Leaning Westward: Galils for Estonia

[@kurjajuur]

This was my service rifle, even took it on a trip to Afghanistan. It was quite front heavy indeed with all those attachments. We also had a flashlight attachment, with an IR filter - never got used lol, maybe tried once with night vision to see what it looks like. Barely anyone used the magnifier. Most people tried to use the foregrip for a while, but it wasn't really worth it. You could also lose the magnifier easily if it wasn't attached to your rifle properly (tied with some paracord usually or zip tied). Just move through some branches or make contact with your other gear in the wrong way and play "find my magnifier". Some replaced the foregrip with a less unwieldy model, since that tubular thing is very large, like some sort of an angled foregrip. I remember a sad moment from my service. After an excercise, I think, my SAR's gas piston just broke during maintenance and I had to go back to an AR since we didn't have any replacement gas pistons for SARs. Aimpoint was great, despite the added front weight. Still can't really wrap my head around how they replaced it with a chinese airsoft red dot. When I joined, there were barely any rifles left that had the charging handle thingy attached. It probably flew off after a number of magazines. You could easily move the aimpoint forward a bit not to interfere with the charging handle. You had to zero it again, of course, but it's really a non-issue when firing blanks 90% of the time. And we zeroed our aimpoints every time in the range anyway. Occasionally irons too. We also had fancy 3 point slings for those rifles which the conscripts didn't IIRC. Many replaced it with a one point sling or made a kind of a quick attach sling type thing with some extra straps which came with our backpacks that had thos clippy things on them and some duct tape. Best invention ever right there.

[@Kingpingblingbling]

Trying to find your magnifier had me absolutely crying 😂🤣

[@Snougaloogie]

The 515GM you guys replaced them with is a perfectly adequate red dot lol

[@Locutus494]

@@Snougaloogie For a civilian shooting in competitions, sure. For a serious use military optic, absolutely not! And that's before you factor in the problem of a NATO military buying military hardware from China..

[@Snougaloogie]

@@Locutus494 But it really is perfectly fine, even for military use. The logistics thing is a legitimate concern, but the fact is the higher end Holosun dots are fine. There are better options but they probably just cost too much relative to what the Estonians needed

[@Nerezza1]

@@Snougaloogie They're fine for civilian use, because most people tend not to bang their rifle around and go crawling in the dirt for years. Aimpoint is also just across the little pond which really makes a stupid decision in terms of logistics and availability.

[@davem2369]

"Yo dawg, we heard you like charging so we put a charging handle on your charging handle so you can charge while you charge"

[@ArmySansli]

Now reimagine the sentence when you live in a country where it is called "cocking handle"

[@davem2369]

@@ArmySansli actually I do live in the UK but I just cant put those words in Xzibits mouth

[@jagx234]

I wonder when I see this if it's an old dude like me who watched the source or if it had just permeated the internet so far it's a life of its own. (I can see in this case the mouthpiece is at least known)

[@afella1129]

I miss this era of memes.

[@TheWolfsnack]

@@ArmySansli ...that would be a cock up eh?

[@kassisaba]

The SARs were used mostly not by specopsy types but by "specialists", i.e. medics, heavy weapon gunners, APC drivers, logistics guys, some officers/NCOs etc. Little fact about the modkit's charging handle - it was a load of crock. It got loose VERY quickly and went flying into the bushes within a month of use or sooner. Same thing (well, not as often) with the magnifier mount - over time it got wobbly and wasn't true to the barrel. Some weapons suffered from a slightly jiggly receiver cover, to which it was attached, that only amplified the problem. I used to shim an empty 5.56 casing between the magnifier and the rear iron sight so it would be usable and over time I didn't even bother to mount it. Just kept it in my chest rig pouch and used it as a hand-held viewing aide. Ah, good times :D

[@АндрейШмырев-ж3з]

Потрясающие новости...,лупа отвалилась,...ручка отвязалась,...класс!👍😉😂

[@aaronfarnsworth7653]

I wondered, when looking at the charging handle, why they didn't cut and re-weld the original handle 90 degrees. It would have been totally solid with nothing to shake loose. For the magnifier, it looks like using the original Galil optics mounting point would have been more secure than the dust cover. Though it would have likely required a unique mount be created or modifying original optics mounts. Both decisions probably boiled down to available funds i guess. Too bad the current pistol size red dot sights weren't around then. The dust cover mounting position could have worked quite well with a brazed or tac-welded mount for those little red dots to attach. Wouldn't have allowed a magnifier though. Nice to hear a users first hand experience with them.

