I’ve been a Tavor shooter for longer than I’ve been an AR shooter, and the collector in me loves to snap up little peices of militaria related to the rifle. This summer one special unit caught my eye, and I thought I’d share it with you.

What you see in this gallery is a 3x Magnifier issued to the IDF in August 2006. It’s designed specifically for the Gen 1 CTAR Tavor that was issued to the Givanti brigade, and uses the proprietary post & twist mount. It looks to be labeled “טלסקופ x3 לתבור” or 3X telescope for Tavor. But you’ll notice it doesn’t have any Meprolight markings on it like most IDF optics.

That’s because this little baby is actually a Trijicon retrofit. From what I can tell, it began its life as a TA-33 3×30 ACOG, before having the reticle, fiber optic, and turrets removed. Now it’s just a tough as nails tube with some nice clear glass to look through. From what I’ve gathered this was issued to officers and recon units for use with the MARs laser & red dot system. I use mine with the IDF standard Mepro 21, and find it to be an excellent magnifier, even when used with a colour tinting fiber optic like the Mepro 21.

It’s worth noting that the post and twist mount is part of the gas tube, and would not hold zero. So converting regular ACOGs to the post & twist would not have worked. That mount designed for magnifiers and night vision devices to be used with the primary optic which is mated to the barrel. It’s not as fast or sexy as a flip to the side mount, but the IDF 3x Magnifier is a tool-less quick detach. This magnifier sits high enough to clear the rear BUIS, but does not allow the rear sight to be flipped up.

I’ve heard that a portion of the US aid to Israel has to go back into US companies. That my explain some of the reasoning behind taking the aiming solution out of a perfectly good optic. It looks like the fiber optic illumination has been literally ground off and coated over, so I don’t think these were a factory solution built on the TA-33 chassis. You can clearly still see the original ACOG mount too.

Even if its not a sharp finished product you’d buy off the shelf, I like this little piece of history and the oddness of military procurement it represents.

If anyone else knows more about how these were built and issued, I’d love to hear from you!

Fun side note: in it’s current setup, my rifle sports a reflex sight, BUIS, magnifier, and bipod without a single inch of picatinny rail on it. I don’t know why that makes me happy, but it does.

-Special thanks to the “Other Eddie” for his service and assistance with the history behind this little beastie.