The Real Firearm in India
Last year I wrote about the poor state of the Indian firearm industry. A government monopoly on manufacture, restrictions on imports and reluctance to issue firearm licenses has resulted in a declining industry.
What I did not know is that while the state factories are churning out poor quality guns, private companies are producing high quality firearms parts for export. One example is INDO-MIM who produce metal injection molded parts. They currently, or have in the past, produced firearm parts for IWI, Sarsilarz, SIG and Meprolight.
If only these companies could produce their own firearms so that Indians would not be forced to purchase exorbitantly priced copies of old designs.
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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$700 is the median yearly income in india. I have read other articles about guns in india, and this is the only new gun you can buy, and it is state made.
$1300 is two years wages BEFORE taxes.
To translate that into the american economy and our median wages, this gun is like us having no choice but to pay $100,000 for a gun. Thats your only choice, and thats money you have to earn after taxes. So figure more like 4 years of your life would go to buy such a POS.
It is not unrealistic that folks would have to scrimp and save for 10 years to buy one, as one has other day to day costs to keep up with.
This is why gun control, market controls, and socialism will be the undoing of man, and the free world.
Steve,
IWI and SIG both sell firearms to the Indian government, some locally made and some exported to India from Israel / Germany as the case may be. That is why I am curious about where these components are being sold. I don't think that either IWI or SIG would want to outsource components to an uknown considering their own very high reputations and it does appear to me as if these are being sold to India where some of their models are in use for local consumption. I would seriously doubt that any of these components are imported into Israel or Germany.
Raj,
The INSAS a "major success?" and, "All Indian?" Have you EVER looked at a Galil or the South African R-4? The INSAS is little more than a pathetic rip-off of those. And it performs worse than either, a statement on the poor quality of any firearm coming out of India.