Rifle 1C

Notes: When the Indians started buying BMP-2’s from the Russians and AKM’s from the Romanians in the mid-1980s, they encountered three problems. One, they were disappointed by the performance of the AKM as a firing port weapon; two, most mechanized infantrymen, while they were happy with the BMP-2, did not want to give up their hard-hitting and long-ranged Rifle 1A1’s (the Indian designation for their version of the British L-1A1); and three, they encountered an acute shortage of 7.62x39mm tracer rounds, along with the usual problems of making a tracer round out of such a short cartridge while maintaining performance. They decided to modify a Rifle 1A1 for the purpose, shortening the barrel, adding the ability to fire on automatic, and adding an adapter so that it can be fitted to the firing ports of the BMP-2.

As noted above, Indian arms manufacturers also produced their own version of the L-1A1. However, both the Rifle 1C and Rifle 1A1 were produced without any sort of license from the British, Belgians, or anyone else, and their parts and magazines will not fit into any other FAL-type or FAL-based weapon.

Weapon

Ammunition

Weight

Magazines

Price

Rifle 1C

7.62mm NATO

4.5 kg

20

$1015

Weapon

ROF

Damage

Pen

Bulk

SS

Burst

Range

Rifle 1C

5

4

2-3-Nil

7

3

9

53