[@andrewgould8924]

And this is why this channel is so cool. Thank you for sharing.

[@asdasd-ty9se]

Y’all don’t got locktite?

[@ripvanwinkle2002]

@@asdasd-ty9se in soviet russia tite lock YOU! i think what hes means is the alloy is soft and gets beaten out of shape.

[@kikas500]

As an Estonian who live minutes away for the military museum all i can say is thx for the shout out to my little contry and loodan et sulle vaga meeldis siin

[@AtteR04]

Ettekö te elä minuuttien päässä kaikkialta koko maassa :D?

[@StrainXv]

Love Estonia and it's people.

[@kobra51]

I was a conscript in 2010 and was issued Galil ARM. Only in the end when rifles were wearing out were they concentrated in the professional units.

[@koitk]

I was conscript in 2006 we started out with Gali AR's but at some point changed to AK4's. Still today I have fond memories of Galil's and hatred towards those Swedish AK4's.

[@modarkthemauler]

@@koitk Excact opposite for me. Fond memories of swinging around that boat paddle of AK4 and couldn't care less about the Galil.

[@peabase]

@@modarkthemauler The Swedes and Danes were jealous of our Valmets, which are awfully similar to the Galil, when I served with them in Lebanon. Having to lug their heavy G3 variants and ammo on foot patrols must've had something to do with it. Good shots, though, especially the Danes.

[@DreadNought0255]

I did my mandatory service 2010-2011 and I was issued a Galil. Basic small-arms of the infantry squad I was part of had 10 guys, all with Galils except for the MG that was the KSP-58 (swedish FN MAG) and a first gen Gustav recoilless for AT and the squad's second would have the ARM version of the Galil with the iconic bipod grip (plastic). From what I remember the scuttlebut being between issuing Galils and AK4's (G3) is that they would cycle their use every few years to maybe stretch out the service life of these old rifles with a side of SHTF and things get spicy, any ad-hoc squads that get put together will have at least a few people who know how to use the weapons given and can thus instruct the rest of the guys who were trained on the other one. I also remember there was quite a bit of drama with getting Galils. Since they are surplus, the talk was they basically got bought at scrap metal prices, and they arrived as such in containers. It taking a fairly long time basically sorting through the mess for usable rifles and combining parts from the rest into usable rifles. It's all hear-say of course, based on "friend of a friend" and the occational comment from the older career soldiers.

[@UncleSam-7.62]

Old Jewish junk. 😂

[@hackermis]

The exact same things were said about the AK4

[@nathanzylla4961]

Thank you for the insight

[@wellend89]

@DreadNought0255 @UncleSam-7.62 @nathanzylla4961 The second part is complete BS. The Galil's were not surplus, they were brand new production and a really good buy as it turned out. All this talk about surplus and or scrap metal was related to the ZU-23-2 AA cannons that were bought with the same contract. In the end Estonia got everything we ordered and some surplus AA cannons extra. Unfortunately, there are always political undercurrents to such matters and if there is an opportunity to make political capital of something, someone will do it.

[@mjfan653]

I think the Galils were mostly alright. But israel did sell us some junk artillery, rhat was basically just scrap. At that point we had just gotten our independence, and getting anything was difficult. And we had no money. The jews actually really helped us out, but it was a great deal due to old history. During our first republic, before being occuped, from 1920-1940 the jews in Estonia had autonomy, or like "minorities freedom" and we were pretty friendly to them. Something that was not popular at the time in Europe. So, as a form of gratitude, for us historically treating the jews right, they got us a good deal on the Galils.

[@MihkelKukk]

This is the rifle I served with in 2020-2021 right before the R20s arrived! LOVED my Galil AR. Honestly an amazing gun! So col to hear all the history behind the purchase and the review as well, much new information here too that I didn't know!

[@corerouterbgp7758]

I loved my Galil when i got it as my service rifle not too long ago as a conscript. They were easy to clean. Easy to remove jams. And they could take a beating while still operating perfectly. Great rifles.

[@igasuguseidasju1699]

Ran around with SAR for over 5 years. Very good rifle. It almost never ever malfunctioned. Just spit on the bolt for lubrication and runs again.

