RFI SLR mag

[Flying10uk]

I noticed this mag for sale last weekend which the vendor claimed to be ex Argentinian. I did point out that it looked like a SLR mag rather than a FN FAL mag but I then said that anything was possible because of the wide variety of small arms that was captured from Argentina at the end of the Falklands war. I did go onto to purchase it purely on the grounds of the Indian markings. There is a significant dent near the bottom of the mag on one side and, as can be seen in the pics; also, as can be seen, there is a red band painted around the mag.

I wondered if anyone could explain the red band, please, and which country's military may have applied it? Is it in reference to the dent or does it signify something else, please? Did India, or indeed Argentina, mark some of their magazines in this manner with the red band? Did Argentina ever use any inch pattern SLR/FAL rifles in any numbers apart from the few that were captured from the UK, please?

Many thanks for any information and thanks for any replies.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[mrclark303]

Afternoon F10, first off, the Indian 1A1 is a real mongrel of a Fal!

It was an unauthorised, unlicensed Fal derivative that India announced to the world as their "new Indian designed rifle".

This went down like a lead balloon with FN, who promptly blew a fuse and slapped a law suit on the Indian government!

Upshot, the Legal action was settled with India agreeing to buy batches of UK, Australian and Fal's from Belgium and pay a fee for the licence infringement.

The 1A1 itself was sort of half metric Fal and half inch pattern L1A1.

Quality is questionable, some parts are interchangeable with the Fal family, others not (top covers for instance) but they work as well as all Fal's none the less.

Reliable and robust....

The Argentineans used domestically manufactued Fals, with some Fn made variants too I believe.

They never used Indian 1A1's.

Red stripe, drill practice, blank only, training use only ?

[Gil Boyd]

Normally indicates "live rounds" but in any other countries understanding it could mean "Firing Squad"!!!

[tankhunter]

Gil, it MAY be. That the red band was applied as the mag was defective? If the dent is 'Significant', it may prevent the follower from fully depressing. & thus be marked
like this for repair. Or destruction / cast from service perhaps? Just my thoughts on this.

Mike.

[mrclark303]

Mike, good see you again mate, hope all is well with you, we must catch up soon.

[Gil Boyd]

Mike,
Would Armourers do this as a matter of SOP? Not seen it in PARA/SF Units?

[Peter Laidler]

Dented mags were a common fix. We had a 3 part tool used to lift dents and then dolly them flat. The BIG problem was that mage were so cheap and readily available that it simply wasn't worth repairing one with anything but a shallow dent. Dnts at the base would jamb the platform in the down position rendering them useless - as shown in this RFI mag and marked accordingly I suspect

[Bruce_in_Oz]

That is an odd-looking NSN on that mag. It starts out with the "1005", (Small-Arms group code), but it also appears to contain the letters "RFI".

Am I missing something here?

[mrclark303]

Rifle Factory Ishapore Bruce....

[Bruce_in_Oz]

So, does this mean the Indians do their own thing with the NSN / DSN system?