Ishapore (RFI) 2A1 Lee-Enfield Rifle
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An unusual carbine version of the Indian-built 2A1 Lee-Enfield Rifle,
which was a conversion of the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (S.M.L.E.) from .303" calibre
to the later NATO calibre of 7.62mm.
The issue 2A and later 2A1 rifles were identical other than a re-calibration of the tangent rearsight from 2000 mtrs to 800mtrs, along the lines of the Lee-Enfield Rifle No.5 ( colloquially known as the "Jungle Carbine"). The 2A was adopted in 1963 as a reserve weapon for the Indian Army.
Many of these rifles no longer in serviceable condition were sold out of service to North American arms companies, by whom they were refurbished and often converted into pseudo No.5 rifles, with barrels replaced, fore-ends shortened and flash-hiders fitted.
While many of these conversions have excellent barrels, and shoot extremely well, the shortening of the woodwork entailed repositioning of the barrel-band grooves in the wood, and the rejoining of the timber hidden beneath the barrel-band itself. This was often extremely poorly jointed, and these carbines enjoyed a seriously poor reputation when the forward section of the woodwork - with its nose-cap - sometimes followed the bullet down the range after a few rounds had been fired.
Most of these conversions were to a just-about recognisable configuration of the No.5 rifle, but a few were modified similarly to the rifle here illustrated, as what has become to be known as "Tanker" rifles; ostensibly shortened for handier use within armoured vehicles.
Such rifles bear little resemblance to those shortened SMLE rifles utilised in mine tunneling operations during the First World War (1914-1918). These rifles were usually literally cut down at both ends, to make what may also be described as long-barrelled pistols in today's terminology. The firing of such weapons in those dramatically enclosed environments was no doubt done only in the extreme circumstances of enemy break-through.
The rifle here shown appears to have been particularly well modified. The fore-end jointing is tenoned and reinforced, and the upper hand-guard is of entirely new manufacture rather than a "bubba" jointed one with re-cut barrel-band groove. The nose-cap is that of a British-made S.M.L.E., rather than what would have been the RFI model with squared sight protector wings.
We wait to hear how it performs on the range.
Rifles of this type were probably borne out of sight of the Australian modifications of their own S.M.L.E. rifles for use in the Pacific Theatre as paratroop and jungle weapons. With Australian WWII rifle production restricted to the S.M.L.E. by the lack of any No.4 rifle manufacturing machinery, which was in short supply, they experimented with a number of shortened models that included their "Shortened and Lightened Rifle" and their Rifle No.6.
Prototype and trials models were built of each type in extremely small numbers, but none were ever issued as the Pacific War was brought to a close at that time by the controversial atomic bombing of two Japanese cities by the U.S. Air Force.
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