The Ishapore Rifle Factory (also known as Ishapore Arsenal) is an Arms manufacturing plant located at Ishapore, in the Indian sub-division of Barrackpore, outside Calcutta in West Bengal.
History
The first Arms Manufacturing facility on the site was a gunpowder factory, which was started in 1787 and began production in 1791, whilst a Gun & Carriage manufacturing facility was set up nearby in 1801.
In 1904, a Rifle Factory was established at Ishapore, and began production of the Lee–Enfield rifle, which has continued- more or less- until the mid-1980s, and possibly the present. The factory also manufactured the Vickers-Berthier (VB) light machine gun, which was adopted in 1932 by the Indian Army and still remains in reserve use.[1]
Military rifles manufactured at Ishapore 1949 and pre-1949 are stamped "GRI" on the buttsocket, referring to George Rex, Imperator (i.e. King George VI, last Emperor of India), whilst military rifles manufactured 1949 and post-1948 are stamped "RFI", which stands for Rifle Factory, Ishapore.
The .303 British calibre Short Magazine Lee–Enfield Mk III, the 7.62×51mm NATO calibre Ishapore 2A1 rifle, and the 7.62mm NATO L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle were manufactured at the Ishapore Rifle Factory, and the factory now manufactures the 5.56mm INSAS rifle assault rifle for the Indian Army, as well as numerous other weapons like Pistol Auto 9mm 1A and Ghatak 7.62×39mm assault rifle (an AKM-style rifle) for both the military and civilian markets.
The Ishapore Rifle Factory is controlled by the Ordnance Factories Organisation of India. The organisation and the Ordnance Factory Board are notoriously secretive regarding production figures for military rifles, making the exact number of rifles produced at the arsenal almost impossible to determine.
References
- ↑ Bishop, Chris The Encyclopaedia of Weapons of World War II page 245 (Amber Books, London, 1998) ISBN 978-1-905704-46-0
External links
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| Administration |
- Armoured Vehicles Headquarters, Chennai (AVHQ)
- Ordnance Equipment Factories Headquarters, Kanpur (OEFHQ)
- Ordnance Factory Cell, New Delhi (OFBDEL)
- Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata (OFBHQ)
- Ordnance Factory Cell, Mumbai (OFBMUM)
- Ordnance Factories Recruitment Board, Nagpur (OFRB)
- Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)
- Indian Ordnance Factories Health Service (IOFHS)
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| Ordnance Factories |
- Ammunition Factory Khadki, Pune (AFK)
- Cordite Factory Aruvankadu (CFA)
- Engine Factory Avadi, Chennai (EFA)
- Field Gun Factory, Kanpur (FGK)
- Gun Carriage Factory Jabalpur (GCF)
- Grey Iron Foundry, Jabalpur (GIF)
- Gun and Shell Factory, Kolkata (GSF)
- Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project Tiruchirappalli (HAPP)
- High Explosives Factory, Pune (HEF)
- Heavy Vehicles Factory, Chennai (HVF)
- Machine Tool Prototype Factory, Mumbai (MPF)
- Metal and Steel Factory, Kolkata (MSF)
- Ordnance Clothing Factory Avadi, Chennai (OCFAV)
- Ordnance Cable Factory Chandigarh (OCFC)
- Ordnance Clothing Factory Shahjahanpur (OCFS)
- Ordnance Equipment Factory Kanpur (OEFC)
- Ordnance Equipment Factory Hazratpur, Firozabad (OEFHZ)
- Ordnance Factory Ambernath, Mumbai (OFA)
- Ordnance Factory Ambajhari, Nagpur (OFAJ)
- Ordnance Factory Bhandara (OFBA)
- Ordnance Factory Bhusawal (OFBH)
- Ordnance Factory Bolangir (OFBOL)
- Ordnance Factory Kanpur (OFC)
- Ordnance Factory Chandrapur (OFCH)
- Ordnance Factory Dumdum, Kolkata (OFDC)
- Ordnance Factory Dehu Road, Pune (OFDR)
- Ordnance Factory Dehradun (OFDUN)
- Ordnance Factory Itarsi (OFI)
- Ordnance Factory Khamaria, Jabalpur (OFK)
- Ordnance Factory Katni (OFKAT)
- Ordnance Factory Muradnagar (OFM)
- Ordnance Factory Project Nalanda (OFN)
- Ordnance Factory Project Korwa (OFPKR)
- Ordnance Factory Project Medak (OFPM)
- Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT)
- Ordnance Factory Varangaon (OFV)
- Opto Electronics Factory, Dehradun (OLF)
- Ordnance Parachute Factory, Kanpur (OPF)
- Ishapore Rifle Factory, Kolkata (RFI)
- Small Arms Factory, Kanpur (SAF)
- Vehicle Factory Jabalpur (VFJ)
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| Training Institutes |
- National Academy of Defence Production, Nagpur (NADP)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Ambajhari, Nagpur (OFILAJ)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Ambernath, Mumbai (OFILAM)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Avadi, Chennai (OFILAV)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Dehradun (OFILDD)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Ishapore, Kolkata (OFILIS)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Khamaria, Jabalpur (OFILKH)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning, Kanpur (OFILKN)
- Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning, Medak (OFILMK)
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