Golini Sporter???

[humdrum]

Any members out there have an unbiased opinion on the Century Arms Golini (Galil) Sporter rifle? For the dough it seems they can't be beat, but all the reviews I've read online seem dated... Any thoughts or recommendations, ladies and gentlemen?

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[salmonriverjohn]

Yes, I have one. I have owned more than a handful of Bushmaster, Colt AR 15'S,,AK'S,, MINI 14"S AND THIRTIES and still do. The thing about the Golini (Galil) that I really appreciate (at least the one I own) is it's rugged dependability.

Its heavy, well built and durable. It eats whatever I feed it for breakfast.
Draw backs? Again, its heavy, and the dust cover was a pain until I figured out the old AK-47 trick to re-seat it. Mounting a scope? it has options for a side mount or rail mount although It has excellent sights out to the realistic distances that it was designed for and is plenty accurate.
The Israelis took the old AK 47 and reverse engineered it and actually made it better, much better,, and the only reason I believe that its not still their service issue weapon is because we offer them plenty of U.S issue at rock bottom prices.

I have heard others Take an occasional kick at them, but not many.
Would I recommend one? Yes. For the price tag,, their hard to beat.

 

[Silver Fox]

If you do buy it & wish to swap out the pistol grip, let me know I'll buy the grip off you.

SF-

 

[raftman]

I had a Golani, and if I were to grade it, it would end up with C, maybe even C-. The Golani is overweight for its caliber, the workmanship on milled receiver is unimpressive at best. Mags are less common and more expensive than AK, AR, or even VZ-58 mags, especially if you want reliable, durable mags. There are fewer accessories available. It's easier to remove the gas tube than on a standard AK, since it's free floating, which is kinda nice. All of the other advantages over the AK are pretty much only theoretical. For example, the Golani/Galil has a thumb safety, but it's rather stiff if you're right handed, and it digs into your hand if you shoot left-handed, plus it creates another opening in the receiver that leads right into the FCG. It has the up-turned charging handle, supposedly more ergonomic than the one on the AK, but it gets in the way of mounting optics, and creates the potential of busting your knuckles against optics if you do manage to get optics installed. Some people have even resorted to replacing their Golani bolt carriers with standard AK bolt carriers to alleviate this issue. Oddly enough the AKM bolt carrier interchanges with the Golani/Galil but one must swap the pistons. The Golani is in theory more accurate (partially on account of the round it fires, and also on account of the longer sight radius), but since the sights don't hold zero, you negate that advantage.

Long story short, I'd go with something else. You can get an AK-74 for considerably less money and not sacrifice anything in terms of reliability, durability, or any other measure of performance... of course you do give up a little bit of cool factor. If you just want something a little more untraditional than the AK or AR, I'd recommend a look at Century VZ2008 instead. I think that's probably the best product in Century's lineup. The workmanship on the receiver is beautiful compared the Golani, and despite the VZ having a milled receiver, it's actually lighter than AK's and their (usually) stamped receivers. It's also got bolt hold open after the last round. What's more, it's extremely reliable. Lastly, it's also cheaper than the Golani.

 

[humdrum]

Wow, good information and thanks guys for the detail. If I do get one I'll let you guys know how it works.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

This is based on the unit I own. So,, just for grins and giggles today I ran around 100 rounds of various ammo through a old open sighted Golani. All the shots were taken at 100 yids, off a makeshift rest. All hits were in a five inch group, and all were fired with another member of this forum present. These were rounds ranging from wolf to PMC and reloads just for variety. After letting the unit cool, I fired another three back to back factory 30 rnd mags, each loaded with low end ammo in rapid "john Wayne" style to check for any issues,,,,, none.
Is it heavy? Yes. Do the open sights have drawbacks? Possibly, but they are as functional as most, with peep apertures from 300 to 600 meters. As far the as machining of the receiver goes,, It doesn't matter in the least to me as long as it runs flawlessly. And that's what I expect of it and other units that will run you over twice as much. Can you bet your life on one to perform when it counts? Yep. Are there better units for the cost? Possibly, but not many.

Next obvious question, is this a non-biased opinion? Lets just say that we ran over a thousand rounds today, starting with .223 and topping out with 338-06 and .338 win magnums, and everywhere from factory rugers to top end colts and custom big bores. Is the sporter a bad choice, not in my opinion, but that's just one mans opinion. I like the one I have,,, plus all the others too.

