X-95 Mud Test (and AAR)

[MountainRaven]

From the guys who brought you the surprising results of the AK and AR-15 mud tests, come...



More surprising results!

TL;DR, IWI mud test video, and AAR video in the following posts.

[MountainRaven]

And for compare/contrast, here is an IWI video of a water and mud test with a select-fire, military-production X-95.



AAR video and TL;DR in the next post.

[MountainRaven]

And, finally, the after action report, wherein the reason(s) for the X-95's failure is diagnosed and an issue related to the failure is explored:



TL;DR (or rather, TL;DW):

The IWI US Tavor X-95 fails pretty miserably. Karl of InRangeTV describes it as being the worst results he's seen: One of the most peculiar failures is that the right-side magazine release failed. And then it took three baths in clean water plus being blown out with pressurized air before the gun returned to normal operation, due to difficulty in accessing the linkage for the trigger and magazine release - an issue common to all bullpup rifles.

The IWI (Israel) select-fire X-95, on the other hand, does extremely well. As would be expected of any manufacturer-produced test. Could it be a different consistency in the mud? Or maybe a specially prepared weapon? Or is there something different about the military-production X-95 that makes it more mud resistant?

[RetroRevolver77]

Here's a really good test, the Swamp Test- between the Tavor, AR15, and an AK.





7n6

[Sensei]

I wanted to like this rifle. I really, really wanted to. However, marginal accuracy and videos like this keep me loyal to my AUG...

[Circle_10]

Interesting results for sure. InRange often points out that a gun's performance in the mud tests shouldn't be the sole criteria upon which someone judges a weapon. To help drive the point home, if I remember correctly the rifle that preformed second best in their mud tests after the AR was a (kit build) CETME L, which InRange noted are generally considered to be a fairly lame rifle.
That being said, even before this I just couldn't get real interested in the Tavor series. I feel like I *should* want one because "Ooh, new hotness, bullpup, Israeli" and if this were 2002 and I were still 21 years old I probably would, but at this point I'd much rather have an original Galil.

[RetroRevolver77]

I've watched tons of these dirt test videos, over the beach videos, drop tests, freezing tests, and general torture test videos. Basically, doesn't matter what you are running or how much you paid- mud and sand will stop it if you get enough in the action. No rifle does all the tests well. While a rifle might exceed at one test, that same rifle would fail miserably in another and vice versa. While I welcome new rifles to the already diverse selection available- the newer designs don't really impress me that much so I stick with traditional rifles be it FAL's, AUG's, AR's, AK's, HK's or M1A's and understand their weaknesses.


7n6

[Big A]

Can anyone here describe a real scenario in the U.S.A. where you and your personally owned military type rifles would subjected to such adverse conditions in a life or death situation?

Like, where are you going that the likelihood of your gun being completely submerged in mud like that is a serious concern?

I mean, I understand test where you leave a rifle out in freezing temps, drop it in dirt, mud, water, etc but some of these test are just so ludicrous that it's a miracle that the rifle fired at all. Anybody that subjects a weapon to that level of mistreatment deserves to have it fail on them when they need it most.

Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.

[MountainRaven]

Can anyone here describe a real scenario in the U.S.A. where you and your personally owned military type rifles would subjected to such adverse conditions in a life or death situation?

Like, where are you going that the likelihood of your gun being completely submerged in mud like that is a serious concern?

I mean, I understand test where you leave a rifle out in freezing temps, drop it in dirt, mud, water, etc but some of these test are just so ludicrous that it's a miracle that the rifle fired at all. Anybody that subjects a weapon to that level of mistreatment deserves to have it fail on them when they need it most.

Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.

I think the scenario in mind would be a battlefield one.

You've become separated from your long gun. You or your element may/may not be in contact with the enemy or contact may be/may not be imminent. You need a rifle. You find one half-buried in mud. Shooting begins. Now you need to immediately employ the mud-caked weapon you just acquired.

More likely, would be that you've dropped it in some especially soupy mud. Normally, you're going to have plenty of time and opportunity to clean the gun out before you need to use it, barring some pretty severe civil disturbance.

It's also helpful for slaughtering holy cows. Like the AK is more reliable in mud and dirt than the AR-15. The M1 Garand is the bestest battle rifle of all time, &c.

[RetroRevolver77]

It's also helpful for slaughtering holy cows. Like the AK is more reliable in mud and dirt than the AR-15.

Yah OK;

Got to pull that charging handle back to make sure the hammer can reset before attempting to fire with dirt inside.




7n6