A new to Galil/Golani rifle owner,a few questions.

[ozinsc]

Hi all.
Just acquired a Golani Sporter rifle, 'GLN' serial number prefix,all seems good but I have yet to shoot it.
No 'F' stamp on the receiver so wondering about that.How do I tell if it is a spring loaded firing pin or not?
I can't find any markings on the barrel as to twist rate or manufacturer,any ideas?
It came with three mags,two 35 round and one 50 round.
The 35 round mags look good,the 50 round looks like it might have been through a few wars.:lol
I have four more 35 rounders on order from Sarco.

So what do I need to know,what to look for as far as issues and any pics would be helpful of the possible issues.

Thanks,oz.

 

[Gary]

I see. . . so instead of conducting a search through this forum, gaining valuable knowledge on your own accord. . . you wanna be spoon fed.
:slap

 

[mace2364]

^
Lighten up Francis. It's the guy's first post.

OP, Unfortunately I don't know the answers to the all the questions you're asking but I'm going to try.

For the firing pin, field strip your rifle, removing the bolt. If the firing pin moves back and forth by itself when you flip the bolt over(like an AK, if you're familiar), you do not have a spring loaded firing pin.

I don't know who century has doing their barrels, but I'm pretty sure they're 1 in 9(like most 5.56 firearms with commercial barrels are now), if not then 1 in 7.

 

[Gary]

^
Lighten up Francis. It's the guy's first post. . .

What? I'm not allowed to voice a pet peeve? You a communist or something??? :lol

 

[asshat84]

if it's a golani it's a spring loaded firing pin.

I believe the GLN receivers are the cast caspien ones. they are way better than the Ohio Rapid Fire receivers from the first run. but still have problems. some are soft and may even have misaligned holes.

one of the first things i would look at is the bolt. make sure none of the locking lugs have been ground down or even the bolt face may have been ground on it to make it operate.
also some suffer from low bullet guides. i think those a two of the major issue most people see. if you need more info do like gary says and just do a search. these guns have had a lot of problems.

 

[adipose]

Caspian receiver; spring loaded bolt and US 1 in 9 twist barrel. These were made after the ORF ones. Less issues; but still had some as Century is noted for.

 

[ozinsc]

Gary, until you are accepted as a member you cannot perform a search,while waiting for approval I DID go back as far as I could and didn't find the answer.Also there is the small point of if you don't like the thread,don't post.

To everyone else,thanks,what I was finding regarding the barrel is it could be 1/12 or 1/7 if original,hence my wondering.
I knew the receiver was a Caspian,but had read there were issues with these receivers as well.
From reading,to take the spring loaded firing pin,the bolt was 'drilled' out by Century,why wasn't the original Israeli firing pin used?

 

[k7]

Here's a copy of the recall letter for the Golani with SN starting with GAL. Hope this answers some of your questions. Joe


CENTURY INTERNATIONAL ARMS, INC.
236 Bryce Boulevard
Fairfax, Vermont, U.S.A. 05454
Tel: (802) 527-1252 Fax: (802) 527-5631
Date: August 29, 2007
Subject: Galil and/or Golani Semi-Auto Sporter Rifle


We are requesting that customers who purchased the Galil and/or Golani semi-auto sporter that have serial numbers between

GAL00001 and GAL02393

send in their firearm to us as we have modified the bolt and are installing a new firing pin and firing pin spring to ensure that your Golani offers you the utmost safety and reliability.

All Galil and/or Golani rifles that have the letter "F" or "X" on the bottom of the receiver front cut off have already been upgraded and your rifle does not need to be sent in to us.

If you are a dealer, please provide us with the names, addresses and contact information of the purchasers of these Galil/Golani rifles. We will contact them directly.

If you are contacted by these customers, please have them call us at 1-800-270-2767 to obtain a return authorization.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter and hope to have this situation resolved as quickly as possible.

 

[lcastillo]

First off welcome on Galil talk ozinsc! Your GLN serial numbered Golani falls under the range where the firing pin was corrected under the recall that K7 was nice enough to post.

Word has it that Century Arms recalled the Golani because with a combination of softer commercial primers and carbon & dirt fouled up the free floating firing pin, this caused the firing pins to stick out and cause slam fires or even worse runaway fire (FA until ammo is out). Both being dangerous conditions.

The fix was that Century came up with thier own solution by drilling out the IMI Galil bolt to save cost and adding a modified firing pin with a enlarged area to the rear to hold the spring under tension. To answer your question yes the Golani bolt will take a original free float firing pin, is it recommended? No because you run the same risk of runaway fire as Century encountered. You will also have a large hole in the rear of the bolt that can gather more dirt and grime fouling your free floating firing pin quickly. The original configuration encloses the firing pin inside the bolt. IMI designed the firing pin with three lightning cuts (this was to reduce surface area to prevent sticking) and drain cuts to move water or oil out during firing. Without this enclosure the pin will get fouled up quick.

You seem to be safe of any of these issues so far. I am reposting some pictures of the differences between the Golani & Galil firing pins and bolts.

 

[lcastillo]

Here is a picture of what happens when you swap firing pins and bolts,
and another of the original Galil free floating firing pin.

 

[ozinsc]

Here is a picture of what happens when you swap firing pins and bolts,
and another of the original Galil free floating firing pin.

Thanks lcastillo,that helps a lot.I do indeed have the Century bolt and spring loaded firing pin.

 

[willie91]

My Galil's serial is GAL 007xx and has no f stamp in the recess but has the spring loaded firing pin. The bolt does not have any grinding marks on it and both lugs have the same amount of wear.

 

[lcastillo]

Willie,
According to the copy of the recall letter that member K7 posted on post #8 your Golani falls under the recall serial numbers (GAL00001 and GAL02393). If you do not have the "F" or "X" stamp I would call Century to see if it has been repaired. They can easily look it up and give you further instructions.

 

[Ed24601]

Welcome to the forum.
:waving
My first Golani (POS#1) was a true nightmare. Bolt lugs were ground badly for clearance. The receiver casting was not in spec. Each round required a rubber mallet strike to get the bolt out of battery. Sent it back to Century. They put some white moly wheel bearing grease on the bolt and shipped it back. Ended up sending it out for major work, Jeff fixed it. Runs great now. You have a cast Caspian receiver, most likely a 1/9 twist on the barrel.(have seen 1/12 and 1/7 also). Inspect the bolt closely to make sure Century did NOT grind on the lugs for clearance in the receiver. There are some Great folks on here with years of experience with these things and they will patiently answer your questions. With a bit of patience and luck, your golani can be a good running shooter which won't need the intense maintenance of some others.:moon:bigfart I just love these smilies.

 

[GOH]

Anyone know who manufactured the spring loaded firing pin?

 

[willie91]

Willie,
According to the copy of the recall letter that member K7 posted on post #8 your Golani falls under the recall serial numbers (GAL00001 and GAL02393). If you do not have the "F" or "X" stamp I would call Century to see if it has been repaired. They can easily look it up and give you further instructions.

Just wondering since mine has the updated firing pin but no stamp?

 

[lcastillo]

Willie91, It could be as simple as the tech that repaired your rifle and forgot to stamp the reciever with a "F" or "X"? You just never know. Century Arms will issue you a return authorization if they feel you rifle was not repaired. Again my recommendation is to call Century to verify if they reparied that rifle first. There was also an issue with soft recievers. Another option is to send it off to Hillbilly Firearms to get it checked over.

 

[Sidewinder]

Oz, I just saw your post and you are off to a good start as the recipient of solid information regarding your rifle. Good and helpful folks lurk here. Now it's time to run ammo through your Golani to determine if there are issues. Hopefully there are none, but if there are, don't let Century off the hook and be aggressive on your warranty rights. Welcome to the forum.

 

[ozinsc]

Thanks,I plan to keep the rifle,I have always wanted a Galil and kind of lucked into this one.Have four more 35 round mags on order.

 

[asshat84]

were did you get the mags from? been looking and it looks like the recent craze has drove the prices up stupidly or they are out of stock.