India - Forgotten Weapons

India’s FAL: The 1A1 Inch/Metric Hybrid

February 5, 2025 Ian McCollum 13

For political reasons, India decided to adopt the 7.62mm NATO cartridge when it needed to replace its No1 MkIII SMLE bolt action rifles with a modern self-loader. They chose the FN FAL as the rifle […]

Colonies Lead the Way: Charger-Loading Lee Enfield MkI India Pattern

September 27, 2021 Ian McCollum 6

While the Indian Army was looked down upon by much of the British military, it saw much more combat service than its European counterpart. The Indian Army was actually faster than the British to recognize […]

Indian 4-Shot Repeating Matchlock Toradar

January 15, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

Today, courtesy of Mike Carrick from Arms Heritage magazine, we are taking a look at a quite old Indian matchlock “toradar”. Not just any matchlock, but one with a 4-shot revolving cylinder. Matchlocks appeared in […]

Ishapore No6 Jungle Carbine SMLE Prototype

November 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 20

This rifle sold for $5,175 at Rock Island on December 2, 2018. In 1943, the British government began a program to develop a shortened and lightened version of the No1 SMLE rifle, for production in […]

Turkish “Enfauser” – Mauser/Enfield Hybrid Rifle

April 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

In the mid 1930s, Turkey updated and overhauled the bolt action rifles in its inventory, to bring them all up to that same standard for sights, ammunition, sling configuration, etc. Most of the rifles overhauled […]

Shooting the Ishapore MkIII Vickers-Berthier LMG

September 20, 2017 Ian McCollum 14

The Vickers-Berthier MkIII was adopted by the Indian army in 1933, and served through World War Two and into the 1970s (at least). It is chambered for the standard .303 British cartridge, fires from […]

History and Disassembly of the Vickers-Berthier MkIII LMG

September 19, 2017 Ian McCollum 30

The Vickers-Berthier was initially designed by Andre Berthier in France prior to World War One. It went through a number of substantial design changes before the war, and was actually ordered in quantity by the […]

Ishapore SMLE MkI** India Pattern (Video)

February 6, 2017 Ian McCollum 9

While many people are familiar with the Ishapore 2A1 rifles chambered in 7.62mm NATO (largely thanks to their importation and sale in the US in large numbers), production of Indian Enfield rifles actually dates back […]

Ishapore .410 SMLE Conversion (Video)

September 9, 2013 Ian McCollum 37

Quick, think of the first thing that comes to mind when I say “riot shotgun”! Does it have a brass buttplate? A tangent rear sight? Is it a single-shot weapon? Does it use a shotshell […]

Vickers-Berthier LMG Video

January 28, 2013 Ian McCollum 23

The Vickers-Berthier was a light machine gun that competed with the Bren unsuccessfully for British military use but was adopted by the Indian Army. We had the opportunity to handle a pair of them (an […]