Making Orlite mags work in your ORF/Century Galil

[panaceabeachbum]

If you have an ORF or century galil or have assembled a working rifle on an ORF receiver and have tried to snap an Orlite mag in place you have discovered that it simply cant happen due to a couple of dimensional problems with the ORF receiver. A std steel mag will snap right in but the orlite wont . This entire problem can/could be prevented by moving the 4 rivet holes for the mag catch assembly back .035" so that they are in the same location as the mid to late 80's IMI galils . Since lots of us already have ORF receivers and they havent been real keen on any outside criticism of their products I am posting the method I have to employ to assemble a rifle for my customers that will accept an Orlite magazine.

 

[panaceabeachbum]

The Orlite magazines I have been purchasing from CDNN are .040 longer front to rear than the steel magazines and as a result they will not snap in the ORF receiver , they fit just fine in the IMI guns.
If you look at the pic the red arrow points to a radius that is to large to allow the orlite to fit all the way forward allowing the rear to swing up into place.

in these pics you can see that the orlite mag cant move all the way forward causing the rear of the mag to hit the mag catch body

 

[panaceabeachbum]

I want to point out again that the mag catch assembly on the IMI guns sits .035" further to the rear and this is not an issue.
I use a 5/32 endmill to change the radius of the front corners and the orlite barely has enough room at this point to clear the mag catch bracket at the rear, and when I say barely I mean you have to really have to jerk/smack it to get it to snap in place, but it is rattle free.
The two shiney spots at the front corners of the magwell represent the material that needs to be removed to allow the mag to move forward .

 

[panaceabeachbum]

If you look at the back of the mag in this pic you will see it contacts the magcatch body with no room to spare.

 

[panaceabeachbum]

The customer wanted to be able to use an AR mag adapter which poses additional problems with an ORF receiver. The IMI magwell opening is the same width front as rear and does not narrow like a coventianal ak receiver. The ORF receiver as pointed out above narrows at the front so insertion of the AR maga adapter is impossible. The other major problem is the AR mag adapter is .05 longer front to rear than a std galil magazine. Usualy when fitting an AR mag adapter to the Galil you just hit the rear a few strokes with a file and it will snap right in place.
To fit the mag adapter to the ORF receiver I start by machining the reduced width portion of the magwell to the same width as the rear.

The shiny spots in this pic are where the material needs to be removed

 

[panaceabeachbum]

If you look at the pic above you will notice the lug on the front of the mag adapter has sqaure corners and the slot it fits in is a gentle radius. I have to round the corners on the magwell adapt to get it to fit properly. It snaps right in the IMI gun so there is a difference there also. The last thing You will have to do untill ORF moves the nag catch assembly back the proper ammount is grind the front edge of the magcatch housing slightly to allow the proper clearance at the rear.

I would like to point out these problems exist in the guns I have built using brand new unissued IMI parts ans well as the sets Century is currently selling.

 

[Sayeret Shaldag]

If you just want to be able to use only the steel and Orlite mags do you still have to grind the front edge of the magcatch housing slightly?

Unrelated question in regard to the stock assembly. What does the spacer look like? I recieved some new cheek tubes frome Sarco and I see a hole drilled exactly where the spacer goes. I live in an apt. so I have not been able to disassemble the stock completely yet. I am asking about the construction of the space because I would very much like to get a new one made. Thanks

 

[panaceabeachbum]

No I just had to grind the front of the mag catch to get the ar adapter in place.

The spacer is just a cube of plastic that has a radius cut on the top and botom to match the tubes, the sqaure hole in the cheek peice is all that holds it in place, would be easy to make from a peice of black delrin

 

[Sayeret Shaldag]

Copy that beachbum. The hole in my new cheek tubes is round. I guess I can always adjust that. Is anyone here making new spacers from delrin?

 

[panaceabeachbum]

You know the top of the original spacer may have a round peg, The only one I have taken apart was the recent century and the tube had a sqaure hole

 

[Teps71]

Couldn't material be removed from the mag adapter just as easily as from the receiver? Mag adapters are much cheaper than receivers...

