Century Arms Golani Serial Numbers
I had one for a while. The nice things about it: slightly easier to disassemble than a true AK as the gas tube slides right off once the receiver cover and recoil spring are removed. It also looks really cool, and has basically no felt recoil. Accuracy is quite good too.Ultimately, I didn't like the rifle, here's why.
IMO, it's much heavier than it needs to be. Likely, it's on account of the milled receiver, but it feels considerably heavier than an AK, despite shooting a smaller round.
Dunno that a milled receiver is an excuse though, as the VZ-58 has a milled receiver too and feels lighter than an AK47. Though the finish was ok (not great by any means) on the Golani, the fit was less than stellar, every time you chambered a round, you could hear and feel scraping going on. It's possible that would have smoothed out over time, but I didn't have it long enough for that to happen so I don't know. The handguard was a bit loose.The rifle wasn't tolerant of switching back and forth between steel and brass-cased ammo, it would cause spent shells to get stuck and would have to be tapped or even pounded out using a rod down the barrel. I've never had this problem in my SKS, AK's, or VZ-58.
Century Arms Galil For Sale
Also, bear in mind, though there are supposedly 5.56 versions out there, many if not most are apparently labeled.223 only, and there is a differenceThe rear sight, which could be set to either 300m or 500m was loose, and so though your first shot would be accurate, after that shot, it would shift over a millimeter or two, and that seemed to throw accuracy off. Basically, was impossible to shoot consistently unless you put the sight back into place after each round you fire.Reliability wasn't 100%. This is likely a magazine issue, it seems like working magazines are hard to find. I had 4 magazines of apparently widely varying quality.
2 were surplus mags that came with the rifle, one was a surplus mag I bought separately, and one was a Tapco. Of the 2 mags that came with the rifle, only one worked consistently, one was slightly out of spec and the rounds would literally get stuck as if they were just a hair too long to move freely up and down the mag. The 3rd surplus mag was so loose and had so much play, it would literally not feed, couldn't chamber a round from it or anything. The Tapco would consistently FTF after the first round, and the last round. Also magazines aren't very affordable or widely available compared AK's or AR's.A lot of people praise the upward-bent charging handle, as it is supposed to allow easier actuation with either hand, I thought it was annoying and I occasionally hit my hand on the rear sight when working the charging handle. The busting your knuckles issue would even be worse if you were to get it set up for optics (something much harder to do with a Golani than an AK anyways).
I've seen people replace their Galil bolt carriers with AK ones to relieve this problem.The ambi safety is also a praised feature I didn't really dig. I shoot left-handed it the switch on the left side of the gun dug into my hand and made it less comfortable to shoot. It also creates a opening in the receiver that can't be closed.I really hate to knock a gun, especially one that I really wanted to like and has so much cool factor going for it, and it's possible that one I got just wasn't a good one, but in any case, I thought it wasn't a very good rifle. I would say, it's inferior to most AK-clones.edit: just for interest's sake, here's a thread (with pics) from another forum about Galils with AK bolt carriers. I have a golani sporter as well. I bought it for 700 from a friend about a year and a half ago. It runs really well for the most part.
I've used orolite tapco and original steel 35 rounders and all run like a swiss watch. In over 700 rounds by me I have yet to have a single jam of any kind. Its no lightweight when it compared to other guns but I believe its worth it. The gun I believe is far mor accurate than most AK's while in my opinion if they are built right maintaining the same reliability. Mine will shoot about a 2 inch group at 100 yards thats iron sights and winchester 5.56. I bet with some better ammo and a scope i could get it smaller.
The only issue I had with mine is a broken firing pin but i bought 2 more for 10 bucks and im good to go again. The main issue with the golanis is that they are built by century, so in turn you have to deal with their spotty at best quality control. If you get a good one you will be happy if you don't on uzitalk.com theres a guy that can fix any issues that arise from a century golani for a decent price. If you're considering a Golani, also watch out for recall issues and also who the manufacturer of the receiver on the particular rifle is. There's various markings and serial numbers that tell whether the rifle was one affected by the recall, and also which receiver it uses, as there's a 'good' one and a 'bad' one.Personally, I wouldn't get one. If you're looking for a semi-auto rifle styled after a military rifle, would rather not spend a lot, but still have the rifle be something more unique than the ubiquitous AK's and AR's, I think Century's Vz-2008 (copy of Vz-58) is actually a much better buy. First off, it's actually generally considerably less expensive, and probably one of the best products Century ever came out with.