 

[raftman]

That's fair. You have experience with yours, and I with mine. Considering these guns are assembled from a mixture of American and use surplus parts, there is inherently a bit of variability from specimen to specimen. Because of that, I have thought about buying a 2nd one, just to see it maybe it appeals more to me the 2nd time around. For now I've decided against it. Don't wanna get into another caliber (don't presently own anything else in 5.56/.223) and just can't get over how overweight it is for what it is. My AK-74 is virtually weightless by comparison, fires a round with similar ballistics, without sacrificing accuracy or reliability, with quality mags available for under $10 a piece, and more accessories available than there are stars in the sky. All of that for $200 less. The Golani is cooler, but paying an additional $200 for cool factor, I just don't know.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Well Raftman, it's kind of like what old Forrest said,, life is like a box of chocolates. I guess I have one that whoever built took his time on and was in a good mood that day. I cant say that I have another to base my opinion on, but that said,, the one I do own is a good running dependable unit that I can count on. She's heavy alright (just under 9lbs) but yesterday with the coastal winds hitting us in the face at around 40 mph it was pretty tight on the rest while the spotting scope on the stand was just about useless. As far as magizenes go, Midway has been a reliable source of milsurp for around $12-$15 for the 35 rounder and I haven't received one yet that failed to run, again I am only basing this on the half dozen that I have. As a side note, darned if we didn't come up with one heck of an accurate load for the .338 Win mag. yesterday,, even in the wind chop it was laying down clover leaf groups with sand tubes over it and bags under it! Nothing like a 250 gr. bullet for windy days. I do love them reloads. Have a good Sunday

 

[raftman]

All that said, I'd sooner get another Golani than I would an AR!

 

[humdrum]

All that said, I'd sooner get another Golani than I would an AR!

Thats kind of the boat I'm in currently as I have another AR build in mind, but would like to try something else.

 

[OMNIBLENDER]

All that said, I'd sooner get another Golani than I would an AR!

I am following humdrum's thread a little late, I know, my apologies. I just signed up few days ago. I am a proud owner of the Golani. It is really a Galil most of it with the receiver milled here in the USA by CAI. True, it's not the best quality workmanship, like with a VEPR (which you can't get under $1000 anymore because of import blocking by good ole ATF), but it is functional, robust, and in my case, "another man's" opinion, my Golani works very well. No fails, easy to take down and to clean. It's the reliable AK action that I prefer over any AR action any time. I owned an AR 15 and it was not pleasing.

The only two things that I really don't like about the Golani is 1. the cocking handle being too close for me to the dust cover, and 2. my cheek does not rest well enough for accuracy purposes on this aluminum steel frame stock. I bought a cheek rest, now it's too high, and then it was too low. I think I need to switch the stock out for an AR style with adjustable cheekrest. I want to be able to use the iron sights below my installed scope. Oh, yes, I switched out the hand guard / forearm with a ATI or UTG...(don't recall right now) picatiny /weaver rail system all around the hand guard and also being a hand guard. The top rail comes back to just about little further than were the cocking handle is. So you could put a scout type scope on it. It's not perfect... I will take a picture and come back and let you see it.

Thanks

 

[OMNIBLENDER]

, ,

so, here it is!

 

[gaijinsamurai]

I've had one for about six months, and like it. raftman's criticisms are valid points, but since I don't intend on mounting optics on it, some of them aren't issues for me. If I were in a SHTF situation, I'd probably opt for one of my ARs, but it's a good rifle, and I'm happy with it.

 

[OMNIBLENDER]

I've had one for about six months, and like it. raftman's criticisms are valid points, but since I don't intend on mounting optics on it, some of them aren't issues for me. If I were in a SHTF situation, I'd probably opt for one of my ARs, but it's a good rifle, and I'm happy with it.

Thanks for your add-on. And...that is actually a personal preference (the SHTF situation thing), which gun you use at that time. For me, I guess it depends, Mossberg 500 in short range, the Golani up to 300 yards, and the Remington 700 up to 800 yards. I am looking for a good DSA STG58...

I am not so fond of the gas actions, AR's, I need a piston in my action. and budget is limited. I am sweating already with my Galil. I am in it about $1000 with the new red dot sights I bought (not mounted yet). I have to work on the cocking handle, either have an attachment to bring it out away from the receiver and up little higher (about 1 inch). It's because if during an emergency - fast-acting situation, if you charge and load or clear your chamber, you are going to rip your hand open on the picatiny rail.

I am planing on keeping this gun and make it usable for me and my situation(s). I am even thinking of getting a second one... And I forgot to say, I bought a Mag adapter so I can use AR magazines. I have a ton of mags of both kind, Galil and AR 15's.

 

[CaliberGeek]

I had one. To be honest, I didn't care for it much. I sold it after a few months to get a bulgarian AK-74.

Now the AK-74 is a great rifle. Swap the fixed stock to a collapsible, and installed a stable top rail system for an optic--- I would reach for it over my AR-15 if Canada invaded.


But let me be objective here. The Golani is a great rifle itself. Dependable as an AK, and shoots the AR cartridge.

If you can find one for around $500, GET IT

 

[salmonriverjohn]

View attachment 36834, View attachment 36835,

so, here it is!

Very nice

 

[OMNIBLENDER]

Very nice

ThankS! Just wait when I have my optics on it and the laser, flashlight, and the fore grip with bipod at push of a button. I am also installing a AR mag adapter, which is in the mail right now. Reliability and versatility for me is everything. You want to be able to switch out magazines with others and yet have the reliability of an AK. I don't like personally the AR puff action.