[@MarkErikEE]

We need to dig out more obscure guns for Ian to keep him visiting Estonia. Galil was the best service rifle Estonia had in the last 30 years. Defense League was rowing around with the AK4-s (Swedish made G3, called "The Oar") for many years until the appearance of the R20. You are always welcome, Ian.

[@mjfan653]

Haha, the defence league will for sure have some obscure ones in their armouries. Although, by now not in active use anymore. But we surely have some obscurities in museums, maybe some fun soviet stuff, like stetchkins. But, gun jesus being gun jesus, he has already seen and filmed most of that somewhere already. We might just have some fun rifles with interesting backstories though, like the Estonian arisakas, or stenguns used by british backed guerilla fighters fighting the soviets in the 50s.

[@peabase]

@@mjfan653 Interesting that you keep the oldies around as well. When I served in the Finnish Armed Forces in 1986-1988, we still kept Stens in ready storage, in addition to war-booty Degtyaryovs. In NCO school, we had to strip them, too. Our ex-Imperial Russian Arisakas were reportedly swapped with these Stens after WW2. Later, as a reservist, we made semi-clandestine trips to Estonia to train up the locals. Amusingly, all we had for rifles were plywood cutouts. One trainee didn't like it and brought along a Kar98K, which his family had kept hidden since the end of the war. I can imagine what the Soviet occupiers would've done to them had they found out.

[@zaarkwark]

Really appreciate your attention to my homeland, Ian!

[@augustkasemaa3290]

I finished my conscription this summer and was probably one of the last people to use the Galil as a service weapon. We were given these in basic training, I specifically got the SAR version that was used in missions (although without the optics). I liked its compact footprint although it was quite heavy and not that well balanced and I would've much rather had the R20 instead. I also found the extra charging handle really comfortable compared to the standard rifles.

[@ATRestoration]

I had Galil AR in my conscript time in 1995-1996. The weakest part was the iron sight. Our officers were not happy with it, either.

[@jedgarren2901]

God Bless and Keep Estonia,they've been fighting Russian aggression for so long they've become experts. It was Estonia that informed US counter intelligence that we had a mole infestation. When someone goes out of the way to really help you,I never forget it,Thank you Estonia

[@RongleBringer]

interesting, which particular mole infestation?

[@Kostja08a]

the fuck are you talking about? xD

[@iamadankmeme6617]

I recently finished my mandatory service, 2023-2024 and I got the privilege of having both a Galil and an R20 issued to me. I went through the entirety of basic training with a Galil AR and after I finished, my unit finally replaced the Galils with R20s. I'd say that the R20 is obviously the better rifle, but the Galil just had that "cool" factor to me, even when it was cumbersome at times.

[@Goc4ever]

The history of these Estonian Galils was fantastic and it has to be said: the B&T upgrade package while making it quite heavy on the front it's very exquisite to look at especially the red dot+magnifier sight combo. It was very kind of the Estonian Defence Forces' Supply Battalion to give you access to their(now retired) Galils.

[@Rihodejaneiro]

I had Galil AR when i was a conscript in 2016-2017. Absolutely loved the gun, did not jam at all and for some reason it did not get very dirty after firing compared to other conscript Galils.

[@Sir_Baddington]

Nice to see that Valmet heritage.

[@A-A_P]

Just a little correction still damn important to point out: At the very beginning, it's rather important that estonia REgained its independence in 1991, not just gained. A nignag for sure, but a point most historians etc would probably like to make, as this narrative of a restoration of independence is what informed the entire process of regaining indepencende and is still important today in more ways than one. (Also, russians DO NOT LIKE the fact that we were independent before 1940, too, as that complicates the narrative and the border question against them, so that's a plus:D) Edit: one more thing, the soviet occupation began in 1940, temporarily had a swicharoo with the nazi occupation from 41-44 and then returned for a little over 45 years, i.e until 91. So the 60+ years figure was a bit of a pessimistic figure, but an honest mistake nonetheless:) Love Your content, and amazing to see such niche topics getting such pro-grade international coverage!

[@Contentrist]

Galil AR my beloved. I will stand by that long barrel till the end of my life. I ran this as a a scout with only the M4 aimpoint. Hated the front grip. 3x optic had to be tied to a rope or something because right handed shooters would lose them otherwise. With that setup I was once 1st place of the Galil shooters of the battalion competition. Once 1st overall in a company competition. No offence to the R-20, good gun on its own terms, but I just really love the long barrel of the Galil AR.

