rounds and failure to chamber. I had a few of the rounds left that had been flawless, PMC Bronze, and function returned to normal. I decided that the UMC had been the culprit. I set the rifle aside for some months and only returned to it this past Monday for a trip to the DNR range at Wilson Shoals.
I brought three 5.56 rifles and a supply of Lake City green tip 62 grain as well as some PMC 55 grain 5.56. I chose to shoot the green tip through the Golani. For the first 25 rounds function was fine. Then, all hell broke loose with the same failure to chamber and crumpled rounds as with the UMC. I had meant to bring my five other mags but had forgotten them so I put the rifle aside and moved on. Once I got home I compared the mag that I had used to my others to try and gain some insight whether it was a mag problem. It sure was. Although the mag that I had used had a floor plate that appeared to be for a Galil mag it was most definitely not a Galil mag. Other than the floor plate everything was different. In fact, it seemed to be for 7.62 x 39 Russian. I’m still not sure what the mag is for as it is rather unusual compared to standard metal AK mags. I think that what happened was when the rifle was cool it would just work, but when the rifle heated up and things heated up it was enough to take the mag out of a function mode. It was an interesting theory but I was still stuck with a rifle of uncertain function. I decided to take the rifle to the indoor range today and perform a function test with the five remaining proper mags (Israeli surplus), three 35 round and two fifty round.
I started out shooting at 25 yards with the Lake City 62 gr. Green tip. With four of the five mags there were the same old crumpled rounds, but less than I had experienced earlier in the week. I wasn’t sure that the one mag that seemed to be functional would remain so and was strongly considering getting rid of the Golani at that point. Fortunately I had decided to also bring some PMC Bronze 55 gr. and as a last ditch effort gave it a try. From that point onward function was 100%. It was like a completely different rifle. Better yet, the grouping even seemed to tighten up. When I function test I’m not all that concerned about grouping or aiming all that much, and only have a target up so as not to seem odd, but I could see from my hits that the .223 was right over the bull. In the photo below of a six inch target at 25 yards that big jagged hole over the bull only appeared once I switched to the PMC .223. Okay, maybe the rifle (chambered for 5.56 if the stamp on the receiver is to be believed) likes 55 grain better than 62 grain, but considering the accuracy improvement with the resolution of the reliability issue this rifle seems to sing with .223 and falter with 5.56, at least the two flavors that I tried. I was only able to confirm function in three of the five mags due to ammo limitations, but I anticipate that the other two will be fine. The next 200 or so rounds though the Golani will be .223 and after that I will have a much more complete answer, but I am very optimistic that I have learned what this rifle needs to be fed. I’m glad that I didn’t give up on it.
So there you have it. Ammo can play a big part in reliability and in this case the answer seems to be using .223. Something to consider.
Last edited:
