When propellant gas enters the front of the gas block, it travels rearward in a cylindrical passage immediately in front of the gas cylinder, striking the face of the piston and driving the carrier assembly rearward, which unlocks the bolt by way of the cam pin. The bolt rotation control bar, which rests against a boss on the face of the barrel extension, then guides the topmost locking lug, keeping it in proper orientation while the bolt carrier continues to the rear as the bolt extracts and ejects a cartridge case. At the rearmost part of its travel the carrier compresses the recoil spring, striking the polymer buffer and returning the bolt to battery after stripping a fresh round from the magazine.

Designed For Dynamic Handling
The Tavor has a definite rearward weight bias if grasped by the pistol grip alone—but once it is taken in both hands and shouldered, it is actually quite well balanced and comfortable. “The bullpup design moves the center of gravity of the rifle closer to the user’s body, allowing for more instinctive aiming and improved acquisition time to target,” explained Dekel.

The rubber buttplate rests fairly high in the shoulder pocket and stays put thanks to its tactile properties. The pistol grip is wide enough to be comfortable against the web of the shooting hand yet its somewhat rounded profile allows easy reach to the trigger. The flat, wide, oversize triggerguard, which angles at 45 degrees from the underside of the fore-end, can be grasped as an angled fore-grip or used as a palm rest by the off hand. The safety lies in the familiar location just above the centerline of the pistol grip and has a 90 degree throw. In addition, it is reversible in that the polymer lever itself, and the teardrop-shaped indicator on the opposite side are dovetailed to the ends of the shaft and can be removed and reversed simply by pressing in on a detent in their centers. The polymer magazine release lever lies on the centerline of the gun in front of the magazine well. Pressing it rearward cams a metal catch outward from the magazine body, allowing magazines to fall free. The trigger pull is quite good for a bullpup—likely because the trigger bar is drawn forward rather than pressed rearward as in the AUG, thereby minimizing flex in the mechanism.

Replacing magazines in any bullpup takes some practice, but once the shooter becomes familiar with such an arrangement it can mean staying on the gun throughout the movement without breaking cheekweld. With the Tavor, an additional bonus is that its bolt release, a large polymer lever behind the magazine well, can be tripped by the thumb of the off hand as the shooter inserts a magazine. Once practiced, it can be done in one fluid motion. The release also acts as a hold open when it is grasped at it rear and pulled downward after withdrawing the cocking lever to the rear. A polymer shell deflector and ejection port frame attach to the ejection side of the gun with a single Allen head screw. When changing the gun’s operation to the opposite side, they are simply swapped with the stamped steel ejection port cover. The cocking lever can be oriented on either side of the gun regardless of whether a right- or left-hand bolt is in use. A 5½-inch-long Picatinny rail serves as a cover for the slot on the opposite side. The lever, which is generously proportioned and angles upward slightly, does not reciprocate as the gun cycles.

At the range, reliability was 100 percent with primer strikes being well-defined and cases being ejected in a consistent pattern but not too forcefully from the gun. Despite the fact that the Tavor does not have a “forward assist” feature per se, the bolt carrier’s mass ensured that the bolt locked into battery without fail whether it was released by hand or by pressing the bolt release. Accuracy was on par with other service guns and included several five-shot groups slightly on either side of 1inch—interestingly with Federal’s economical American Eagle load.

Set To Succeed?
For those interested in modern semi-automatic arms, particularly arms with a military pedigree and, even more specifically, those of bullpup design, the Tavor SAR represents a breakthrough. While it is a newcomer on the American scene, its decade-plus of service with Israeli forces bodes well for its reputation as a globally recognized military small-arms platform and can only serve to bolster its reputation among civilian shooters. The fact that it is purpose-built to accommodate AR-style, or STANAG, magazines is no small matter—and is not likely lost on the legions of AR enthusiasts who already own them.

It is clear that the IWI Tavor SAR is different, and decidedly so, and that it is an excellent semi-automatic rifle in its own right chambered for one of America’s favorite defensive cartridges. The only question now is whether, like its namesake desert sentinel, the Tavor will establish itself with similar significance on the American firearm landscape.

Manufacturer: IWI US, Inc.; (717) 695-2081; iwi.us
Caliber: 5.56x45 mm NATO (.223 Rem.) (tested); 5.45x39 mm and 9 mm Luger with optional conversion kits
Action Type: long-stroke, gas-piston-operated, semi-automatic center-fire rifle (blowback with 9 mm Luger)
Receiver: hard anodized 7075-E6 aluminum with Teflon coating
Barrel: 16½" chrome-line, cold hammer forged chrome-moly vanadium steel (tested); 18" with bayonet lug; both with 1/2-28 t.p.i. muzzle threads
Rifling: six-groove,1:7" RH twist
Magazine: standard AR-15/M16 detachable box
Sights: folding steel rear peep and fully adjustable tritium front post
Trigger: 11-lb., 8-oz. pull
Safety: bilateral AR-15-style lever
Stock: injection-molded polymer with molded-in stippling in flat dark earth or black
Overall Length: 261⁄8" (16½" barrel, tested) 275⁄8" (18" barrel)
Weight: from 7 lbs., 14 ozs. (tested) to 8 lbs., 8 ozs.
Accessories: quick-detachable sling swivels, cleaning and maintenance kit, sight adjustment tool, one 30-round polymer magazine, owner’s manual, lock
Suggested Retail Price: $1,999 (tested); $2,599 (“IDF” Model)