[@wellend89]

The conscripts were certainly issued Galil's, especially in the 90s and early 2000s when the Galil was the only real option as no Swedish G3's (AK4) were available. Later on it varied, seemingly based on the commanders preference - I did my service in 2010 in a Military Police company, was issued a Galil SAR, serial no. 2117095.

[@TheKingpool7]

I was there back when those were bought and we had at least 4 types that I know of. And I lugged around 2 types of those. We had Galil AR, Galil ARM, Galil SAR and Galil sniper.

[@BFVgnr]

There was a FOB in southern Iraq that was truly Multi National Forces. There were El Salvadorians, Estonians, Polish, Romanian, one of the Czech nations, and even a detachment from Mongolia, I'm probably forgetting one or more groups.. I wish I'd have taken more pictures when we were there.

[@misolgit69]

funnily enough if you look for Galil on Wikipedia the 1st thing you see is a photo of an Estonian soldier with his Galil in Iraq

[@dinsdalemontypiranha4349]

Another amazing video Ian. Thanks!

[@AllAboutSurvival]

It just goes to show how a well-built rifle can remain relevant for decades with the right tweaks.

[@AntonAdelson]

Mosins and Maxims are still used in Russia/Ukraine!

[@douglaslain5962]

That coat of arms for the EDFSC is neat!

[@WindHaze10]

Good simple rifle for conscript army if you are on a budget. And as a conscript myself I am glad I was given Galil instead of even heavier AK4.

[@randar9884]

As a conscript myself I am glad I was given AK4 instead of the smaller caliber galil.

[@ONIKS-1-1-1]

Served 2018-2019, StSiKo, Tapa - we did have Galil ARs and sergeants have been using the modification package SARs. Didn't like the upgrades and Aimpoint as it made the weapon quite unwieldy and heavy but regular ARs were good guns, much more easier to handle and use than AK4s.

[@michaelguerin56]

Good info. Thank you Ian and the Estonian Defence Force.

[@TheKingpool7]

Also to add, I was there right when the switch happened, so I switched my chinese kalashnikov type (really shitty) to Galil ARM and difference was huge, I loved, I could actually hit target with it, very well. Later as I moved to other job, I was assigned SAR version and that was not as nice for me. Much harder to be percise at over 100m.

[@qpdlzjs]

Had a Galil AR for most of my service, only got the R20 towards the end but man was it a massive improvement in every way.

[@paganarh]

Ah, my first service rifle in 1998 when in mandatory military service *sheds a tear of nostalgia*. It wasn't great but it was better than old floppy kalash. Now after many years in Defense League have gone through all the other service rifles also and they have been upgrades each time - first AK4 and now R20

[@mathsmanm2880]

Woah I literally went and read up on these like... A week ago. Never knew about them before that. Such a cool vid!

[@Spacemanpan]

I did enjoy it, as I enjoy All your videos Ian. Thank You, from a fan in Rexburg Idaho.

[@AIAllar]

Yeah, they were really heavy to aim without anything to support the barrel. But other than that they were quite reliable and accurate weapons. I personally never had a jam but then again, we were always keeping them clean and off the ground when we could. And the accuracy wasn't bad at all as I was able to get 9 out of 10 shots within a 20cm circle from a 100m away while laying down while using the iron sight as one of my better results.

[@gabrieljoseph6310]

When I served regular and reserve in the IDF in combat engineering, I preferred the Galil or Galilon rifle instead of the M16 with many problems

[@Breakfast221]

Great video Ian. By the way, Galil’s pronunciation has the emphasis on the second syllable, not the first. It’s something along the lines of “Gah-LEEL”

[@alfred3496]

You kind of implied near the end that conscripts tended to use G3 pattern rifles. From my knowledge that is not exactly true. The reality before the R20 adoption was that the 2nd infantry brigade used G3 variants while the 1st infantry brigade used Galils. So conscripts could end up with either one, depending on which unit they got assigned to. As you mentioned, the proffessional Scout's battalion used Galils. They are also officially part of the 1st infantry brigade so they actually shared the same rifle platform as the conscripts.

[@randar9884]

AK4 (G3 pattern) is still my service rifle but I don’t think anyone still has the galil

[@etsest1]

The charging handle extension worked great. You could load it with either hand upright or low without changing your body position. It comes in handy when you get to the fifth magazine with 30+ kilos of gear.