Mine is 100% reliable, it's quite accurate, it's also very handy and lightweight. Fit and finish is superior to the Golani. The receiver is a work of art compared to the roughly machined Golani, of course I am not sure how much that says.I have reason to suspect the Vz-2008's piston spring takes too much of beating firing the hotter M67 7.62x39 load, but there's plenty of options other for ammo. There's no advantage to the Golani in that respect, as it apparently can't handle 5.56 NATO. The Golani will handle both.223 and 5.56. Mine is stamped '5.56'.
The only issues that I have had was with some Remington UMC ammo that had a greater overall length. Others have noted problems with the UMC as well.You will want one with a 'GLN' serial number prefix and not a 'GAL'. You will also want a serial number as much over 3000 as possible. Newer rifles with the GLN serial numbers have the improved receivers and older GAL prefixes indicate the ORF receivers that had issues.I like my Golani quite a bit. So far I have only fired to to determine reliability, but the accuracy that I was seeing had potential to be impressive.for an AK.
My Golani Sporter handles like a sledge hammer, and weigh about as much. It suffered jams/double feeds the first time I shot it. The front edge of dust cover had to be ground down so I could reassemble it. It looks like it was finished by a drunken monkey with a can of black spray paint.The spent brass has a large dent in the side, toward the center of the case, so I guess re-loading for this gun is out of the question.I wish to Hell I'd bought a Ruger Mini-14.
I loved the early one I had 30-odd years ago.My 'smith sold me this thing, after he convinced me this is the best gun ever, because of 'the milled receiver.' The dust cover is a normal AK type fit. It's just super tight. There are no screws or other fastening methods. As to it holding zero, I haven't done any accuracy work with mine yet so I can't say about holding zero, but the fit seems tight enough that it might be okay.But yeah, it is a real tight fit and you need to really work to get it on and off. But, that is exactly the way that it was designed to be.
Again, these covers should not be ground down for an easier fit. With a looser fit the rear sight may well become an ornament. The rear sight being on the dust cover probably isn't a big issue in and of itself. The Russians have also made rifles that way, for example the AK-107/108 (these use a different, presumably more secure, means of securing the dust cover than the standard AK's). The Golani dust cover did seem plenty secure, indeed probably more so than a typical AK.However, the Golani sight does not hold zero (at least mine didn't), it just doesn't have anything to do with where the sight is located, and probably wouldn't hold zero even if it were on the receiver itself. As I recall, the sight is such that it allows you to flip back and forth between 500m and 300m, and there was a stop half way between that's neither. Doggone, sorry for not mentioning this before, but one thing is critical to know when condsidering purchasing a potential Golani or any Century.
While one would assume that the warranty period begins to run on the date of purchase by the consumer, for Century's purposes that period (a year, maybe?) starts to run when the weapon is transfered to the distributor, or possibly even the date of manufacture (go to the Galil section of Uzitalk to get more info). I think it might have been date of manufacture. So, there are actually rifles out there being sold new where the warranty has already expired, or a term left of less than what one might otherwise think. Some have reported inconsistent postions from Century on this issue while others have just been burned on this. My undestanding is that the tag that should hang off the triggerguard will have the date of manufacture, which is when the clock potentially began to run.
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Century Arms Golani Sporter, a faithful recreation of the famous 5.56mm Israeli Galil rifle, featuring a skeletonized folding stock and distinctive pistol grip.Thanks to the upswing in sales over the last couple of years, the majority of American gun owners equate the.223 cartridge with the myriad Stoner-based rifles now available. Nonetheless, the AR is not the only.223 game in town.
A number of manufacturers are building self-loading rifles chambering the.223 and 5.56mm NATO cartridge.No, the.223 and 5.56x45mm are not identical. The rule is that.223 will work in 5.56mm guns but not vice versa. Think of it like.38 Special and.357 Mag. The 5.56x45mm is akin to a magnum version of the.223.Gun DetailsChambered in the 5.56mm, the gas-operated Golani battle rifle has an 18-inch barrel with a 1-in-9-inch twist. A “birdcage” muzzle brake/compensator is found on the business end.
Like the original Galil rifle, the Century model has a skeletonized folding stock and distinctive polymer forend and pistol grip.The finish on the rifle is completely in black (parkerized) and each gun comes with two, 35-round magazines and one 5-round “sporting” magazine. Empty weight is 8.13 pounds. Overall length is just a bit more than 38 inches. With the stock folded the rifle’s storage length is 29 inches.Running the Golani through numerous training drills, the gun performed like a true, proven battle rifle. The Vortex “StrikeFire” red dot optic provided quick reference for rapid target engagement. PHOTO COURTESY PAUL MARKELSling mounts are found on the left side.
