I would dispute L42's being on issue in India. I would speculate there might be a few there but the low number of total production, (1080), is proof they didn't make it into service as a standard issue sniper rifle anywhere except the MoD. Could the one you saw there Gil possibly have been converted from an existing Indian issue No.4T? I suppose anything is possible with the Indians. We always guessed that after their hard service On Her Majesty's Service, the rifles that weren't culled for scrap were all purchased by Charnwood Ordnance and Navy Arms. As Peter mentioned, they had to be exported so came to Canada and the USA. Many were returned too, mostly from Canada so they could legally go on the UK market. I exported them to Canada, England and New Zealand in small quantity. Also guessing that half of the original production were relegated to scrap over time in service. I had over 60, the majority directly purchased from MoD disposals at Donnington by Charnwood Ordnance. Some of those were very tired from being run through course after course in a the sniper training role. I'm proud to have put them all right with lots of help of course! I hope they're all getting some range time to keep them happy!
Seeing the bit of film footage of the Indian Police at the station, I didn't see one police officer check a weapon to see if it was safe when he picked it up. Not a great advert for the Indian Police and in a very public place.
Brian,
Definately etched as an L42A1 but more than that it looked absolutely correct. As you will appreciate, its a different world, and they don't like people touching their property, especially when loaded. I asked him if it was clear before he handed it to me, and he said yes!!!!
I pulled back the bolt and there I saw a solitary round, that was it in the mag. He didn't like me doing that at all.
Really that was enough for me, and the reason why I put the video up, as they are in hell of a state, they really haven't got a clue, which is very sad, as the SLR isn't an easy piece of kit to get your head round without proper training.
This is what happens when "we" train a small team to a high standard in the UK, they then in turn "cascade" their training and knowledge back in country, which as we all know dilutes the whole safety process, and it does become very unsafe.
They do have a lot of ND's and also injuries which they didn't want to talk about. The user of the L42A1 could see no problem with a round in the mag at all, as in his terms it was only he that would draw back the bolt.
There new weapon is in a mess too and it is very unlikely it will see service. Corruption abounds and things aren't right there at all.
He told me they had over 29,000 SLR's gifted to them by HMG which I was staggered to hear, but had no idea how many L42A1's were in service, he only knew it to be a sniper rifle.
It may have had a makeover at Isapore or whereever their factory is now, but it would have certainly made any of us look twice.
'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA
Janes world Armies makes no mention of India being equipped with L42's and that's pretty well on the button in that respect. Mind you, it doesn't mention the Police of course.
We just saw a snapshot of a group of cops moving off somewhere. Putting that into perspective, bear in mind that our cops have occasionally made mistakes with weapons too. Not just drills and ND's but shooting others too, even in classrooms and their colleagues on the ranges.
With an Army of X.x million against ours of c.80,000, we need to put those same drill errors, ND's and fatalities into perspective too.
Janes world Armies makes no mention of India being equipped with L42's and that's pretty well on the button in that respect. Mind you, it doesn't mention the Police of course.
We just saw a snapshot of a group of cops moving off somewhere. Putting that into perspective, bear in mind that our cops have occasionally made mistakes with weapons too. Not just drills and ND's but shooting others too, even in classrooms and their colleagues on the ranges.
With an Army of X.x million against ours of c.80,000, we need to put those same drill errors, ND's and fatalities into perspective too.
"Putting that into perspective, bear in mind that our cops have occasionally made mistakes with weapons too. Not just drills and ND's but shooting others too, even in classrooms and their colleagues on the ranges"
Two Police firearm related stories that I know of and come from a trusted source (involving the same force to remain unnamed).
A firearm left at a private range occasionally used for practice and more worryingly they only realised it was missing when the range owner phoned them following day after noticing it glinting in the morning dew still at the firing point!
Another rather embarrassing incident involved a holstered glock left in a public toilets... and handed in by a taxi driver (thank God a decent law abiding citizen came across it first)!
These are very rare incidents and preventative procedures were subsequently put in place to ensure it can't happen today I am relieved to hear.
Last edited by mrclark303; 08-02-2016 at 06:27 PM.
How their Police, transport "Loaded" weapons to the provinces. Look for the British Marked (snowpaked) SLR's slung over the shoulders in the video.
This probably does them an injustice, but there are a bucket full of training issues with this short film, and reflects the state of things there. I'm afraid they would all be jailed if I was IC weapons party:
Those are all Indian IA1 rifles (independently invented in India by the way). Notice the metric type metal end cap on the front of the butt stock.
I would suggest that that is a colour party of some type heading off to a performance/ceremony.
Not a single spare magazine nor ammunition in evidence - likely none of the guns are actually loaded, and all are "known" to be un-loaded, having been previously checked, by "someone"...
Last edited by Lee Enfield; 08-02-2016 at 07:15 PM.
I was taught that you must ALWAYS check a weapon to ensure it is safe when first picking it up and that some-one telling you that it is safe is simply not good enough.
I had an RFI 1A1 rifle many years ago. A very interesting rifle. A cross between an FAL and L1A1, I reckon they beat both FN and the RSAF out of the royalty payments!
I was taught that you must ALWAYS check a weapon to ensure it is safe when first picking it up and that some-one telling you that it is safe is simply not good enough.
I think WE all were...
---------- Post added at 05:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:27 PM ----------
I had an RFI 1A1 rifle many years ago. A very interesting rifle. A cross between an FAL and L1A1, I reckon they beat both FN and the RSAF out of the royalty payments!
1 piece firing pins,
Ex1/X8E1 single locking angle on the bolt and carrier (with sand cuts), Inch pattern extractor.
metric style front sight in a inch style gas block.
Inch pattern gas regulator & gas tube,
3rd model Metric butt stock,
Inch pattern hammer & trigger mech, & mag release.
metric(ish) barrel thread...
Just a note:
Make sure that if you are using an Indian bolt, you always use an Indian bolt carrier (and vice versa unless you have an Ex/X8/ EARLY Israeli bolt/carrier to mix match).
and the USA
PM
Originally Posted by 
