Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1497523
S o, despite the IWI logo on the gun, it is 100% made in the USA. The real Israeli-AR would be the ARAD rifle unveiled in 2019, but at this moment it is only available to .GOV customers and it has its proprietary parts which are not interchangeable with your ca- sual AR-15's. IWI Zion-15 is, at least at first glan- ce, nothing special. Just. Another. Black Rifle. However, we have de- cided to personally check out this rifle to verify the reviews we have seen in the internet, which surpri- singly oto us were full of admira- tion for this rifle. IWI claims that testing of the ZION-15 was intense. With the proper ammunition, the carbine will allegedly produce sub- -MOA groups. Also, IWI claims that the rifle was torture tested with 10K rounds of full auto fire and then re-tested for accuracy, and that the rifle saw minimal perfor- mance degradation after rigorous durability tests. The rifle came to us with a 12.5" 4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium he- avy profile barrel with 6 RH grooves and 1:8 twist ratio, good for both "tactical shooting" and mid-range. It is accurate, provides high velo- city and stability, while still making the rifle easy to manoeuvre. Zion features a typical AR-15 direct impingement system, or DI in short, that directs gas from a fired car- tridge indirectly (through the barrel, through a gas block, and then thro- ugh a gas tube) into the bolt carrier to cycle the action. The IWI Zion is a semi-automatic single-fire only gun. The basic SBR version of the IWI Zion we were sporting for around two weeks, the rifle has standard A2-style birdcage muzzle device, the popular flash suppressor which also allows attaching suppressors. The barrel has a standard 1/2x28 thread and the standard muzzle device might be easily unscrewed and replaced. The 12.5" barrel has a mid-length gas system which is not so common with such barrel lengths (you could expect the usual carbine-length). The handguard is exceptionally long (11.5"), as it covers the barrel almost to the beginning of the mu- zzle device, but leaves some room for the suppressor. The handguard is made of thick-walled aluminium alloy profile and is (approximately) octagonal in shape. On seven of its sides, the handguard features 5 M-LOK slots each. On top of the handguard there is a full length MIL-STD-1913/Picatinny rail. The handguard is a free-float type and is attached to the receiver with two screws and a barrel nut. Zion's handguard has a slim profile so there is not much space between its sides and the gas system but it makes it comfortable to operate. Both upper and lower receivers are almost a plain jane MIL-SPEC. They are not ambidextrous and feature S T O R Y B Y : M I C H A Ł S I TA R S K I P H O T O : M I C H A Ł S I TA R S K I FIREARMS