The manual safety lever is ambidextrous. On the right side of the frame it operates like a standard AK. On the left side the safety is a lever—forward for safe, back to fire. This particular version of the rifle does not include a bayonet lug, as older models did.
The charging handle on the left side, attached to the bolt and reciprocates with it. Note that the manual safety and mag release is ambidextrous.The magazine release catch operates again like an AK, but has a guard to prevent accidental engagement if that should be a concern. This guard, however, prevents rapid one-hand reloading where the shooter uses a fresh magazine to unseat the empty one. AK operators know this technique well. To install a magazine, first hook the forward lip of the magazine and rock it back in place like the AK. As it is found in the center, the magazine release is ambidextrous.The charging handle is attached to the bolt and reciprocates with it. Rather than protruding out of the right side, the handle points upward and can be operated with the with the supporting hand reaching over the top of the receiver.The Vortex “StrikeFire” red dot optic provided quick reference for rapid target engagement.
SightsThe sights on the Golani Sporter mimic those of the original Galil rifle with one major exception. The military rifles had tritium night-sights on the front and rear. Due to import restrictions, these “radioactive” sights are left off of the current model. As far as the standard iron sights are concerned, they are fully adjustable.
The rear sight is a peep with dual apertures. The front sight post is protected by a circular steel guard.The front sight on the Golani adjusts for both windage and elevation like the Kalashnikov. Windage adjustments can be made with a large flathead screwdriver. You will need a dedicated tool to make elevation adjustments on the front sight post.
A mil-spec AK front sight tool will work. TAPCO offers a great front sight tool that allows you to change the elevation on the Galil, AK, or SKS.Though the iron sights are fully functional, the rear peep aperture is small and the front sight post is difficult to pick up during rapid target engagement. I wanted to mount some type of red dot optic on the rifle, but in its standard configuration that would be impossible.
Despite this obstacle, I soon had the solution to the mounting problem.Midwest Industries has a four-way aluminum rail system designed specially for the Golani. Unfortunately I found out too late about it, but I did install their universal AK handguard on the rifle. Both of these Midwest Industries rails completely replaces the standard plastic forearm.
With the rail secured in place, I decided to mount a new Vortex “StrikeFire” red dot optic on the rifle. A single scope ring mounted easily to the top rail. Underneath, on the bottom rail I installed a vertical foregrip for better control.Range NeedsIn addition to firearms, Century International Arms also sells ammunition. Along with the Golani rifle, I acquired some.223 ammunition from Barnaul, a Russian Manufacturer. The Barnaul loads were a 62-grain JHP with zinc cases and a 55-grain JSP with lacquered steel cases. Also along for the ride were Federal’s American Eagle 55-grain FMJ and Wolf’s “Military Classic” 55-grain FMJ.Midwest Industries 4-Way rail system for the Golani should fit perfectly on it and allow operators the option to mount various accessories.As I put pen to paper, Century has spare/extra Golani magazines in stock for more than reasonable prices. I looked online and found steel Galil magazines could be found from $35 up to $75 a piece.
TAPCO recently introduced a polymer 30-round magazine for the Galil. I found these online for less than $15 everywhere I looked. In addition to steel and polymer magazines, I would take a LULA tool to the range with me.
The LULA tool saves your thumbs and lets you easily load your magazines to capacity. The AK LULA works with AK-47, AK-74, and Galil/Golani magazines. No battle rifle would be complete without a sling of some sort. For this review I decided to attach a Vickers sling from available from Blue Force Gear. This is a two-point adjustable sling with padding in the shoulder area.
The Vicker sling is strong/tough and has the added benefit of being adjustable with one hand. Yes, you can snug it up or loosen it with your support hand only.Range TimeAs per usual, I knocked out my chronographing chores first. Next I would bench the rifle and fire a few shot groups for record. The Golani is not a bench rifle, it’s a fighting gun and as such the majority of my range testing would take the form of shoot and move drills and training.
The red dot Vortex optic provided a clear reference point for rapid target engagement. This was particularly apparent during moving drills.During three separate outings with the Golani, I consumed somewhere in the neighborhood of five hundred rounds, the majority of which were the Barnaul and Wolf ammunition. Unlike many U.S. Made AR’s, the Century rifle had no problem with the zinc and lacquer steel cases. It consumed round after round and cycled the ammunition consistently even when the barrel and chamber were smoking hot.Final NotesThe Golani Sporter proved a tough, reliable rifle.
The gun is most definitely classified as a “rifle” not a “carbine.” The 18-inch barrel and 38-inch length along with the more than eight-pound empty weight give the Golani the feel of a full-sized rifle.