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Question of the Day: Why Don’t You Own an IWI Tavor?

Robert Farago - comments No comments

I swear I’m not pimping for IWI. I simply believe that the Tavor bullpup is the best inside and outside toy rifle money can buy. It’s wieldy, reliable, accurate (enough) and fun! And now that you can buy a Tavor . .

IWI Tavor gas adjuster (courtesy thetruthaboutguns.com)

with a more-than-merely-adequate trigger chambered in .308 — suppressed, with a three position gas adjuster — it could well be the perfect trunk gun.

OK the Tavor’s not a rifle for hunting. Or long distance shooting. But if you’re into killing animals or doping wind, I’m sure you already have a favorite rifle for hunting and precision shooting, and upgrading would cost you a bundle.

So why NOT a Tavor?

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Question of the Day: Why Don’t You Own an IWI Tavor?”

    • Cost is the main reason for me. More specifically, I should say (cost plus wife) is the issue.

      I’d love to own a Tavor, but tend to be a cheapskate and would rather get 5 quality used guns than 1 new Tavor if I’m going to spend $1800. If I really need a compact MSR, I’ll just pick up an AK folder for about $500 (Classic Firearms has AMD 65 sidefolder for $479).

      Besides that, my wife is cooler with me spending $300-400 every now and then on a gun than she would be with me bringing home guns that cost a grand or more.

      Robert has a much cooler gun collection than I do, but I seem to be doing better in the wife department. 😉

      Reply
  1. Like any bureaucrats, Wayne & Co. will do what’s best for themselves. Fortunately, their self-interest presently seems to coincide more or less with the members’. While there is doubtless room for the sort of improvement Kraut represents, the perfect should not be enemy of the good.

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  2. Because the one I had blew copious amounts of gas into my face, so much so that I could barely get through a magazine without my eyes watering even while wearing shooting glasses outdoors.

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  3. Price.

    It doesn’t do anything that the AR15 doesn’t do for half the price. This is the same reason that I never bought an AUG, SCAR, ACR, ARX-100, or Bren 805. Until their prices are more in line with a $800 AR they will always be the gun someone buys when they don’t want an AR or want to be different from all the guys at the range shooting their ARs.

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  4. Already have a pimped out 300 blk SBR, not spending 2k on a 556 rifle, and I bought a 308 Galil Ace literally the day before they announced the Tavor 7. Maybe one for the wife eventually

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  5. The Tavor is a nice rifle . . . If you’re right handed. Lefty, not so much. Can be converted but only by the factory. My RDB just works better for me. Over 1500 rounds and not a single issue. And half the cost. Seriously considering an RFB for .308. But money’s tight.

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  6. I’m a former Tavor owner. They’re too expensive for what they’re capable of; their capability being severely limited by their trigger. Also it looks like a design still rapidly being refined, with many new refinement developments not being backward compatible with older generations of the same basic design. It is fundamentally a great gun, but when I see the 308 version with a lot of useful new features, I just have another reason to wait until those features get added to the 5.56 before I pony up that kind of cash. I don’t want to spend that much on a gin that will be obsolete in a couple years that I can’t upgrade to the new specification. For all it’s advantages, it’s just not as modular as the AR so I will wait until the development cycle slows down and there are a much larger number of a single version (for purposes of general “platform” support) before I jump back on the Tavor band wagon.

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  7. If straight rifling isn’t rifling, but also not smoothbore, then could this also be a work around with shotguns? Could we have short barrel shotguns with straight rifled bores that are 26.1 inches OAL and have 14 inch barrels?

    Obviously this thing isn’t all that accurate, but with a shotgun accuracy isn’t a concern, it’s just throwing shot out the barrel in a decent patten.

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  8. I wanted to love the Tavor. I wanted to get a Tavor. Thankfully for me, I shot one before buying one. I could never own one. The gas to the eyes was simply unbearable. I shoot a fair amount suppresses, and the Tavor, without any suppressor attaches, was worse than any of the other rifles I own that I suppress. I just can’t shoot a rifle that makes me cry after only one magazine. Wanted to love it. Couldn’t do it.

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  9. Beautiful rifle Joe!
    I’m having some great accuracy using Berger bullets over the Hornady 143 ELD-X. I went from sub half inch to 1/4” and tighter.

    And yeah, Ion Bond is quirky on their turnaround times.

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  10. Okay.
    We asked a minute ago why I don’t have a Tavor: Stag is a good reason why. I’m left handed and this is much more affordable than the Tavor.
    Still need to take care of a few things before a Stag can find it’s way into my safe… if someone comes up with a truly ambidextrous MSR that doesn’t cost me over $1600 so I can share it with the wifey, I may forgo the Stag altogether and buy it instead.
    🤠

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  11. Hoppes boresnake or Otis ripcord? Or one of the newer brand-x imports from Amazon?