[@Millzspec]

That SAR is GORGEOUS😍😍😍

[@mascadadelpantion8018]

The collapsible stock does make it more functional and versatile.But I just liked the way it looks with a classic fixed stop

[@AntonAdelson]

When did Galil ever have a fixed stock?? :o

[@Elijah.Anderson]

Welcome to Tallinn! Enjoy the beauty!

[@UncleSam-7.62]

Long Live Estonia ❤🇪🇪

[@mir9302]

Makes me nostalgic for my R5.

[@Sorceror_]

I Love the Galil AR so much

[@BatteryEST]

I was conscripted in 2016, everyone was issued regular Galil ARs, drill sergeants had Galil SARs. Even the machine gunners had the full size AR as a backup weapon, but during training it was left in the armory room and they just used the MG3s, although in some rare cases the MG aide (who carried munitions and other stuff and helped to spot) had to carry 2 Galils, one his own service rifle and the other as backup form the machine gunner.

[@Abstraktsioon]

The Galils and even the SAR variants were in fact used by conscripts as well - even though the AK4 variants were more common. The purchase deal of Galils was controversial for some - mainly those who didn't know what they were talking about - but the Galils really did prove themselves to be very adequate weapons. Anecdotally the SAR seemed more accurate than the AR (yes of course it could have been differences in wear or maybe the short barrel version was less front heavy?) and reliability was excellent - even after the guns which were bought used had been in use 20+ years with the current owner. We got back from patrol one night very late and tired and in the morning we remembered we didn't clean and lubricate the rifles last night. So, as you would expect from soldiers in basic training: we decided to see how far we could take it. It turned out that the 5 day field exercise filled with crawling and running around in wintery woods ended before we noticed any increase in malfunctions and the fact that they ran great despite zero maintenance and firing blanks says a lot. Sure, the R20 is lighter and more modern but the Galil is definitely not bad.

[@Mrgunsngear]

thanks

[@LEXxTALIONS]

My country continues to use the Galil for the airborne paratroopers, the Galil Ar full length with the collapsing stock, exactly like the one Ian is showing in the video, but is the one that doesn't have the red dot! I did a big comment to explain myself ok, because my language isn't English 👌👍

[@SS-tr5ru]

Estonia were real ones for using the og galil. Amazing rifle

[@Pipes7472]

The news ones aren’t bad either, Just not AR or TAR quality tho

[@brandonbennett127]

Beggars can't be choosers

[@TiliDoll]

*Laughing in Colombian intensifies*

[@Matt-md5yt]

pretty cool that Estonia had the Galil.

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

35-rnd magazine choice is interesting but understandable vs. a 50-rnd. I thought it would have been 30-rnds. Overall Galli's are a great solid weapon. Thank you, Estonian Defense Forces, for hosting Ian's trip and teaching us all more about your Country 👍👍💯❤

[@iornlint]

All galil mags are standardized at 35 since Israeli development

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

@@iornlint Standardized does not mean that is what is always accepted into a military TO&E.

[@colinm2056]

The South African R4 also had 35 rd mags, but the boxes of ammo were 30.

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

@@colinm2056 Very interesting. "Holler's, QUARTERMASTER!!"

[@Snaake42]

Finnish Rk has 30 round magazines but I guess with the smaller 5.56 caliber you can fit a few more rounds without the magazine getting too clunky.

[@thegungooch639]

I love Estonian history. Especially early post soviet union stuff

[@thegungooch639]

@bramster-b9v so much conflict going on then.

[@Punisher9419]

That upgraded rifle looks heavy as fuck. All at the front as well.

[@vvr881]

Think u correct. It's already a front heavy weapon now with more junk in front even heavier 😂

[@FireBug666]

The AR one got a SAR handgurad installed on it. the original AR has diffrent handguard. AR handguard is open at the bottom (to fit the bipod that can be mounted under the barrel, when its closed)

[@johnharder5618]

Nice video Wish I could get one I hunt Wild Hogs with a semi auto AK 47 that has had a few modification's With a Night Vision scope I have wanted a Semi Auto Galil in 5.56 to replace the AK As sometimes where we hunt is nasty and the basic AK design is IMO better suited But settled for a AR-15 with the night vision As I was able to build a rifle a lot more affordably than I could get a Galil

[@spooky_mane]

These are lookng WILD.

[@andersjjensen]

If you have any questions about what the Soviet "Union" was like for the "member" states that weren't Russia just remember that Estonia's answer to "What is the most fundamentally important aspect of a service rifle?" was "That it's in a NATO caliber!". Everything else can, with reasonable accuracy, be derived from that.