I was reading somewhere about the feed angle on the AR mags is different that the Galil mags. Is this true and how can this be overcome?

 

[Sayeret Shaldag]

The Man of Solutions is Here!

Teps71 in the house YESSSS!!:banana

Teps,

I hope your entry into Galil Talk will mean you have many cool products in the works if only in idea stage. Can you recommend anyone to help me with duplicating a spacer for the Gen1 Galil stock?

 

[Teps71]

Sayeret, a reproduction spacer is in the works. Here is a question I have though. I took my spacer from the stock to get dimensions and there is a post which rides into a hole in the upper tube of the stock. Is this really necessary? Would just the press fit of the piece between the two tubes keep this spacer in place?



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Redirected....
The Spacer is avaliable in the Parts , Accessories and Ammo Section.

http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24009



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[Rhino_66]

The post in the spacer keeps it from moving. If you eliminate the post, the spacer can be knocked out easily.

The easiest way to duplicate these would be to cut the notches for the stock tubes first. Then drill a cup in one of the notches and press a piece of round stock into the cup. To finish up the post, raise the notch cutter up slightly and run it back over the exposed end. This will allow it to clear the curve of the stock tube.


.

 

[h8pvmnt]

I have a ORF/Galil and was told by the builder to just file a little off the rear of the mag above the catch tang. I did this with a hand file and the orlites fit and function fine. hopefully this was not bad advice, but i cant see any problem with it.

 

[panaceabeachbum]

Couldn't material be removed from the mag adapter just as easily as from the receiver? Mag adapters are much cheaper than receivers...

no , there isnt enogh material, if you trim the mag adapter to fit the front tab that replicates the little hook on the front of the adapter will fall off. I sent my adapter to ORF a few months ago and all the new receivers are being machined with the changes noted here incorporated. Mag adapters and orlite mags snap right in.

 

[panaceabeachbum]

I have a ORF/Galil and was told by the builder to just file a little off the rear of the mag above the catch tang. I did this with a hand file and the orlites fit and function fine. hopefully this was not bad advice, but i cant see any problem with it.

Sounds like a good plan for the end user who has mags in hand, much eaiser than modifying the rec. Its hard as a manufacturer to sell a guy a gun , especialy around $1k , and look him in the eye and tell him he is going to have to file or modify magazines to fit his gun to get it to work.

For me getting the mag adapter to work was the goal of this project and getting the orlites to work properly was just a plus.

Now that ORF has incorporated my changes in their receiver these mods will only be useful for folks who have serial lower than aprox #400

 

[chipster]

Do you know about when they incorporated those receiver mods?

 

[panaceabeachbum]

I think around serial 400 , the markings moved from the side to the bottom around the same time

 

[N4KVE]

CENTURY GALIL

Yesterday I purchased a Century Galil at the West Palm Beach gun show. Looks beautiful, shoots fine etc, but something strange happened. My regular dealer had just gotten 2 Galils. One for display & one under the table for good customers. I check out the top one, say I want it but want to look at the hidden one & take it. Hidden one looks fine, fork over $ & do paperwork etc. I leave his table & show rifle to a friend 5 rows over. I realize I never tried mags so I do. These rifles come with 2 mags. One nicely refinished, & a real rough one. The nice one fits but not the rough one. I go back to my dealer & he wants to try all 4 mags in the 2 rifles. Well guess what? The rifle I took SER # 143X only worked with the 2 refinished Hebrew lettered mags. The rifle I didn't take SER # 16XX worked with all 4 mags. Mag width was the problem. Not length. Both receivers said "century" on the left side. I didn't want to swap, as I believe in the wheel of Kharma & the higher # gun would have it's own issues. Plus in my experience better parts go into lower # guns. As long as this gun works fine with real Isreali mags, I'll be happy. By the way my gun was born in Georgia Vt on Mar 21/07@ 10:30 AM delivered by M Beaulieu. Again all receiver markings were on the left side.None on the bottom. Both Guns. GARY N4KVE