    I’ve become somewhat partial to the Real Avid Bore Boss, which has an integrated handle and storage case; but the coated-wire-and-ball end sometimes gets hung up in/on muzzle devices.

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  12. What about the magwell? Heard some regular magazines wont fit without grinding off hangy down part in front.Glocks way of selling more magazines.

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  13. Because I have an FS2000 and AUG, and owned a X95. X95 got traded away, because the FS is friggin awesome. I wish that FN still was bringing them in, or that someone would make a FAMAS. Just bc I want one.

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  14. Consider this:
    You can put a rifled choke in a shotgun and it is still a shotgun.
    Could you put a rifled muzzle device on this and it still would not be NFA?
    MY IDEA!
    I claim Intellectual Property!

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  15. This is really what the .44 mag was designed for. To give folks working in dangerous animal country a very portable self defense tool.

    It was pretty much a niche round til Dirty Harry.

    Hollywood has done the same thing for other rounds. Elevated them to cult status, whether they deserve it or not.

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  16. Interesting insight. I had dropped my NRA membership during the late ’90s because I felt that the organization was squandering my/our money. This was based on my limited view from the outside. I had no idea what was actually happening on the inside.

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  17. This is the best SHOT show I’ve seen in some time… this is an awesome little .22 rifle (I may buy one), the Tavor 12ga is hilarious (I will almost certainly buy one), the Franklin Armory thing is weird and I don’t want one… but it’s still awesome, etc.

    Walther’s little PPQ-SC is a bit of a disappointment. One of these tupperware companies really ought to come out with a “fullsize”-formfactor single stack 9mm for concealed carry purposes, rather than continuing to try to make their own G26/M&P9C/whatever. Yeah- I could buy a 1911 Commander-type in 9mm for that purpose, but that’s expensive (to buy one worth owning) and has a single-action trigger/requisite manual safety.

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  18. Big credit to the guy “finding his calm” in that situation; it allowed him to place a well aimed shot . You’ve all read how much ground a bear can cover in a few seconds..he kept his cool and did everything right once the holster fiasco was passed. Forgot to ask said bear “Are you feeling lucky, punk”.

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  19. I really don’t like the way gun manufactures are designing their new firearms. All kinds of stuff to hang up on brush, collect dirt, and stocks that prevent fast target acquisition. It seems it’s looks over function.

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  20. Um, it’s left handed so they took the charging handle from the right side, where it’s perfect for off hand manipulation for a lefty, and moved it to the left side where you have you use your firing hand. Is anyone at this company actually left handed?

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  21. Whew. We we’re planning a nighttime extraction by helo. Good to see you’re smart enough to beat us to it.

    Liked what they wrote about the waiting a lifetime for a tag, or saving for a hunt. Hasn’t been me, but I know a few of those types and It’s nice that a gun manufacturer is thinking about their clients out past the sale.

    WY is lucky to win you, and we’re sure you’ll take good care of WY.

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  22. Price and accuracy. For the cost of a Tavor, a highly accurate AR could be had. For the price tag, what exactly would I be getting over the AR? Better ergos and weight balance? It’s a rifle, its sole purpose is to reach a target at distance. The two mentioned advantages of a bullpup aren’t enough to justify the price tag.

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  23. I do not know the exact numbers, this is a broad statement……Some 300 million people did not kill anyone today, did not kill anyone yesterday, will not kill anyone tomorrow. The exceptions make the “news”. With, or without, firearms those exceptions will still be with us, and they will be armed with more than a stick. Once firearms are banned the “news” media will use the same numbers to show how effective the ban is. The victims will be law abiding and still dead.

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  24. Doesn’t anybody hunt small game? There is life beyond Deer & Bear season. A PCC will stop stuff a .22lr might not reach. So rabbits & groundhogs beware.

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  25. I just purchased one after struggling with the abysmal performance of the free phone apps for a few weeks. If it’s even mostly as good as advertised it will still be way better than the stuff I’m currently using.

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  26. “The Victory Series’ full brass cased 12 gauge ammo is of particular interest; I wonder if it alleviates the reliability issues plaguing some mag fed shotguns.”

    I would think *perhaps*, when fresh, shiny and ‘slippery’.

    Once you’ve handled them a bit, the inevitable corrosion build-up may make them more ‘draggy’ than plastic shells.

    T&E a case and let us know… 🙂

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