[@jimyoung440]

Purchased by some "Entrepreneurial Estonians" OMG! Two minutes later there was a thud as my old, tired brain finally processed that one. Well, you shook some of the dust and cobwebs loose so thanks. Jim Y

[@PropanePeter]

They definitely went with function before form with this one.

[@todorkolev7565]

in the eye of the beholder!

[@tiger_sochi]

I hope you're hitting the range with this to let us know how that optic setup feels.

[@aceman1126]

Pathetically yt won't allow it anymore

[@tylerwilliams6022]

​@@aceman1126Since when? Just last week he took that Blackhawk Down M14 to the range. And he still posts his shooting matches here.

[@aceman1126]

@@tylerwilliams6022 no full auto or full cap mags or demonetized

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

@@aceman1126 He is using 35 round mags not the 50 rounders so.....

[@aceman1126]

@@JohnSmith-pl2bk yt changed their tos AGAIN recently and a whole bunch of stuff gets you demonetized and they will age restrict and do other suppression. Full auto and 30 round and up mags are on the shit list

[@alimanski7941]

Interesting thing with the markings - it says "TAAS", which is the Hebrew name of IMI. As far as I know, IMI started being used as an international name in 1990 with the incorporation of the company as a governmental corporation (prior to that, it was simply a division of the Ministry of Defense). Could be these receivers were manufactured prior to 1990?

[@davidgoodnow269]

Oh, *definitely!* Galils entered service quickly after the 1973 war concluded, I think 1977. Widely issued in the 1980s, and removed from service around 1993-4, which is why Estonia was able to buy them at scrap price (the IDF was concerned its new service rifle would not be welcomed by soldiers, who would want the old rifles back).

[@miguellogistics984]

The Right angle attachment to the Charging Handle is the telling thing here as we also see American AR Style Model guns going to Bolt Carrier attached charging handles. When I last owned a Galil in 308 I found a company offering the Bolt Carrier in Right Hand Horizontal charging handle Bolt Carrier. Others around me these days are going AR with Right Side Charging. This appears to be the place for charging handles if they are not the Rear AR15 location. I will not be surprised to see this more, but I am not a fan, as you need a Torx Wrench to take off the handle to break down the gun. Best locations are still AK, and FAL.

[@thomasstanley6101]

Honestly it's pretty funny to go and get a bunch of galils when Valmets are being made right there in Finland.

[@Snaake42]

The existing Finnish stock (not that the FDF was selling) was all 7.62×39. And afaik the major manufacturing run for those was in the 60s, 70s, maybe into the early 80s. I'm pretty sure it ended years before Estonia became independent. Afaik production in other calibers was minor. And the Rk 95 was being designed by Sako/Valmet (they merged in 1987) starting from 1986, and that was still in 7.62×39. Plus what Ian said in the video, only a couple of companies were interested in the tender, and Sako wasn't one of them. My guess is they were just busy with the more important Rk 95 project, but maybe they were also wary of Estonia's ability to pay, should they decide to make the rifle in 5.56 just for Estonia. And probably would have been too expensive as well, the 95 was never that widely distributed to conscripts even in Finland, only a relatively limited number were made.

[@davidgoodnow269]

Israel was phasing out the Galil and phasing in their M-28, a bullpup M-16A4 kind of thing, and so they were looking to dump these fast so their soldiers couldn't beg for the old rifles back -- just as Estonia went looking!

[@todorkolev7565]

They for the Galils for a song. They were second hand. Israel would have a lot more piles of stuff that can be spared than Finland

[@Alfiy_Wolf]

Gun may go pew, but Ian goes hard

[@Moxiecore]

The Chieftain never disappoints!

[@flinchfu]

That's an interesting optic set up... Probably only takes up as much visible space as a micro mounted directly in front of the magnifier.

[@jamesjross]

I wish people in the UK, US and NATO countries fully understood how Estonia, despite its size, has fought side by side with us in the war on terror... even before it officially joined NATO - despite being around the same population as Rhode Island. So I think helping them feel safe now, with everything that's happening, is the least we can do.

[@aceman1126]

Lol you think nato or the US give 2 shits about anyone? They will use whoever they can and promise them the moon and the stars but the second the you're no longer useful you're abandoned and forgotten.

