How it’s Made: Tavor®

Created with the same pride and dedication as the soldiers who use them

In the sepia-toned desert of Israel, IDF soldiers fight for their country, their freedom, their homes and their families every day. Failure is unacceptable and a gun as reliable and dedicated as these soldiers is needed. Today, we’ll go behind-the-scenes and see just what makes this gun, the Tavor®, so reliable.

First, let’s take a look at the people behind the scenes. Knowing that each Tavor® they produce will be used to defend lives, workers assemble rifles with great pride and great care to ensure the reliability, quality and precision of each and every gun.

The rifle’s one piece body is made using injection-molded, high-strength, impact-resistant, polymer. The polymer is a quarter of an inch thick and has a strong, rugged, even healthy feel to it. There is simply nothing weak or flimsy to be found anywhere on the body and you get the feeling that you could break down a door with it if needed.

The receiver is CNC machined using aerospace grade 7075-E6 hard-anodized aluminum coated in Teflon™. This premium aluminum alloy is chosen for its strength and resistance to fatigue. The truth is, no expense is spared when it comes to the rifles being used by Israel’s soldiers.

IWI also manufactures its own barrels. The barrel cylinders are first cut to the correct dimensions from pieces of bar stock and then hammer forged. Hammer forging was originally developed during WWII to create machine gun barrels that would last longer under the high heat and stress that firing thousands of rounds a minute of ammunition puts on a barrel. The barrel blank is then placed on a tungsten carbide mandrel for rifling before a series of hydraulic hammers pounds the barrel into its final shape. The barrel is then hard chrome lined to protect it from the extreme internal temperatures and pressures created during rapid fire. Chrome also greatly increases the life of the barrel.

After the rifle’s parts have been manufactured, IWI uses an advanced optical scanner to examine each part and electronically compare it to a standard model. Any differences are noted and parts not meeting IWI’s high quality control standards are destroyed.

Once all the parts have been thoroughly inspected it’s time for final assembly. All final assembly is done by hand and each Tavor® leaves the assembly line with confidence having been assembled with pride by Israel’s finest craftsmen. Finally, each gun is fired multiple times to ensure proper function before shipment.

The Tavor®, created with pride, is as dedicated and reliable as the soldiers who use it.