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The IWI Tavor X95 semi-automatic is the American version of the IWI Tavor X95 military firearm.

IWI is Israeli Weapons Industries, so it’s perhaps no surprise that the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO IWI Tavor X95 bullpup semi-automatic rifle is named after Mount Tabor, a historic and holy 1,900 foot tall dome mountain in Israel. And yet ironically, considering the vast size of Mount Tabor, the IWI Tavor series are compact. Very compact. And this is what makes them so popular.

The IWI Tavor X95 is used by the Israeli Defense Force and armed forces in India, Angola, Columbia, Honduras, Morocco, Thailand and elsewhere. It’s known for its ruggedness, reliability and ease of use in confined quarters or from within vehicles.

That the IWI Tavor is a bullpup means the long stroke gas piston action is behind the trigger, helping to account for the firearm’s compact length.

For the Israeli Defense Force and other militaries, this firearm has a selector permitting it to switch between full automatic mode and semi-automatic fire. But the US market IWI Tavor X95 is semi-automatic only. Complying with US laws, this X95 also has an elongated handguard and a thicker buttpad. The US X95 comes in seven flavors, each with its own minor variations.

Perhaps the most common version of the US market IWI Tavor X95 is model XB16. Its barrel is 16.5” long, and the gun measures a short 26.125” from front to back. The stock is reinforced polymer. The six groove, chrome lined, cold hammer forged, CrMoV steel alloy barrel has a 1 to 7” twist. Fronting the muzzle is an integrated muzzle brake.

Not far behind the muzzle brake is a folding front blade sight with a tritium insert, and at back is an aperture rear sight. The X95 has a 5-6 lb. trigger pull. The mag release is ambidextrous.

The gun’s forearm features Picatinny rails at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions, and the X95 comes standard with removable rail covers. The modular Tavor pistol grip can be swapped out with a standard pistol grip with traditional trigger guard. The model X16 comes standard with a 30 round polymer magazine and only weighs 7.9 pounds.

The XB16L is the XB16 reconfigured for left handers. The XB16-BLK model’s barrel is chambered for the significantly more powerful .300 AAC Blackout ammunition.

A short barrel version of the XB16 is available, and that’s the XB13 with a 13” long barrel. The forearm is a bit shorter than the XB16’s, but otherwise the guns are about the same. Weight without the magazine is only 7.5 pounds.

Stepping up with considerably more power is the XB17-9, thus named in honor of its 9 x 19 mm Parabellum chambering. It retains the same overall length, but has a 17” long four grove barrel with a 1 to 10” twist and a 32 round magazine.

The XB18 has the same 5.56 x 45 mm chambering as the XB16, but it also features an 18.5” long barrel and a correspondingly longer 28.12” overall length.

The most potent of the 5.56 x 45 mm chambered guns is the XB18RS (Restricted State). It has the XB18’s 18.5” long barrel, but a 30.5” overall length, a muzzle brake and a 10-round magazine. Weight climbs a tad to 8.0 pounds. This gun has optional 9 x 19 mm and .300 AAC Blackout conversion kits.

In all these iterations, the Tavor X95 comes in three colors: black, flat dark earth, and olive drab green.

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