[@jack.j5404]

Remember reading a post by a US Veteran about his single interaction with Estonians there. Went roughly something like this: "Some dudes in weird APC's pulled up with half desert and forest camoflage to our FOB asking for where they could find some of the hottest areas and go kill some Taliban."

[@MarilynMalkovich]

Implying the war of terror has not demonstrably made the world much less safe

[@saywhaat595]

@@jack.j5404 If I may ask, could you link that post?

[@mjfan653]

As an Estonian I appreciate the comment. We have always just wanted to be left alone, from russians, germans, swedes, whoever. But, through history, tey just have kept invading and stirring stuff up. It's infuriating. Some, like the swedes have reformed. Others, like russia just can't comprehend that you can achieve much more with freedom and cooperation, over violence and occupation. We just want our own democratic, free nation. With our neighbours, we can trade, we can visit, whatever, just let us have our own damn nation. We are Estonian, we want an Estonia, not some oblast, or whatever. We knew NATO would be our best bet, in being secure. We joined with a nationwide referendum vote, so it was a democratic decision. We joined your war on terror, and even before that in the UN Kosovo missions, because we wanted to help NATO in any way we could. Hoping of course, you would, in the future, help us back, but also because we also saw 9/11 live on tv, and felt compassion for our US friends. I believe all the baltic nations and our new NATO friends in Finland and Sweden will be of great help in NATO, as we will always stand by your side, and help you solve any problems you have. Only asking that you help us with retaining freedom. For us russia is real close, so we will be active in keeping NATO a strong and vigilant force. If I'm not mistaken, Estonia also brings it's IT related knowledge into NATO, helping with some crucial intel and whatnot. We do what we can, as a small nation, we can't bring airplane carriers, but we can bring a well trained army and specialist knowledge, like intel, and drone warfare capabilities etc. Also, as I'm already rambling. Visit Tallinn if you are ever in that part of the world, great medieval old town, lots of fun bars, great shooting ranges, lots of good museums for history lovers etc.

[@brabhamfreaman166]

That charging handle jankImeanFIX is a true thing of beauty😅

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

Lasted until it rattled loose and flew off...(as per comments from those that used them). Magnifier sight also needed to be paracord lassoed otherwise it also went missing...

[@NachashZ]

I'm more curious to know what rifle did Vektor enter with?

[@vvr881]

Vector wud sell the R5 and R4 rifles. Longer stocks with slightly different sights and modified firing pin. R4 wud have bi pod an bottle opener and the flash guard eud be different. Basically a Galil home built with slight changes

[@Martin-wx8gd]

Conscripts did get Galils. Before the R20 Estonia had two standard issure Rifles. The first infantry brigade had the galil and the second infantry brigade had AK-4/G3. Both brigades trained conscripts but more conscripts probably used Galils because more are trained there.

[@yeetyateyote5570]

This thing is super goofy in some ways, but I greatly respect the at the time forward thinking mindset- even if it wasn’t so (or any) good. They took a step away from the AK (to the Galil, so not a big step) for 5.56, and tried to have quad rail, an optic and magnifier, and foregrip on these weapons. There were probably better ways to do this at the time, but hindsight is 20/20.

[@danosdotnl]

Are you going to Latvia as well? There are some interesting places for you to visit

[@haley746]

2:12 funnily enough Euro as a currency did not exist until 1999

[@Gearparadummies]

And it wasn't fully adoptes until 2002

[@corerouterbgp7758]

The option of removing hard to get to jams while being shot at is the main point of this rifle i think. You just cannot take apart your R20 in the middle of the woods.

[@sp3v0nhotrocks93]

I cloned one of these a few years ago man what a kludge and talk about front heavy but it sure did look cool!

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

How did it shoot though? Another commenter here was in the Estonian Army and used his long barreled rifle to win competitions....

[@Pienimusta]

That's a nice looking Sako RK95 you have there.

[@late9462]

oot aika vammane

[@nathanwood3860]

😂​@@late9462

[@Sir_Baddington]

It is related

[@late9462]

​@@Sir_Baddington your parents are

[@petrimakela5978]

​@@late9462it's a updated RL-62 pattern, made with tooling from Valmet

[@Drrolfski]

LMT AR rifle, I had to look that one up.

[@fredboat]

Good history story, Thanks.

[@jaankuus3063]

Front heavy good rifle helps to keep aim.

[@codyi7102]

These are really really fucking cool! I wouldnt necessarily set it up like this one, but its got great bones!

