IWI USA has issued a recall for their newly released Galil ACE pistols due to the presence of a pin hole for a full auto sear. AKs with this pin hole have long been considered by the ATF to be machine guns, making this a major mistake on the part of IWI that runs afoul of the National Firearms Act. An IWI letter released to their distributors is replicated below:

To whom it may concern:

 Following our email of yesterday, we are instituting a recall of all GAP39 pistols.

 Please pack up and return all GAP39 firearms in your inventory to IWI US. You can ship freight collect (YRC preferred).

 Additionally, we will need you to provide us with the names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of all FFL Dealers and/or individuals that you sold to. We will contact them with instructions on returning guns in their inventory to IWI US along with enlisting their support in contacting all consumers for return of the guns to IWI US.

 Full credit will be given for your returns while dealers and consumers will receive a full refund with submission of receipt copies.

 It would be in everyone’s best interest to contact these dealers ASAP.

 FYI, this is not a safety related recall, but a possible NFA violation that must be corrected.

 We appreciate your support and understanding in assisting us with all facets of this recall.

TFBTV Director Alex C sent along some pictures of the new Galil pistols, showing the full auto sear pivot pin hole:

The red arrow indicates the pivot pin for the full auto sear. The guns shipped do not have full auto sears installed, but the presence of the pivot pin hole in the receiver has long been diagnostic for the ATF definition of a “machine gun”.

The Galil ACE, which was originally slated to come to the US market in early/mid-2015, was delayed in August with the release date pushed back to late 2015. Unfortunately, it seems that despite this extra time before release, for whatever reason IWI has still run afoul of the NFA. Why that happened – whether the ATF OK’d the cam pin hole location and then reneged on it, or IWI inadvertently made production changes before release that resulted in full auto receivers being shipped to the US – is unclear at this time.

Thanks to Daniel for the tip!