India's FAL?

[otomik]

I'm on vacation in Delhi India right now. it's the capitol and there's soldiers everywhere (perhaps anticipating some pakistani terror attacks in conjunction with the muslim holiday of Eid?), some have what look to be FN-FALs but they have what look like wooden stocks. anybody know whats what in Indian firearms? inch or metric pattern? they also have what look like Sterling SMGs and some kind of bolt action (.303 british enfield of some type?). i'll try to get some pics next time i'm out. everyone here is so friendly. it's a nice change to see a military that still believes in aiming and battles rifles over spray n pray with kalashnikovs.

i wish they would export some, everything here is so inexpensive i'm sure it would be beat the CETME's comming in right now.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Indian small arms largely follow British pattern. I *think* that Indian FALs are inch-pattern, but somebody who knows for sure, please correct me.

As you noticed, a lot of No.4 Mk.Is are also issued for police duty over there. Often when there is some unrest that makes it to the US news, you'll see pics of Indian policemen with .303s. Many Indian No.4s have a screw through the stock in front of the magazine well. It was put there to reinforce the stock. My Fazakerly No.4 Mk.I is one of these rifles, and was imported back in the '80s.

 

[Snakeshot]

The Indian fal is the only fal not produced under license from FN.

They reverse engineered it to avoid paying the license fees. It is a truly unique fal. It mostly resembles the inch gun, but there are some major differences. The quality is the lowest of any of the fal variants, but it's still a decent rifle.

Indian fal parts kits pop up for sale from time to time. Individual parts are all over the place.

 

[SodaPop]

They reverse engineered it to avoid paying the license fees.

They did the same thing with Coke.

it's the capitol and there's soldiers everywhere (perhaps anticipating some pakistani terror attacks in conjunction with the muslim holiday of Eid?)

India deals with as much Islamic extremism as Israel does. Not to mention they are at about 11:59 on the nuclear war clock.


How's the weather over there? I use to live over there when I was a kid.

it's a nice change to see a military that still believes in aiming and battles rifles over spray n pray with kalashnikovs.

I think they still use the AK56 in the Army.

 

[otomik]

the weather is great, it's actually pretty chilly at night but with high's in the 70s. the biggest problem is the air quality as in picking black snot from one's nose.

 

[RON in PA]

The Indians have been very cozy with the Israelis lately and I believe they have purchased some of the new Israeli rifles. Nations with common enemies often become allies. Expect more US-Indian cooperation in the future.

 

[otomik]

Expect more US-Indian cooperation in the future.

just the other day the place i'm staying at hosted people from a american government organised disaster relief program working in india. there's all this evidence of a socialist india that suddenly changed in the ninties. go to the national art gallery or the modern art gallery and you'll see these very social realism soviet style sculptures. once in a while you'll come across the older rupee notes like the old 100 rupee note with images of farming labor and tractors and wheat.

i saw someone civilian-looking at a gas station with a bolt-action rifle. in a mall i saw someone with a double barrel shotgun. i think there's a lot of people that hire armed guards but perhaps automatic weapons aren't permitted.

there was an attack from pakistani terrorists late sunday night (one day after Eid). oddly enough it was at a Bah'ai temple here in delhi. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=70129 (lakh is 1,000 rupees/ about 20 bucks)