[@111222333daniel]

🇪🇪🇪🇸Son nuestros hermanos de la OTAN y les defenderemos

[@guymaddison2770]

Awesome work as always Gun Jesus, interesting they didn't go for the full NATO cartridge

[@borisslavk01nolastname91]

Estonian Galils look like a normal but tactical galil

[@katathoombs]

Never knew Estonia went with the Galil! Interesting. I wonder if we'd done the same, if not for the aim of producing RKs domestically.

[@Boddhi1980]

The first Galils were manufactured on Valmet receivers, so this would have been kind of hard.

[@katathoombs]

@@Boddhi1980 : D I see an order of events taking shape.

[@JanoTuotanto]

What do you think RK-95 was supposed to be

[@leoa4c]

That looks like a really heavy rifle. Carrying that, in full kit, in the Afghan sun, all day long? I'm guessing it wasn't a particularly fun experience. It would be interesting for Ian to do a match with the heavier version so that we could get an idea of its ergonomics.

[@AntiPlatitude]

9:22 Apologies for the somewhat irrelevant correction here, but using the words “circa” and “roughly” back to back is a redundancy. The word circa means essentially the same thing as the word roughly in the context of this video. I was also guilty of occasionally making this mistake, but my wife (an English teacher) had to correct me when I asked her to review a proposal that was being sent to a prospective client of my company. 5:05 this is the correct usage of the word circa, unless you’re certain that the date is completely accurate. Ok, the nerdy stuff is over. Sorry everyone.

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

This is just as accurate as the Estonian long barrel Galil......

[@Randomly_Browsing]

Looks interesting

[@williammurray3914]

Jesus Christ “ a sight to see through a sight,to see through another sight”. That’s one front heavy Rifle.

[@jik294]

I seem to remember seeing Estonian's in Iraq with Galil Micro's back in 2007 on a special advisory mission in Iraq. Additionally, where does the G36 come into play for Estonia? I thought they had a batch of G36E's they purchased a while back? I was also told that they did the Charging handle add on as it was easier in general to acuate it, not just because of the RDS. But, I could be very wrong on that, lol

[@Vonstab]

Estonian bought the G36K in small numbers for their SOF. The G36Es, usually called G36V these days, were purchased by Latvia and Lithuania when they standardised on the G36 platform as their 1st line weapon.

[@Snaake42]

The charging handle is an interesting detail to me because the Finnish Rk 62 had a horizontal charging handle, but when designing the Galil apparently they changed that to a vertical one, but then when Estonia was modernizing the rifle with this upgrade package, the vertical handle wasn't that great after all. Of course the horizontal charging handle can be a bit annoying too, for example makes it more annoying to lay the Rk 62 flat on the ground.

[@XoravaX]

@@Snaake42 yes, and the RK 95 has a 45 degree charging handle, as a compromise. But with optics in use, the vertical is better.

[@valloveereste4988]

My military weapon was Galil ARM 1995-1996

[@drgog4300]

Unpopular opinion but I actually prefer the side charging handle more than the AR style placement

[@rajbiswas9077]

They just gave a face lift to a Galil ❤.. still I am more into the South African DENEL R4 R5 conversion kit

[@tylerwilliams6022]

I've always wondered if the thumb actuated safety lever on Galils was a good design choice. It seems like they would only be useful for switching from semi to auto and then safe. I would think a more useful design for this would be switching from safe to fire. But that wouldn't be possible or easily done with the standard AK style gate safety and its operating direction. And nevertheless is this thumb safety useful at all? Seems like it would be rather stiff and hard to operate. So what is the consensus, okay or better off without it?

[@nikolaikorobeinik119]

I'd say it is rather useful but only when the gun has been worn in. It is quite stiff coming out of the box unused. It is something like an optional feature - good to have but not strictly necessary. It was my service rifle 2011-2012.

[@thecongnguyen7494]

Hey Ian, I hope you make a video about the rm-277 rifle in the near future.😀

[@TuckerDale89]

I need to get my SAR kit built

[@lordimpaler3899]

Ngl...the more I see those folding stocks on Kalashnikov style rifles, the more I like them 🤔

[@VincitOmniaVeritas7]

Ah, yes, the infamous “AR-47”!

[@CASULL455]

"These rifles served as the service rifles for the full-time professional element of the Estonian military, with annual conscript levies using a variety of other weapons (largely H&K G3 variations). " Thats incorrect. I did my mandatory year of military service (conscription) from April 1999 until April 2000 and we had Galils.