The iconic British-era bolt action rifle Ishapore 2A1 rifle will soon see an all-out pashing out after being in military and law enforcement service for nearly 60 years.
With the bolt action rifle being on the route to decommissioning, an era nears its end. These rifles were primarily based on the Lee–Enfield rifles which were patented and licensed under the Rifle Factory Ishapore demarked as 2A1 rifle which was first produced in 1963.
There is history to this iconic rifle. The 2A1 rifle was first tried and tested during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. This was the standard designated rifle for the Indian Army during that era. The feed system of this rifle is a box magazine which could chamber 10 to 12 rounds of 7.62×51mm cartridges. The rifle had an effective range of 800 meters with an overall muzzle velocity of 790 meters per second. It had an option of firing one shot which required the shooter to cock the bolt by pulling and ejecting the empty case and subsequently putting a new round in the chamber.
“The Ishapore 2A1 rifle was considered the best firearm during it’s time. It has been a workhorse of various Indian law enforcement agencies along with various other nations adopting it as their standard-issued firearm. Its performance was unmatched in the last four Indian wars. However, with time, better firepower is readily available and thus its usefulness has reduced,” General Manager Rifle Factory Ishapore Prafulla Kumar Behera.
The accuracy and power of Ishapore 2A1 rifle is well known and it still remains the weapon of choice among many law enforcement personnel. The fact that these guns were virtually free of maintenance and spare parts were easily available made them the first choice for many militaries across the world.
“Keeping in mind the current law and order situation we need more powerful automatic firearms. We are gradually switching to more efficient brands such as Berretta. These are fully automatic when it comes to firing and not single shot like the Ishapore rifles,” said Garia (South 24 Parganas) Police Station Officer In Charge Tarun Majumdar.
“The rifles are already few in number, approximate figure of only 500 hundred in the state. The Kolkata Police is shifting to Self Loading Rifles (SLR)”. he stated.
As the sun sets on the Ishapore 2A1 rifles, it closes a bitter sweet chapter in Indian law enforcement and military history. In spite of the ‘modern’ arms and ammunition with high precision and accuracy replacing the iconic Lee–Enfield rifles, the beloved .303 will always hold a special place in the history of this nation.
Edited by : Mreegakshi Sarna